The Last Hurrah

For our last trip before heading back to the US, we wanted to either go to Budapest, Northern Spain, Greece or Northern Italy. After much hang wringing over weather (we couldn't stomach another Croatia situation) with less than 7 days to go, we found some good flights that weren't exorbitant to Budapest and Italy.

The Parliament Building

Budapest is a city with great architecture - I am glad we went but probably won't go out of our way to return. If you find your self in the area, it's a great weekend spot. We hit all the major sights on foot in both Buda which is separated by Pest by the Danube (which by the way, didn't look remotely blue). This included the Margaret and Chain bridges, the Basilica of St. Stephen, the spectacular Parliment building and we took the funicular to the Royal Palace. The weather really cooperated for us - lucky for me as I refused to believe summer was over and didn't bring a coat. Budapest is also famous for their baths but the best (cleanest) one wasn't co-ed, so we didn't end up going. Outside of goulash, we found the food to be pretty mediocre but we did like the Cafe Kor and the new Four Seasons is worth getting a drink at to take in the architecture and the chic atmosphere.

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Greg and his goulash

After a long weekend in Budapest we headed to Italy...by way of London - not the most direct route but the price was right. We arrived in Bologna and drove up to Piedmont the next morning. We arrived in Alba just in time for lunch and had a fantastic first meal in Italy at Osteria dell'Arco (its tucked away off the main square). It was truffle season and took full advantage of it starting with tajarin tartufo. After wondering the streets of Alba and taking in the truffle festival, we headed to our hotel La Villa. This is run by a very friendly English couple and their two children. They do a great job striking the balance between being helpful and chatty without crossing the line of being intrusive. We had dinner one night at the hotel at a large communal table with most of the other guests at the hotel, and while the food wasn't amazing, it was a really fun experience and a night we'll always remember. The accommodations were exactly what we wanted, very nice, but not so nice it felt stuffy - it was a very relaxing spot. Also, Greg was happy to have a treadmill and we did have a few good rounds of ping pong. We highly recommend this spot.

La Villa

Greg was nearly attacked by "Deputy Dog" in Barbaresco



Greg in his cool new shades

The scenery in this area was amazing. All the grapevines were decorated in fall colors as though someone took a paint brush and painted the hill sides in gold, red and orange. This part of Italy is home to the Slow Food movement and we spent afternoons in Barbaresco (the town smells of wine!) with a great lunch at Vineria del Barolo, Nieve with another memorable meal at La Luna Nel Pozzo, and Monforte D'Alba -all are lovely.

The highlight of the trip was a truffle hunting expedition with Rocky the truffle hunting dog. While our bounty was small, three grape size truffles, it was a beautiful morning and Rocky was such a hard worker and a great doggie fix as we were missing Morgan.

After gorging ourselves with truffles, great wine, and pasta (all a bit surreal as the world financial markets were crashing around us) we headed down to Rada for more gastronomic good times. While we loved Piedmont, Tuscany remains our favorite and it was great to return once last time before heading back to the US. Based on the state of the world, it might be a long, long time before we are able to return so we feel very fortunate to have one last wonderful trip.