Walking Piedmont Day 2, Roddi to Vergne, Italy: May 14, 2019

In the distance, Mt Monviso and the Alps viewed from the Commune of Roddi

This first day of walking we were delivered by van to the Commune of Roddi, a hill town not far from Alba, to begin our walk. Roddi, a hill town, has a castle and a truffle dog university. Pre 1950s, pigs were used to sniff out valuable truffles. Since the 1950s, the sniffers are dogs. The best truffle dogs are mongrels (mixed breed) called Tabui in local Piedmontese dialect. Also used for truffle hunting are breeds such as water dog, griffon, and Italian pointers.

The distance from Roddi to Vergne is 15.10km/9.38 mi. Our walking guide suggests that it will take us 4 hours to cover that distance.

The weather was beautiful and locust trees perfumed the air. We walked through picturesque vineyards and hazelnut orchards enjoying spectacular views of the Alps along the way.

Church entrance in Verduno 

We walked through wooded areas, across several hills, through the town of Verduno (another hill town), past wheat fields, and into the town of La Morra where we stopped for a lovely lunch with wine.

La Morra is about the half-way point. We've walked four hours.

After lunch we roamed around beautiful La Morra with its spectacular views below of where we'd been and where we're headed.

Just before arriving at our stop for the night, we walked through a wildflower meadow with flowers almost waist high.

We stumbled into the hamlet of Vergne around 4:00 pm - seven hours which included lots of photo taking, sightseeing, and lunch.

Particulars:
Lodging at Agriturismo Ca' San Ponzio a lovely, restored old farm house now owned by the grandsons of the former owner.
Restaurant Buon Padre is the only restaurant in the hamlet of Vergne, but it is fabulous and worth the walk.