7Oct12 Alba
Off to an early start. Problem is that i am not feeling well. We are heading off to Alba to the truffle festival, medieval parade and donkey races. Alba is Italy's truffle capital and main market.October is the height of the white truffle season, with the highest prices and the fiercest competition among both hunters and buyers.
Thank goodness for toilets on trains as my stomach contents get ejected within minutes of travel. I would rather not be traveling today but Vanessa is looking forward to the day so we push on. We initially have to transfer between large stations in Turin then at a remote station. It is Italian chaos as usual when we get to the station. The local people are heading to Alba as well and there are 3 trains at the station and no one seems to know which is going to Alba. We can only wait and see.... Eventually the Alba train is revealed and we all pile on and are at our destination soon enough. we have no map but figure we will just head into the old town and look around. It is not long before we find the truffle show, pay our 2 euro and head in. Fresh truffles galore and Vanessa tells me after smelling a few that they smell like dirty socks (She refutes that now and says earthy). We sample everything in sight and particularly like a white truffle spread on biscuit. I got interviewed and showed my ignorance of truffles in Australia as I only knew that they were in Tasmania but not mainland Australia but Vanessa tells me that there are truffles harvested in Canberra . I wanted to buy a truffle and ended up with a small black one. Not quite sure what to do with it now?
We heard the sound of drums in the distance so headed off and followed the sound to find a group in medieval dress parading with flag bearers. We watched for a while before noticing a sign to tourist information and followed it along until we found the office and a very helpful girl filled us up with information. We headed off with our map and went to purchase our tickets for the donkey race. The Donkey Race, now in its 52nd year, is a light-hearted celebration of the rivalry between Alba districts. It traces its origins to 1275, when the neighbouring town of Asti conquered Alba. The citizens of Alba decided to mock the triumphant people of Asti by creating their own palio - but instead of racing the finest horses, they chose the humble donkey.
The ticket queue was interesting. There were two ticket boxes without a great deal of information so I went in one queue and Vanessa the other. It didn't take long before a rude Italian queue jumped me but was the only one other than a granny who tried to cut in at the front near the ticket counter but i was having none of that rubbish and blocked her maneuver. I ended up with a seated ticket when asking for a standing ticket but was glad to get anything. It turned out that the queues were for numbered and unnumbered seats. We got the latter.
Vanessa and I headed back to the train station to purchase our return tickets in anticipation of a rush later in the day. We noticed a sign to fererra chocolate factory so followed the signs for about 1km only to find a factory but no factory outlet. Maybe we didn't look hard enough but gave up and returned to the old town.The smell of chocolate and roasted hazelnuts permeates the air around Alba so Vanessa thinks that it would be like living in a jar of Nuttella or Ferrerra Roche 24/7
We wandered around the streets. Quite challenging to make progress with thousands of italians living in their own worlds. I often want to yell at them to demand order but i guess it would not be Italy without the chaos and i am the visitor. Order is so easy and would make the place work so much better. I was feeling better by midday.
We found a seat and sat down for lunch before heading off to the main road to grab a position for the medieval parade. Groups of people in medieval dress were heading to the starting point so we got a sneak preview. It was not long before the parade started and there were over 2000 people expected. Quite impressive with the drum, flags and costumes. The stand was filling up and we wondered whether we should head off and find a seat.
It turned out that the stands were quite full by the time we arrived but the show had not started. The tickets were for a medieval show and the donkey races. Bonus we thought. It was a shame not to see the complete parade but we looked forward to the show. We managed to get seats we quite good views. Then watched the show start and go on and on and on. we did enjoy the show but it was in italian so could not understand the stories but the displays and costumes were great. The highlight was when one of the medieval riders fell off his horse and it wasn't part of the show. Unfortunately for him he probably fractured a wrist in the accident.
It was 5pm before the donkey races started. We were not sure whether the donkeys would be well behaved but even before the race they were being difficult. So it was a laugh a minute when the race started with some running well and others refusing to budge. The riders having trouble were paying up to the crowd but not making progress. Very funny.
We expected to have 1hr to spare but should have realised the italians would be late so ended up having to leave before the 3rd and final race. It was a good move as the train was small and we managed to get seats. It was not long before the train was full. I figured that the italians would not have put on a larger train for the festival and was correct.
We ended up back at Turin and only need to transfer stations. We jumped on the Milan train and were sure it would stop at our station. It was a nervous wait when the train sped off but slowed 10 minutes later to stop at Porta Sussa. We knew that it was only a short walking distance (2km) but the train must take a longer path.
Pizza for dinner. We shaved the truffle onto our pizza. Probably will be considered heathens for this action and could not really taste the difference.7Oct12 Alba
Off to an early start. Problem is that i am not feeling well. We are heading off to Alba to the truffle festival, medieval parade and donkey races. Alba is Italy's truffle capital and main market.October is the height of the white truffle season, with the highest prices and the fiercest competition among both hunters and buyers.
Thank goodness for toilets on trains as my stomach contents get ejected within minutes of travel. I would rather not be traveling today but Vanessa is looking forward to the day so we push on. We initially have to transfer between large stations in Turin then at a remote station. It is Italian chaos as usual when we get to the station. The local people are heading to Alba as well and there are 3 trains at the station and no one seems to know which is going to Alba. We can only wait and see.... Eventually the Alba train is revealed and we all pile on and are at our destination soon enough. we have no map but figure we will just head into the old town and look around. It is not long before we find the truffle show, pay our 2 euro and head in. Fresh truffles galore and Vanessa tells me after smelling a few that they smell like dirty socks (She refutes that now and says earthy). We sample everything in sight and particularly like a white truffle spread on biscuit. I got interviewed and showed my ignorance of truffles in Australia as I only knew that they were in Tasmania but not mainland Australia but Vanessa tells me that there are truffles harvested in Canberra . I wanted to buy a truffle and ended up with a small black one. Not quite sure what to do with it now?
We heard the sound of drums in the distance so headed off and followed the sound to find a group in medieval dress parading with flag bearers. We watched for a while before noticing a sign to tourist information and followed it along until we found the office and a very helpful girl filled us up with information. We headed off with our map and went to purchase our tickets for the donkey race. The Donkey Race, now in its 52nd year, is a light-hearted celebration of the rivalry between Alba districts. It traces its origins to 1275, when the neighbouring town of Asti conquered Alba. The citizens of Alba decided to mock the triumphant people of Asti by creating their own palio - but instead of racing the finest horses, they chose the humble donkey.
The ticket queue was interesting. There were two ticket boxes without a great deal of information so I went in one queue and Vanessa the other. It didn't take long before a rude Italian queue jumped me but was the only one other than a granny who tried to cut in at the front near the ticket counter but i was having none of that rubbish and blocked her maneuver. I ended up with a seated ticket when asking for a standing ticket but was glad to get anything. It turned out that the queues were for numbered and unnumbered seats. We got the latter.
Vanessa and I headed back to the train station to purchase our return tickets in anticipation of a rush later in the day. We noticed a sign to fererra chocolate factory so followed the signs for about 1km only to find a factory but no factory outlet. Maybe we didn't look hard enough but gave up and returned to the old town.The smell of chocolate and roasted hazelnuts permeates the air around Alba so Vanessa thinks that it would be like living in a jar of Nuttella or Ferrerra Roche 24/7
We wandered around the streets. Quite challenging to make progress with thousands of italians living in their own worlds. I often want to yell at them to demand order but i guess it would not be Italy without the chaos and i am the visitor. Order is so easy and would make the place work so much better. I was feeling better by midday.
We found a seat and sat down for lunch before heading off to the main road to grab a position for the medieval parade. Groups of people in medieval dress were heading to the starting point so we got a sneak preview. It was not long before the parade started and there were over 2000 people expected. Quite impressive with the drum, flags and costumes. The stand was filling up and we wondered whether we should head off and find a seat.
It turned out that the stands were quite full by the time we arrived but the show had not started. The tickets were for a medieval show and the donkey races. Bonus we thought. It was a shame not to see the complete parade but we looked forward to the show. We managed to get seats we quite good views. Then watched the show start and go on and on and on. we did enjoy the show but it was in italian so could not understand the stories but the displays and costumes were great. The highlight was when one of the medieval riders fell off his horse and it wasn't part of the show. Unfortunately for him he probably fractured a wrist in the accident.
It was 5pm before the donkey races started. We were not sure whether the donkeys would be well behaved but even before the race they were being difficult. So it was a laugh a minute when the race started with some running well and others refusing to budge. The riders having trouble were paying up to the crowd but not making progress. Very funny.
We expected to have 1hr to spare but should have realised the italians would be late so ended up having to leave before the 3rd and final race. It was a good move as the train was small and we managed to get seats. It was not long before the train was full. I figured that the italians would not have put on a larger train for the festival and was correct.
We ended up back at Turin and only need to transfer stations. We jumped on the Milan train and were sure it would stop at our station. It was a nervous wait when the train sped off but slowed 10 minutes later to stop at Porta Sussa. We knew that it was only a short walking distance (2km) but the train must take a longer path.
Pizza for dinner. We shaved the truffle onto our pizza. Probably will be considered heathens for this action and could not really taste the difference.
