Walking Piedmont Day 3, Vergne to Monforte d'Alba, Italy: May 15, 2019

Today's destination is Monforte d'Alba. Along the way we had a museum visit in Barolo and detoured to the old village of Novello for lunch. With the detour, the distance covered was 12.09km/7.5mi, and the time projection was four hours.

Again, fabulous weather and beautiful scenery the entire way.

View of Barolo

In Barolo we visited the castle that is now the WiMu Wine Museum. The museum exhibition was a hybrid of installation art and poetry with a little bit of cultural history showing how the Falletti family once occupied their castle. It was a virtual tribute to the idea of wine and not actual wine. Wine tasting was not offered. The museum did have a beautiful view from the upper level.

Inside the WiMu Wine Museum

Continuing our walk ...,

Hill town of Novello

Novello's Medieval Tower

Once a castle, now a hotel in Novello

We had lunch and wine at a small restaurant on our way out of Novello. Neither one of us got what we thought we ordered, but it was okay. Dan ordered a hamburger expecting the sandwich we know as hamburger. He got a Piedmontese-style meat patty that had been slightly warmed on the outside. Raw minced meat is a thing in Piedmont. I thought I was getting a rucola and tomato salad with "beef ham" slices. What I received was the sliced meat with some crumbled cheese on it. The wine was nice, though.

Finally, a glimpse of Monforte d'Alba.

We were booked at the very comfortable Hotel Grappolo D'Oro on the main square. We arrived around 4:30pm with time to do a little sightseeing in Monforte d'Alba.

Hotel Grappolo D'Oro in Monforte d'Alba

We visited the large cathedral, Chiesa della Madonna della Neve (Church of the Madonna of the Snow), right behind the hotel. The interior is stunning and almost blinding as we walked in because the sun was streaming through the stained glass windows behind the altar. 

Again, it took twice as long as projected for us to reach our destination, but we enjoy sightseeing in the small villages we pass through and it's not a race.