The Two Amigos Ride Again- A 15,000 mile vacation of a lifetime

End Of Day 6

And so ended our week in St. Petersburg. We made it back to the hotel by 0100 only to be ready to check out of our hotel at 0300 to make our 0600 flight to Frankfurt and then on to Linate Airport in Milan to start our week in Italy

Stay tuned as the views from where we stayed are second to none
 
Castello di Guarene

I've been to Italy several times before but never this far north. Piemonte region is the wine country of Italy. Marty has been to the region several times before and wanted a place to stay that was local to the wineries which we were going to tour in Barolo one day and Barbaresco the next day. What does he come up with?

Nothing more than a 16th century Palace with all of 15 rooms to rent. On the 3 days in which we were there we saw only 2 other couples

https://www.castellodiguarene.com

https://www.castellodiguarene.com/en/castello-di-guarene/palace-photo-gallery/


The palace was built in the eighteenth century, a fantastically ambitious project conceived by local nobleman Carlo Giacinto Roero.

He commissioned the building of this splendid new residence to his own personal taste, surrounded it with gardens and oversaw the furnishing work on what was to be a sumptuously decorated interior. Roero had both the ability and the financial means to see this project through. An accomplished – albeit amateur – architect, he was also a high-profile aristocrat and a landowner of considerable wealth.

Today, the palace continues to make people’s dreams come true. Preserved as it was in its heyday, with all its works of art intact, it is now also home to a top-class hotel. An essential stopping point in any itinerary of the Baroque highlights of Piedmont, it stands out among the very best places to stay in the region.

Sumptuously furnished antique-style bedrooms, haute cuisine, fine wines and the latest modern technology combine with historical heritage to offer the visitor a truly unique experience.
 
Day 2 Barolo Day, Visit to Elio Altare Winery followed by lunch at Osterio Veglio

I think by now you can get the feel that this week in Italy was all about Excellent cuisine, Touring wineries, drinking fine wine and enjoying the scenery around us. Our first stop was at Elio Altare where we were great by Sylvia Altare who acquired the winery from her father. She was a pistol. Sheets, sleeps, and drinks wine. You could see and feel her passion for the wine . I was enlightened that her father was instrumental in implementing the new method of growing the vines and harvesting the grapes. He would trim back the vines so that less grapes were produced but those that were, were larger and more succulent. He left the trimmings on the ground as natural fertilizer and started irrigation in order to drive the roots deeper into the ground and finally he used no pesticides whatsoever. So needless to say her father was indeed a legend in his own time. Sylvia spoke flute English but with a classical Italian dialect and in the staccato pace to keep up with her brain which was working in overdrive. As someone who knows zero about wine except that I enjoy sipping on the ones that we travelled to this part of the world for Sylvia totally captivated me

For those interested in this wonderful wine and family I refer you to

www.elioaltare.com
 

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