Alba is my favorite European city.
I begged Vegas to stay.
Alba is in Piedmont, the northwest region of Italy. It’s been my favorite since my last trip here 5 years ago. This is the area famous for Barolo (the king’s wine), Barbaresco, hazelnuts, and truffles. We did it all!
I’ve had more white truffles than should be allowed. They don’t look like much from the outside, but these rare (and expensive) mushrooms are a delicacy unique to this region. You can only get them in the fall. Alba even has a festival dedicated to them!
It goes without saying that we’ve also had our fair share of wine. Between dinners, tastings, and random stops, we’ve been in wine heaven.
Something about the wines here doesn’t give you the headache that red wine in the States does. Maybe it’s the purity? Italians don’t add anything to the wines, letting them develop naturally. Or maybe it’s in the name…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK9E0vaD3ip/
And we saw a donkey race. Really. There’s a parade through the city where each village is represented. They dress up as they would have in medieval times, there are flag twirlers, drums, and other craziness (a wooden trailer of geese?!).
The parade ends in a small area where each one of the villages depicts a scene from back in the day… and then they are all represented in a donkey race.
I don’t know how familiar with donkeys you guys are… but the race went exactly as one would imagine. Some of them ran wild, some refused to move, some ran in the opposite direction… it was crazy! We laughed SO HARD. If you’ve ever been to the Renaissance Festival, imagine that but even better.
The story is that hundreds of years ago the neighboring city, Asti, had a big fancy horse race. The people of Alba were sort of making fun of them by starting a donkey race. Like “you think you’re so fancy with your horses… look at our cool… asses…” Brilliant.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLEWA2sjBpr/
So. Here’s what we ate the day of the donkey festivities. It was almost as epic as the race.
Read on for my whole day of Italy eats, and link up to Jenn’s WIAW baby right here!
Breakfast:
The usual morning cocktail – yes, we packed BCAAs and apple cider vinegar. And it was at Vegas’ request!
Italians don’t eat a lot of breakfast. Maybe a pastry… but really there isn’t much until lunch at noon. It tends to be fine because dinner isn’t eaten until 8 or 9, and it’s quite large.
On this day I stopped after my run at a café to get cappuccinos for Vegas and I. When I saw the fresh croissant, I couldn’t help myself! Totally worth it.
Lunch:
We stopped on our way from the parade to the donkey race for pizza slices. In Alba, pizzas are commonly done on a thicker bread, more like focaccia. It’s amazingly delicious.
Mine was a seafood pizza with shrimp and zucchini. Vegas got sausage and mushroom.
We also stopped for drinks, which meant a snack plate. The very best thing about drinking in Italy is that you also get food. And usually two drinks are only about 10 euro!
I always have an Aperol Spritz, Vegas always has beer. Aperol Spritz is a popular drink in Italy; it’s just 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts Aperol and a splash of club soda. It’s a nice, low alcohol afternoon refresher!
Snack:
Because dinner is so late, we have to stop for another drink and snack plate. We found a wine bar right next to our Airbnb in Piazza Savona called Enoteca Roberto Sarotto. It quickly became our daily apertivo spot.
I had another Aperol Spritz, Vegas had a glass of Barbaresco.
Dinner:
We took the suggestion of our wine tasting driver and checked out a restaurant called Enoclub. It was under a building in a gorgeous cave-like room. It was one of the best meals we’ve had … and the only night so far I felt STUFFED. Totally worth it.
We split a fabulous bottle of Barbareso wine. There was an amuse bouche (gift from the kitchen) – a tiny little spinach quiche with a schemer of tomato sauce. Then I had veal tartare with black truffles. Vegas had a potato with some sort of cream sauce and black truffles. It was so good she giggled when she took a bite.
For my main dish, I chose the stuffed rabbit. Yes, rabbit. It’s really good, I promise! Rabbit and veal are the most common meats in this part of Italy. (Vegas is really excited to get to Florence for some steak!)
Vegas had the plin with butter and sage. Plin is basically teeny raviolis stuffed with sausage. That and tajarin are the most common pastas in Piedmont. Both fabulous.
Next up was dessert. We split a molten chocolate cake with a minty gelato. Then there was a final gift from the kitchen – a sampler of sweets. The little stuffed croissant things were my favorite!
A nice meal like this in the states would have easily been over $250, especially with the wine. This meal was $130… and you don’t tip! I can’t believe how much more affordable it is to eat here.
[Tweet “The #WIAW link up from Italy: donkey races, pizza, truffles, and wine!”]
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Now we are in Cinque Terre. I was sad to leave Alba, but this place is stunning too! Make sure to follow along on Instagram!
Have you ever been to Italy?
Would you eat rabbit?
Oh Laura this really is foodie heaven. I love Italy and love going to places outwith the tourist trap – there are so many gems to discover.
So please drink many apreol spritz’s for me, enjoy a lot more rabbit (and try the wild boar too!) and take a glorious picture of the steak Vegas will eat in Florence… I can picture it now!
I did it all! Boar over polenta is one of my favorites. 🙂
ok so that pizza looks and sounds incredible! glad you had a great time.
I neeeeeed to go back to Italy now. Seriously, everything in this post sounds so so good. And the donkey race? Hilarious!!
Love the wine!! And “look at our cool ass…asses…” YES – that is hilarious so I can only imagine actually being there to witness it!
This makes me miss Italy and all the great small town diners and hole-in-the-wall shops 🙂 We had coffee and a pastry almost every day!
Ok this was awesome. I just learned so much, where do I start.
First of all I would have expected Italy – of all places in Europe – to be crazy expensive! I can’t believe that meal was only that much!
That parade and donkey race sound AMAZING!! Haha! What a smart and COOL town. I also think it makes sense – and is a good sign – that the wine there doesn’t give you that hangover. It really shouldn’t if its all natural without the added gunk you may find in America. I am so jealous right now of all of this. Can I please join you?
It helps that the exchange rate is good, but yeah… it was much cheaper there to eat. We had a bit of sticker shock after our first meal back in the States! I think everything there is just much cleaner – the food and the wine. Even my digestion was better there!
No wonder Naploeon was ok with being exiled there. I think we need to make donkey racing a thing in the states. Not super formal, but an impromptu thing. I feel like that would go overwell. OH WAIT THAT IS THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can’t WAIT for this donkey race to end.
OH this makes me want to travel! I love visiting new places for the food and drinks. And I have ALWAYS wanted to try a truffle! I’ve never had rabbit before, I’m usually willing to try anything though. What did it taste like?
Truffles are one of life’s greatest pleasures… in my humble opinion. Vegas would disagree and opt for mashed potatoes. 😉
Rabbit is fantastic. Kind of like chicken… but a bit gamier. It’s not as weird as it sounds, I promise!
I loved how cheap the wine was and the no tipping in Italy- defintely made for some fancy meals that weren’t ridiculously expensive. I’m loving following along so I can plan my next Italy trip 🙂
I wish the States could be more like that! Sigh…
We’re already planning our next trip too. I think southern Italy is next… it’ll be hard not to go back to some of our favorites though!
Oh yummy, that day of eats looks delicious; especially that pizza on thick bread. SO much yum! 🙂 And that donkey race sounds hilarious. Donkeys are SO stubborn; so I could imagine that they would be tough to race.
That whole dinner looks amazing! Plus wine+snack plates are my favorite. Ive been super sick this week and had no appetite, but this is making me want to eat some Italian food!
something about EVERYTHING in italy, or france, or spain, or anywhere in europe doesn’t give me a headache. Like… LIFE. ugh, I miss that food and wine bro!
It’s weird, right? We both commented that we felt better there – no headaches, better digestion. Goes to show you how much crap we put in our foods here. Boo!
I Miss Italy SO MUCH! Seeing all this food makes me want to go back ASASP! have an awesome time 🙂
I love following your Italy adventures! A donkey race is hilarious. And man, that food???
This post makes me so nostalgic for Italy. Every single thing in this post looks and sounds delicious. I love a good aperol spritz. If it weren’t, like, 10 am in NYC, I’d put that on the agenda, stat.
I think 10am is a completely appropriate time for a spritz! 😉
All that food looks crazy amazing!
(I’m not sure why by the link up thinks I don’t have a backlink, but I promise I do!!)
Between the truffles and race it sounds like you were there at the exact best time.
Yes!!! I always try to go in October for that very reason. 🙂
I’m so jealous of all of your italian meals! And that croissant, and pizza, and wine. YUM!
Dear Lord that dinner. I think I just swooned.
I could curl up in that meal and stay there forever.
I’ve never been to or heard of Alba, but now I feel like I have to visit before I die. Lots of wine and no headaches, that’s my kind of party. I saw my first donkey in Greece so I can only imagine how hilarious that race was. Donkeys march to the beat of their own drum, nothing wrong with that 🙂 That shrimp and zucchini pizza made my mouth water.
Definitely bucket list-worthy! It’s my favorite place in the whole world.
Kiss from the kitchen!! Haha, there you have it!! That was what I meant with the barkeeper story, remember? Well, I got the main course meanwhile. Still waiting for dessert though, but it seems complicated, so I might skip it and just go with some real wine, lol!
I hate that I missed the donkey race. I snorted just by reading – i can picture it exactly!!
I now think of you EVERY time I have an amuse at a restaurant. 😉
The donkeys… you HAVE to go one year.
So much envy right now. I dearly miss apertivo time!
I don’t understand why every country doesn’t adopt that tradition!
Omg looks incredible! Although you definitely do tip in Italy…it’s not mandatory like in states, but it’s considered rude not to… Am from London, where we have the same attitude towards tipping.
Hmmmm… I think maybe you’re right in the bigger cities but in smaller towns it wasn’t necessary. I have a few local friends that confirmed. 😉
Everything looks delicious! I have always wanted to go to Italy!
Ooooh the wine, the dessert, the pizza… looks like heaven! Between you two and a friend of mine who got married last weekend and is currently honeymooning in Italy, I’m having serious wanderlust for Italy! Like I want to go back RIGHT NOWWWWW.
Italy is my definition of wanderlust. I know there are a million places to see, but I always want to go back there.
I just love tagging along on your travels. That donkey race was hilarious, I’m sure. I love a good wine from this region, too!