Christmas and New Year 2006/7
Developments in the house
There had been some improvements in the house. First of all,
the builders had cleared the chimney
The flames work well even when you leave them alone
The builders had also finished the garage, here from the back
And here is the brand new electric door
And here is the swimming pool in its winter suit
Asti
We had two lunches in Asti, both notable for the quality of the
Piedmontese antipasti. Here are the New Year group on the way
from the station to MHasta
As a bonus, we finally got to visit the beautiful baptistry in the San
Pietro complex, which has been in ristauro almost as long as our house.
The walls are adorned with tombstones of notable clerics, such as
Francesco Faschio
There was also a 12th Century tombstone
Aqui Terme
We also went to Acqui to see the remains of the Roman aquaduct (I was
driving, so no chance of a photo, but you can find one here)
There are still hot springs
and a cathedral dedicated to St Gui.
The first builder was perhaps the Guy in question
as the inscription names Wido as the builder. The cathedral is
lamentably baroque, but contains both a decent mediaeval crypt
And a rather beautiful 15th Century Madonna of Monserrat
Alba
We revisited Alba to relive one of Anne and Roger's memorable lunches,
and to see the villages of La Morra and Barolo.
Amusingly, we (inevitably) found a market on this Christmas Eve sunday,
where I bought three bottles of Dolcetto from a producer who turns out
to be a neighbour.
Here we are at Lamorra, where it was getting dark, and we couldn't find
a degustatione open
Looking across to Grinzano
Although it was really too dark for photos by the time we got to
Barolo, at least we found someone to sell us a dozen of Barbera, as
well as a couple of bottles of the expensive stuff.
Turin
Egyptian Museum
We took the New Year team to Turin to see the Egytpology museum.
The statues are still staggering the second time around
Maybe this one inside was only 12 feet tall?
Only six feet tall, but much wider
Lastly, pure basalt, and a good 8 feet tall
On a smaller scale, here was a rather decent box in the section on the development of writing and painting
Palaces
Turin, of course, has more to see than just the Egyptians to celebrate.
Some of the palaces could have given the architects of Keble the
idea of "doing" a style in brick. Here si the Palazzo Carignano,
with Guarini showing his imagination in red brick.
Victorio Emmanuele II was born in this building, which at first made us
think it could be a hospital. More classically here is the
Palazzo Reale
And the Piazza Castello as dusk fell.
Turin rather easily won the Christmas Decoration stakes
Countryside
Here is the panorama we took on the way to Acqui
Yes, those really are the Alps you can see in the distance. Here they are (in zoom) from the church terrace in Bruno
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Mike Murphy