It took a couple hours to drive from Milan Malpensa Airport to the town of Alba, but the scenery along the way was wonderful. Looking forward to exploring some of the small towns and vineyards over the next week and a half.

We are both staying in Airbnb apartments this trip, which is another first for us. Our apartment is close to the train station, while Jan and Dave are staying close to the town center, but with just a five minute walk between them.

Oh those wacky Europeans and their numbering systems. Mauro dropped us off at 19 Corso Fratelli Bandieri, which one might assume was right next to number 21. And if you had assumed that, you too would have been wrong. We ended up getting some help from two very nice people. Number twenty one was actually down and around the corner. No matter, we found it.

Our owner was waiting for us when we arrived. She is of the Rinaldo family that produces wine in the region. As a treat, she left us a bottle of their Gavi, a white wine grown just outside of Alba. She showed us around the apartment, provided some information about the area and nearby restaurants, and then handed over the keys. So far, so good!

Our apartment is nice. It’s not huge, but it’s spotlessly clean, comfortable and close to some highly anticipated restaurants. It looks like they took a large apartment and made two smaller ones out of it. We are located on the second floor, which is the first floor in European terms.

After unpacking, we relaxed for a bit before taking a little walk to get the lay of the land, We really are in a great location. The train station is only about 200 meters away, there is a small store right around the corner where we can buy supplies, snacks and wine! There are also plenty of places nearby for gelato, fresh baked goods and more wine. After a few stops along the way, we headed back to the apartment with goodies in hand.

As it was dinner time and we were both hungry, we decided to find a little place nearby for a bite. We ended up at a family run Pizzeria – Pizzeria – Restarante Cincilla. It looked cute and smelled wonderful – so we asked if they could seat us. Since the sun was down and the evening air had a bit of a chill, we sat inside.

The older gentleman owner immediately greeted us and asked us something in Italian. In our whiniest reply, we had to say we didn’t understand and only knew a little Italian. However, when it came time to order, we redeemed ourselves with perfect Italian which brought a smile to his face.

We had a couple of caprese salads with ripe, succulent tomatoes, then we shared a pizza and a bottle of Pio Cesaro Barbera D’Alba. Everything was delicious! Staying on the course of redemption – a big smiling dolce – due tiramisu won them over. We truly had a wonderful time, especially being the only non-locals in the restaurant.

The coupe de grace for the evening was when we realized as we were walking out that they had given us too much change. We returned and explained -giving them back the extra. It was just a small math error, but it was worth 10 Euro to them. I think we could have called him “Papa” at that point.

We took a quiet stroll back to the apartment. The town looks nice at night and we’re looking forward to seeing it in the daylight tomorrow.