Torino Road Trip: Day 11

Today it was drizzly while we were in class, but it stopped by the time we were finished with class. We didn’t have another class after 2 o’clock today, so we decided to take the car and explore the region a little bit. We headed south, to Alba, about an hour south of Torino.

Alba has some really pretty medieval buildings:

…didn’t I tell you not to forget to look up? This building is veryvery interesting:

I wish this wall could talk—it has such a story to tell. It has pieces that date from the Romans, pieces that date from the 12th and 14th centuries, and pieces that date from the 20th century. You can see some of that more clearly in this photo:

The white stones at the bottom (and in the enclosure in front of the building) were a part of a Roman temple. This building was built on those ruins in the 12th century. It was changed and renovated in the 14th century. The big gate and arched door were added in the 20th century. You can see the different kinds of bricks that were used, and the shadows of closed up windows and doors. It tells quite a story!

Alba has a really pretty piazza for its Cathedral, or Duomo:

We explored a lot of the side streets, and found some very pretty shops and buildings. But LOOK UP:

There are always surprised in these little towns. This one is an old church tower, lurking over a side street. In this street I found a shop with some of the specialties of Alba:

It was a pretty little shop, and I ended up buying several products with one of my favorite things in them:

Truffles. Alba is the center of truffle trade in the Piemonte region. It’s the home of the truffle fair every fall, where more truffles are traded than anywhere else. It’s the perfect place to stock my larder with one of my favorite things!

Short post today. We got home late and still have homework to do! A domani!


To be continued….