Northern Italy- not all beers and skittles

A little cooling off after a hard days work

Our two weeks went very quickly with our generous HelpX hosts, Julie , Peter & daughter Sophie, Smudgy & Tiddles (the stray dog & cat that moved in with them years ago) , in the Piedmont region, Northern Italy.

Our Hosts home in the centre of the picture,
looking out across the vineyards of Peidmont

Beautifully landscaped property

Not all sunbathing & beers!

A beautiful hilly landscape that has the UNESCO protection for it's vineyards and wine production techniques that have been around since 5th century BC. With steep gullys that are well protected from erosion through centuries of careful cultivation, covered mostly in grapes and Hazelnut trees. The chocolate company Ferrero (the worlds largest consumer of hazelnuts) home factory is in nearby Alba, makers of  Ferro Rocher, Nutella & the famous Kinder Surprises. Piedmont is well known as a wine producer of white and red wines second to none, in some opinions, and our hosts had many to try with our meals. We came away with some lovely wine from the neighbour  Brusalino's vineyard, a Chardonnay with just a hint off sparkle which we will get to enjoy over the next few weeks.

A bit of Bull in Turin

We  settled into a routine of work in the morning (usually 3 hrs), a lovely swim to cool off before lunch around 2.00pm, and then a rest period till 5.00pm when it was cool enough to return to work for the last hour before having another much needed swim. My work was gardening, helping Julie in their park like property, just getting on top of weeds from the end of the Spring flush, and trimming back borders. They have a lot of paths criss crossing the property, so initially it took a bit of time sorting where I was and wanted to go (my sense of direction isn't the greatest at the best of times, as Bill will confirm!). So over the days, we would have clocked up quite a few kms.

Peter & Smudgy ready for lunch

Peter & Julie were in the process of putting in an IKEA kitset kitchen, 3/4's completed, so Bill was happy to help Peter install the integrated dishwasher & fridge, and move the oven to it's higher position. Julie enjoys cooking and created many alfresco lunches and dinners for us while we stayed with them, mostly using their fresh produce. Amazing how many dishes one can make with courgettes Julie! All delicious.
Bill also helped Peter in the garden to bring down the height of the trees along the back of the pool & house that were putting shade over the solar panels, reducing the amount of power gain that could have been possible, and with receiving payment for putting power back into the grid, well worth doing.

The Towers of Alba

Looking across the chimneys of Neivey

Initially we worked more than the 4 hours expected daily, to build up hours so we could take a few days off. We had a day in Turino, went in by train from Asti (Yes Asti wines) 20 mins away. Turino is a lovely old town full of portico walkways, so whether it was wet or too hot (as it was on the day we were there) you have protection from the weather.

Also had a day out visiting the small local village of Neive (Navy), a beautifully maintained historic village full of churches of course. From there we went onto another lovely town of Alba, very pleasant to walk around and have a beer & gelato

The face rings a bell!

to help keep the temperature down. City of 100 towers as it was known in medieval times. For defence of course as the town was on the flat and you needed to keep an eye out on your enemy, that is your neighbours and friends!!!!
P&J took us to a weekly market where Julie & I managed to buy the same tops. Pity we won't get a chance to wear them out together till you come out to NZ Julie. We also went out to their local Craft Brewery, which was lovely to experience the local Italian beers.                                              

This is a 400mm Pizza

Very similar industry to NZ's craft brewers. Just as passionate here, and with Julie's history of owning her own Pub's back in England, both Peter & Julie enjoy trying the different brews on offer.

Julie giving a description
of the local brews

We also went out to a "local" (half hour drive) Pizzeria, where we had the most impressive sized pizza's, enough left over for lunches the next day. But Julie's own standard of Pizza's was up there too.
So with lovely local beers, local wines and a bit of Grappa & Sambuca to finish some of the nights off, we were well looked after. We had thought we might loose a little weight while working hard, but think with all the food and drinks, we stayed about the same. Certainly never perspired as much as we did during our stay.
We are now off to central Italy, returning to Montemiletto, where we were a year ago, and catch up with niece Amanda, hubby Rico, and children Luna & Caio for a few days before planning the next stage of our travels.

Art in the Gardens of Turin