To Alba

October 13, 2021

As with every morning lately, it’s cold enough that we wait until the last minute to check out of the apartment. At ten we meet up with our hosts to turn over the keys and reclaim the 150 euro cash damage deposit we left when we arrived. This has happened a few times now, and must just be a formality to get your attention. Our hosts just meet us downstairs and make the exchange without even going up to the room to check it out.

When we leave, they show us how to open the gate without using the key - something it didn’t occur to them to do when we arrived. Let’s just say it’s not intuitive, and we aren’t embarrassed that we didn’t figure it out. As we leave they ask where we’re going today. When we say we’re off to Alba, the hostess makes a kissing motion with her fingers, says something about truffles, and indicates that some fine eating is ahead.

Entering the city’s centerpiece, the Piazza della Bollente, through the back door - a small alley from the gate through the city walls by our apartment.

We’re such terrible tourists. We go to all these fine places, but we don’t read up on them in advance and when we arrive we often just take a cursory look around and then start thinking about restaurants. Such was the case in Acqui Terme, another two thousand year old Roman town that was established here because of the thermal springs. If it were easier to bike into and out of the town it would make a fine place for a longer stay and a decent look around. The whole region is like that really. I can think of worse plans than settling down in the Piemonte for an entire autumn, moving from one base to the next and staying at each for a week or so.

The Bollente fountain, which we’ve seen before but I can now identify. Built in 1870, when the former Jewish ghetto was cleared to free up room for this small piazza.

Washing off his hands and face in a hot spring must be as effective as an Americano for starting the day, I imagine. Water gushes out from a natural hot spring at 74.5 degrees centigrade.

Unfortunately, it’s not all that easy to get into and out of Acqui Terme by bicycle, unless you’re up for climbing a 17% wine road rising straight up from town. That was fine for yesterday, but today we have luggage and want something a bit easier. It requires an unpleasant seven or eight miles on highways and truck routes until we finally get off the grid.

The point of this photo is to show the ridge ahead. The road to the top is the 22 percenter I scaled last night.

After seven or eight miles of highway we’re finally onto the vine roads that make riding here so spectacular. They need to do something about their connectors though so you can get here safely.

Once we do though, the ride most of the way to Alba is brilliant with one stunning view after another. the day steadily warms up under the full sun, and by the time we arrive in Alba the outer layers cadre shed long ago and it’s comfortably warm. Ideal cycling conditions.

Alba is another very impressive place. Fantastic monuments, colorful, an obviously prosperous place and a top tourism destination. We arrive about three thirty, check into our apartment, and start thinking about restaurants.

For several miles we biked an empty paved road along the top of the ridge, vineyards descending down slopes on either side.

We’re improvising here, picking a different route than the one RideWithGPS chose for us. I propose this nice gravel option that drops steeply into the valley, but Rocky is unconvinced.

This looks like an olive grove in Spain or Greece, but I’m pretty sure these are hazelnuts. Noccioli are probably the second most important agricultural product here.

It’s too hazy but should give you a good sense of the terrain. One small ridge and ravine after another.

Interesting erosion control solution. I’ve never seen one like this before.

A Church of San Sebastián, one of thousands.

We thought of putting in a bid on that house on the hill, until we considered what it would be like biking home at night. We’re not hill demons like Guido.

A fuzzy toy! I want one of these. He’d look great on my handlebars.

A good stretch for cute youngsters. This guy is only about a hundred yards past the young donkey. Look at the way his ears are cocked forward, toward a bicyclist working his way up the hill.

When we first started riding here I kept trying to figure out which village or town we were looking at on the next ridge but finally gave up. It must take a long time to really know your way around in these convoluted hills.

Another ladder shot. This one looks more reliable than that creaky wooden one back in Tortona.

This country is every bit as spectacular as Tuscany, in my opinion.

I wish I had grippers like that. Very impressive.

Rachael was just zipping past me when I insisted that she stop until I could get the camera out.

Video sound track: Adagio, by Lara Fabian

I was taken with the photos of old Alba on the wall of our restaurant tonight. So much change in our lifetime.

Two thousand miles! In Europe, that is; 4,600 since leaving Minneapolis over four months ago!

For dessert: nocciola (hazelnut) cake. Hazelnuts are a big crop in the hills here, maybe second only to grapes. It’s about the same latitude as northwest Oregon and feels very much like home: vineyards and hazelnut groves, with a few castles and cathedrals thrown in.

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Ride stats today: 36 miles, 2,700’; for the tour: 2,028 miles, 72,500‘

Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 2,028 miles (3,264 km)

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Tricia GrahamI am feeling nostalgic reading this. In our vineyard one of the main grape varieties we grew was Dolcetto and shortly after planting that variety we went to Piemonte and spent about 10 days walking the area staying in small villages visiting vineyards and small wineries and drinking their wines. The small winemakers were particularly friendly and hospitable keen to show us how they dealt with their grapes. We learnt a lot and were pretty proud of the Dolcetto we subsequently made
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