Day 6: Hiking in the Langhe, Tasting in Roero and Dining in Delle Vigne

Now that LATRINE has earned Dan the title of "master Scrabbler", his self image and willingness to do things around the house have changed a bit:)

 Even while taking a beautiful vineyard surrounded hike, if he felt like sitting, he sat...

 We did return to the amazing air canons, the likes of which blasted off yesterday to increase the rain percentage, and thus reduce the hail risk to the vines.  This one, according to the "master", hadn't been used for decades...

 Our hike lasted about 3 hours and took us in and around many vineyards, along a creekside (where Dan spotted a blazing red fox), and back to our beloved Casa Ressia.  The red, blue and then green trail lines are what we followed...for the most part:)

 Marla and Fabrizio gave us some of their friend's names to visit while we were in the Alba area...and Mareena and Emilio Masaglia were two sweet folks.  They lived on the west side of the river, in the Roero region, and they have been making wine for generations.  Wonderful folks that made our afternoon very enjoyable.  Thanks to Marla and Fabrizio for giving us some new friends...

 Their caves were intensely cool and aged, and carved out from under the middle of the town of Castellinaldo...

 After returning to our B and B for a short nap....we headed out at sunset for dinner at a restaurant we greatly enjoyed last year called Trattoria Delle Vigne...which literally means they are in the middle of the vineyards.  They actually moved this past year from one beautiful vineyard to another in the same town...apparently their lease ran out and they had to find a new locale.  Turns out, this place is newer and as pretty as the previous one.  The food was identical, except when I asked them to forego the beef tongue slices smothered in pine nut tapenade, they mentioned they no longer served that "taste treat" and instead have an anchovy plate of similar construction..

 We did eat at the power table, and for Jim's enjoyment, there was much discussion about who had the power seat...we were looking out at the sunset, directly on the window, with the vineyards and castle topped towns stretching out before us.  By the way, the blue bottle Danny is reaching for is pure cold water...

 Five appetizers before we were asked what pasta we ordered, and the second of which was the Torta Frita with "lardo"...boiling hot...and yum...only three left by the time I wiped my hands to keep the oil off the camera

 Then the chicken salad with fresh peppers, cabbage and cheese squares...

 Veal slices in a spicy tomato and meat sauce arrived fourth...

 Ending with tuna crumbled in a sweet yellow and orange bell pepper, olive oil and vinegar base...

 Then we each had a choice of pasta, which we selected only 2 varieties to split among the 3 of us...The first was the famous tiny "I don't know" filled ravioli with butter and sage sauce...

 Sun setting about the time we received our second pasta dish...

 Some sweet viewing as we prepared for the spaghetti to arrive...

 We chose the spaghetti covered in tomato and local Italian Sausage...which was not as interesting to eat as it sounded when described by our excited waiter...pretty darn tasty nonetheless.

 By this time, they ask which meat dish you prefer...rabbit or beef..to which we could only motion the international boxer or eater sign for "no mas"...This had the effect of reducing our girth and bill by 3 inches/euros respectively.  Ah, but there's a different dessert stomach that those of you that have kids already know...especially for a pear and chocolate chip filled pastry dusted in sugar

 and the lemon (citron) sorbet undergirded and stuck to the plate with caramel.  It was a challenge, not an impossible one, to rip the glass off the stuck caramel on the plate, so as to enjoy every last caramel scraping:).  Who would do that I wonder???

I guess it's not important to even mention that Dan beat me again in Scrabble...using a few of the words from last night, that I was told I couldn't use because they weren't real words, which after we looked up in the dictionary found they really were words and so Danny chose to use them bringing me to a quick demise.  Things like jeans, seepy and the like...This master, if he keeps beating me, is going to receive a capital M for Master...Tomorrow I'm thinking of taking a break from food pictures and showing you a little more of the surrounding countryside...thoughts??? Just 2 more days and Ben arrives...we'll be picking him up in Geneva and then driving to Grenoble for some reminiscing...