Travel

One of the reasons I like travelling through Italy

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You  know what I look forward most when travelling in Italy (or in this case to Trieste)?? Well it is eating at Autogrill and drink the best coffee to my and I think most Italians’ opinion. I usually try to stop in them after 1pm, because  between 12 and 1 it is fuuuuuuull of Italians enjoying some good lunch.

This time we just went for a rusticella. But when I’m in the center of Milan or Rome, I usually also stop in an autogrill (in city center) for a salad, or a whole Italian meal (Primo, secondo and dolce)…. And everytime I have to admit that the price-quality they serve is great!

And now they are even expanding to other countries 🙂 jeeeeeej

Have you guys ever visited or had lunch at an Autogrill restaurant?

Aaaaah, Torino….wonderful Torino

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I really don’t understand that people would prefer going to Milano? Since years and years Torino has always been in the shadow of Milano, although this city has so much more to offer. When you walk through this city, you can immediately see the rich history this city has had. I would say that this city is a mix of Rome and Paris.

When it would start raining, no fear, most of the shops are located under the ‘galleries” and you can always rest on one of the many plazas or parks the city has. Another thing to see are the many “gallerias’ like the “galleria Vittorio Emanuele” in Milano (smaller, but not less impressive)

Not many people know that Torino previously was the capital city of Italy and that the Royal family lived here…. Visiting the Royal Palace is a real must.

Maybe some of you might remember Torino from the winter Olympics some years ago?

Even for shopping I can really suggest Torino. And you always discover new streets filled with shops (food and clothing).

 For lunch (what did you expect, that I wouldn’t eat??) we went to this spot called Mood. It is a bookstore where you can also have lunch 🙂

I had the ‘Trofie al pesto’ and my girlfriend a Mood Salat (with tuna). Below the result

Some other great lunch spots:

Ristorante brek, pastificio delfilipps and eataly.

 For lunch I normally don’t go to too fancy places… I prefer going to an ‘Autogrill’ (in Rome and Milan I do this) if there is one in the neighbourhood. The reason for this is that you don’t spend a lot of money, the quality is good and you don’t lose too much time.

What you should really do, is visit the “Mole’, this is the big pointy tower you see sticking out on the picture above. This used to be a Synagogue, that now got transferred into a museum about the history of cinema. It is really amazing 🙂  At some point you’re even playing in a movie without knowing it and you only discover it few moments later. They also have some original movie sets (décors) from famous movies. If you like nice views, you can take the elevator to the top of the Mole tower and you’ll overlook whole Torino.

We were also looking for a gift for my little nephew, funny thing is that we searched for it in whole Torino to finally buy a gift from a Belgian brand in Torino 🙂

 In the evening we went back to La Morra,  to eat at nice restaurant I had already visited in 2005, Ai Tardi, and it was as good as I remembered it. The wine this evening: Barbera vigna carzello Eduardo Sabrino (diano d’alba).

Today we’ll just be staying a ‘Bofani’ and won’t go anywhere, as tomorrow we’ll be picking up Zia Livia and going to Trieste….

Beni di Batasiolo

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As you could read in my previous posts, I’m currently visiting a longtime friend (Fiorenzo) from my father, who owns together with his family the ‘Batasiolo’ vineyard. But that is not the only reason this wine house is close to my heart, also for products they offer and produce.

Already being the 3rd generation (4th and 5th are also already ensured), you can be sure that the Dogliani family knows what they are doing. The name Batasiolo was only given to the ‘Azienda’ or vineyard around 1978, before they used to call it “Cantina Chiola”.

What really keeps surprising me is that eventhough Batasiolo is exporting to more than 63 countries worldwide, they are still able to keep the same high level taste and still have the same respect for the traditions of making wine.

MY personal favorite Batasiolo wines are:

La Corda della Briccolina, Barolo DOCG (red)

Sovrana, Barbera d’Alba doc  (red)

Bricco di Vergne, Dolcetto d’Alba doc (red)

Langhe Doc Rosso (red)

Granée, Gavi DOCG (white)

Bosc dla Rei, Moscato d’Asti docg (dessert)

Langhe Chardonnay DOC (white)

Ofcourse the most famous wine they are producing is without any doubt the Barolo (and I’m sure everybody knows this wine) that is a monovitigno wine. The reason for that is that they only use 1 kind of grape, the Nebbiolo. Barolo is also one of those wines you keep in your winecellar for years, 20 years easily. As you might already expect, this is a stronger kind of wine J not your every day table wine 🙂 .

The other day I had a tour around the ‘factory’ to see how the wine gets made, because what better moment then during the vendemmia??

Staying right in the middle of the vineyards, I got to see the workers picking the grapes.

But being a bigger wine house and making sure being able always stay at the same level, Batasiolo searches for the best new techniques and machinery to make this possible.

What I didn’t know (and I already know Batasiolo a lot of years), is that they also make special “Kosher” wine for the local Jewish people, who at the moment I was there were checking if the making respected the Jewish traditions. And as Batasiolo is already doing this for some years I think they are indeed respecting them 🙂

Basically first the grapes get squeezed to get the juices out (for the precious Barolo Nebbiolo grapes, the machine even separates the fruit from the pit and for the white wine it even peels it??? Wow, what a machine.

I just needed to add the next picture, because I really like engraved wood.

And as I said I really really find it amazing the machines like the one on the below picture, that clean the bottle, fill it, label it, close it, put it in a box, but the box on a pallet, etc…. I admire the person who invented this!!

And I’m sure it will not surprise that I tasted wine that morning (yes, at 10 o’clock), we tried 3 Barolos, from different vineyards from Batasiolo… and they all 4 tasted different… what could be seen a strange,, as they are from the same grape and treated in the same way… but in fact it is nature who helps a hand to give them all something different. I also tried the Sovrana (that I really like a lot) and the Barbaresco… (I just had a sip from the wine, I didn’t drink it all 🙂

If you have the chance, you should really taste the Batasiolo wines as they are really Worldclass!! (let me know when, then I’ll join you guys 😉

And so also the second day has come to an end…

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For some reason I’m never able to sleep late, I’m always awake around 7 o’ clock and when I see the sunshine it is even more difficult to stay in bed. The first thing I did yesterday (same as today) is write the next post. After doing that, this morning I went to a little town called Boves (btw, my girlfriend doesn’t have my problem, so she kept sleeping). Boves is a small town near Cuneo (the capital from this region). I needed to go there to buy the ‘Bovesine’, these are chocolates filled with cognac, grand marnier, etc… and are a specialty from this region (in Cuneo they are called Cunesi). Not that I like them that much (I don’t like alcohol and chocolate together), but my favorite Zia Livia asked me to buy them for her 🙂 :-). To get there (about 60km from where I’m located for the moment) I took the regular way and not the highway… as then at least I can enjoy the view.

The below picture was one of the first views I had on my ride.

Just beautiful! And this was one of the many sights I got to say (really worth doing).

My first task when arriving in Boves was buying these chocolats at Pasticceria Rebecca after that I explored the little town, + there was an open-air market at that moment, so that’s even better 🙂 . A little town close to Boves that is really worth going to, is Saluzzo, a little medieval town…

I was really exited reaching the afternoon, as my Zia Livia is also in Piemonte (Torino) to visit a friend of her and we had planned to meet around 3pm in at Alba.

Alba, is for me one of the nicer towns or I might even say small cities in the neighborhood. I especially like via Vittorio emmanuele (lots of deli shops ), but also for the shoppers, there are some very nice boutiques. And on top of that you get the fragrance of Chocolate! Yes, that’s right, chocolate. The reason for that is that the Ferrero factories are located right in the heart of Alba and whenever they are melting chocolate, you smell it in the whole town (it actually makes one hungry 🙂 ). For all you that don’t k now Ferrero, they are the ones from Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Mon Cherie chocolats or the Kinder Bueno.

          

And to make a long story short (er) we encountered my aunt and here two friends earlier than expected and one of the friends insisted to invite us for lunch (for her small, for us pretty big). So again we had a celebrative lunch 🙂

Last evening we went to my favorite restaurant in this region, ‘ Osteria da Gemma’. This restaurant is not for small and/or picky eaters, as you don’t have menu, you just have to eat what they serve. And believe you me, they really serve A LOT. As starter or antipasto, we had vittelo tonnato, steak tartare (piemonte style), Insalata Russa, salami and coppa. We then continued with ‘gli primi piatti’ tagliolini and agnolotti al sugo di carne. Followed by rabbit and veal with peperonnata. We finished with a choice of desserts (they just gave them all) Strüdel, Crème caramel, semi freddo. ALL HOME MADE!!! We drank their own Dolcetto wine and water. How much would you guess we paid? 48EUR for 2!!

I had already been to this restaurant with my dad (the picture is still on their wall)

Another perfect end of a perfect sunny day. Today we are going to my mom’s favorite Italian city Torino.

Some call it Barolo, I call it heaven – day 1

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I think the best way to start this post, is by showing you the view I have right out from my chair.

Yes, that’s right, all vineyards! If heaven looks like this, I’m really blessed.

For the moment I’m visiting a friend of my father (Fiorenzo) in La Morra. Which is one of the 11 villages where the Barolo wine can get produced (Yes, lucky me). Every time I come here, I forget how beautiful this region is and how many gastronomical greatnesses it has. Starting with ofcourse the world famous Barolo wine, the Spumante d’Asti (sweet spumante), White Truffles, Nutella or better Ferrero, etc…. Do you guys now understand what I mean with heaven?!

Something I also should tell you, is that Fiorenzo is the 3rd generation of a winemaking family that sells its wine under the name “Batasiolo”, but I’ll tell you more about that in one of my next posts. Usually I visit Fiorenzo with my dad, this time I brought my girlfriend. As I really wanted her to see this underestimated region that is as beautiful as Tuscany (no doubt).

Like every time, we stay at “Bofani” which is a ‘little’ house in the middle of one of Batasiolo’s vineyards.

In the back there are the grapes to make Barolo, and in front of the house to make Chardonnay.

Yesterday was our first day here, and already we got dipped in the Italian way of living.

We had a small lunch right in front of the house together with a few Puerterican and Candian friends from Fiorenzo, who are visiting. I was also very happy that Fiorenzo’s nephew also joined.

What do you guys think about when I say Italian feast? Long tables, lots of food, lots of people, wine more than the eye can see? Yes? Well that’s exactly how it was. I helped to set the table.

After this “lunch” or “Merenda” we went back to have a tour in the cellar’s and see how the wine of Batasiolo gets made… as there is no better moment to see this as now it is the “vendemmia” or grape picking. (more about that in my Batasiolo blogpost).

That night we went for a dinner at Rosso Barolo in a town called Barolo (what’s in a name).

We really enjoyed our meal. We started off with some Melanzane with cottage cheese, followed by some gnocchi and ravioli, to finish with some Brassato. We didn’t have a dessert… but I must admit they looked great 🙂 . I would recommende Rosso Barolo for its great food, romantic atmosphere and very friendly staff that for some reason didn’t want us to go yet 🙂 .

A great end of day 1, up to day 2… who knows what might happen

4 most beautiful diving spots in the world!

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from Rosewing.com

This list has been made by a long time family friend called François. He has travelled the world many times and has visited every imaginable place, from Belgium to French Polynesia to the Bahamas to Australia … he has done it all. All of these trips were mostly in function of his passion and profession, diving.

For him the following spots are the most beautiful ones ever :

1.                   François’ absolute nr 1 would be Rangiroa (Tahiti) in French Polynesia.

from travelpod.com

2.             Fernando de Noronha, Brazil (east of Natal). If you dream of swimming with hundreds of dolphins … this is THE place to be. The only thing that could be tricky is the fact that only a certain amount of tourists per year are allowed here.

From Brazil travelplan

3.              Sulu Sea, Philippines. This can only be done between January and April All the other months the sea is  too rough.  Sulu Sea can only be reached by Liveaboard

4.                   Lighthouse Reef (outer reef), Belize.

The Costiera Amalfitana, One of my favorite places in Italy

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Just below Napels, we find one of the most breathtaking parts of Italy, “La Costiera Amalfitana”. It is one of my favorite parts of Italy. It was actually during a trip through Italy with my dad that I discovered this Italian piece of heaven. The coastline is protected by UNESCO  and is considered as one of the most beautiful coasts in the world.

Things you should really have seen when you would go to the Costiera are:

  • Amalfi’s beautiful Duomo (people in South of Italy take religion really serious)
  • Positano (used in a lot of movies, like under the Tuscany sun)
  • Praiano
  • Ravello’s Terrazza dell’ infinito (also the flowergarden of Villa Rufolo)
  • Scala, the oldest town on this coastline
  • Vietri sul Mare
  • I could keep on naming things must see but the list would really be endless

What I liked about being here, was that you can travel everywhere by boat. This also the most advisable way to travel, as a red traffic light is just a suggestion!!

All that visiting is nice, but I also need FOOD. Being in the same region as Napels, this means that the Spaghetti is essential. And being near the sea, a nice spaghetti vongole is highly recommended. But other regional food and products are Pizza, mozzarella, strong olive oil, pasta in general,  etc…

The wines form this region are not that exceptional. The most famous wine would be Greco di tufo (white wine), Fiano d’avellino, Montefusco and Taurasi. A local drink you really have to try is Limoncello, a lemon liquor .

When my dad  and I were at the Costiera Amalfitana, we stayed at hotel Tritone. Which was a wonderfull hotel with incredible sea views frow EVERYWHERE in the building. We opted for a half board and I could strongly recommend this formula as the dinner during our whole stay was wonderful and more than sufficient. You can choose à la carte and while waiting for your food, you can choose from a very very nice buffet of appetizers (homemade and local). Their wine list also contains a few nice beauties and you should also visit their cellar. The hotel also has its own beach and boat pier from where you can take excursions to Capri (very nice island), Sorrento, Salerno, etc….

This region really stole my heart, will it also steal yours?

A touch of class

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Let me take you on a nice trip down memory lane. For many years my parents, my brother and I used to travel to Italy by car.  When my  brother and I got  a bit older, we always stopped in hotel “Du Parc”in Obernai. Obernai is a little town  just outside of Strasbourg (well-known for the European Parliament, etc….  ) located in France’s Alsace region.  What you will notice if you ever get the change to go to there, is the German (maybe even Austrian) influence that is noticeable everywhere as this region has been part of Germany for many years. What I like about this region is that you  have the feeling that you are traveling back in time because of  the nice flowers on the balconies, seeing beautiful murals (on façade of the houses) and the friendliness of the people. For some strange reason I always feel like putting on some Lederhosen (don’t worry, I never really did it) when I’m walking around.  Sorry, I got carried away for a moment J , back to hotel “Du Parc”.

 Hotel “Du Parc” is a 4 star hotel, but if you ask me it could easily be a 5 star hotel. The hotel has a good combination of old Alsatian style, modern elements mixed with a touch of class. This goes for the whole hotel. The rooms are also of a nice size and you can choose between modern or local style rooms that have all comfort needed. You can also relax at the in- or outside pool, spa, or peaceful garden. My favorite part of staying at this hotel is eating (surprise surprise). At lunchtime you eat at this old fashion “Stub” where you can enjoy the best local cuisine (don’t worry it’s not only heavy food) and enjoy this accompanied with a nice Riesling (which is the wine from this region and one of my preferred white wines).

In the evening, it is the total opposite story!  Be ready to bade in luxury.  In the “La Table” restaurant, the Wucher family (Owners of the hotel) tries to give you the best gastronomical experience you have ever had. A mix of local cuisine is a brought in a refined way and French cuisine. Highly recommended is the home made “Foie gras” or as dessert the “Tarte aux Brimbelles” (a blueberry tartlet) and again all of this accompanied by superb wines, as the hotel has a wonderful wine list (personally I like trying local products). Being served by the owners from the hotel is something I highly appreciate and is something very rare in this kind of hotels.

After a nice night of sleep you will be very pleased with the breakfast, food as far as the eye can see J + freshly squeezed orange juice!!

 Hope you’ll enjoy your stay!!

Southern Tuscany

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Most people when they go to Toscana, they always go to the traditional cities: Firenze, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, etc… Obviously these are cities that you have to have seen. But if you would ever go to Tuscany and want to discover something new, not too touristy, you should really check out the south of Tuscany.  I’ll start with my personal favorite, Saturnia. This city is mostly known for its hot water source. It is said that the water is really good for your skin. I think I should also mention that the water has a sulfur (zwavel) smell, basically it smells like rotten eggs … But everything for a soft skin 😉 . You can either go to the “Terme di Saturnia”, a luxurious SPA, to enjoy the warm water or you can go to the natural source with its waterfall.

When I was in Saturnia, I stayed at Hotel Villa Clodia, a nice small family hotel. From the rooms you have a nice view over the valley (as saturnia “town” is a little bit uphill ) and a few steps from the main square (only square) of the village.

My parents and some friends stayed at a Different hotel, which is about 5 min away from Saturnia. They stayed at the “Relais villa AcquaViva” . A romantic hotel surrounded by vineyards and olive tries, an ideal place for relaxing. 

A really nice restaurant in Saturnia would be “I Due Cippi”. But don’t hesitate to ask at the hotel where you should go to have a good meal. Going  to small local trattoria’s is the best one can do when staying in Italy .

One evening  (and I will never forget as that evening my girlfriend got the news she passed her examens for her Master univ studies ) we went to a very nice small local trattoria in Montemerano. Montemerano is only  a 5 minute drive from Saturnia (a really nice small town). The trattoria was called “Cacio e vino” serving local dishes and wines for a really correct (and even low) price. We really liked this restaurant.  (It’s not fancy, but man was that some good food)

A village you should also visit, is Pitigliano. This is a town that stands on an  tuff hill, really picturesque. We had lunch at Il Tufo Alegro.

The most famous town of southern Tuscany will without any doubt Orvieto, it is known for its famous white wine. Already when driving towards this town you can see its beauty. Before  for lunch we enjoyed a nice glass of Orvieto on a sunny terrace. We had lunch at ‘L’asino d’oro’ (Vicolo del Popolo 9, 05018 Orvieto), what actually means golden donkey in English. Again like always we enjoyed the wonderfull local dishes… I got this tip from my mom and dad.

A few other nice restaurants around here are: (otherwise I’ll keep going on and on and on )

  • · Ristorante la Taverna Etrusca con Antica Locanda http://www.sovana.eu/
  • · La Trappola: Via Ischia – 53010 PIEVASCIATA

So next time you feel like exploring Tuscany, check out the southern part. It is highly recommended

Breakfast…The most important meal of the day!

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A while ago  I went to Milan with some friends for one day.  First of all because the plane tickets were extremely cheap  + any excuse for going somewhere or to eat is good enough for me….

The only “disadvantage” about these cheap flights is that they are always so early. So the first thing we had to do when arriving in Milano, was to find some Breakfast! I have to admit that I already ate something at home before leaving for the airport, but what the hell… I could handle a second breakfast. An Italian colleague of mine from Milano had given me a few nice spots to have breakfast. One of these was bakery “Princi”. It is really centrally located in Milano. Only a 3 minute walk from “Il Duomo”.  Although you would never go there if you don’t know it. When we finally arrived there, I could not believe my eyes. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen

A HUGE counter filled with more breads, croissants, focaccia’s, pizza’s, sandwhiches with freshly cut parmaham, macarons ,pies, cookies etc… then you can imagine(I believe that this is how heaven must look). Of course, the big problem was, what to choose (if it were up to me I would really have tried it all)?  Everything is hand made in the shop’s bakery. And all those freshly made products can be eaten there or taken out.

 So if you ever get to Milan, this is THE breakfast place you don’t want to miss!