Alba White Truffle Fest - Wkd. of Oct. 28

For the weekend, a group of friends went to Alba for the annual white truffle fest in Piemonte, Italy.  This was a festival that I had been to my first year in Geneva with the Baleskys and my 3rd time to the Piemonte region (last trip was August 2016 with the Bellgraphs).

The group of 9 of us rented a house one top of one of the hills on the vineyards outside of Alba and then there were two other groups of friends in the area staying in other locations.

Sunset on the drive in

On Friday, we drove from Geneva and the first thing that we noticed along the drive was it was quite foggy after entering Italy.  After further research, we discovered that 30km west of Turin that there were several wildfires and this led to the poor visibility.  Luckily, the smoke was noticeable for breathing, but it did it down on some of the views of the vineyards.  Once reaching Alba, we dropped off our gear and settled prior to going to dinner.  We had dinner at Vinoteca Centro Storico, which is near the castle in the nearby town of Serralunga; the place was great!

Serralunga from above

Chef at the restaurant carving Serrano for appetizers

The following morning we had planned a guided truffle hunt with a truffle hunter and his two dogs where we learned about the truffle and the ‘hunting’ season and it was all quite interesting.  While searching for truffles, our group found 2 black truffles and 1 white truffle and it was fun to see the dogs search the forest floors and then begin to dig when catching an aroma.

Truffle hunter

Truffle Hunting

Post truffle hunt

The remainder of the day was spent in Alba at the trufflefest.  The festival is a large tent with farmer/vendors selling truffle and other truffle flavor foods.  We used the opportunity to purchase an assortment of food as the group (9 from our house and the 9 others in the area from Geneva) had a giant pasta family-style dinner where we were staying that night.

Truffles at the trufflefest

Dinner is served

The following morning, we did a wine tasting in the area to re-stock on Barolo and Barbarescos before driving back to Geneva.

Short movie that one of the people on the trip created:

Fall Soccer Matches (Milan - 10/15 and London - 10/22)

Continuing on a goal to see some of the major European soccer teams while living abroad as noted in the Paris post; I went to the Milan to see Inter vs AC at San Siro and then London to see Tottenham vs Liverpool at Wembley.

Milan - Wkd. Oct. 14

I traveled to Milan with Bryan on Sunday for the game that same day; Milan is quite easy to travel to as there is a 4 hour train from Geneva.  We stayed with a friend of his who was a PwC US employee he had known from the US and was now on secondment.

Up to the game, we did our own walking/eating tour of Milan:

- Pizzeria Spontini near the Duomo

- Rice Ball near Naviglio Pavese-

The game was at 9pm was the stereotypical experience that you would expect from a European soccer match between two rival teams (city rivals) with screaming fans.  The stadium was quite large compared to others in Europe (80k vs 40k capacity).  The game had plenty of excitement as the final was 3-2 with the tiebreaker being a controversial penalty kick at the 89’.

Following the game, we had pizza again and then took the train home the following morning to return to work.  Coincidentally, I received a note that morning for an audit in Italy and the individual we stayed with was joining a team I was working with so it was helpful to meet face-to-face.

London - Wkd. Oct. 21

The following weekend of the Milan trip, I had planned a trip to go to London to see some friends from when I lived in Royal Oak (Jamie, Yanai, Adam, and Milena) while they were traveling the UK for two weeks along with another friend that had moved to London when I moved to Geneva (Kate).  Coincidentally, I had to be in London already for work already.

While in London, we went to the the School of Rock musical on Friday and the British Museum/National Gallery on Saturday.  On Sunday, we then went to the game before the full group flew out at various times on Monday.  

The game atmosphere was quite different from the other game as there were very few away fans or at least they were quite secretive about it so.  The game was quite exciting as there were many goals (4-1 final score) and we were quite close to the field.

Food in London was a good change of pace from the French cuisine of Geneva and Italian food in Milan.  On Sunday, we had a large roast dinner at the neighboring pub from where we were staying.  I also was sure to visit Chipotle once in the trip to get some spicy food given there are not many Mexican food options near me.

Both trips were a blast with not much sleep, Milan was day trip where I returned the next morning via train and in London, I flew Friday morning to be at work on time and left Monday morning to do the same (two 4am mornings); wouldn't do it any other way!

Oktoberfest (Wkd. Sept. 23) and Trail Runs (Oct. 8)

So the two trips included in this post could not be further opposites...

Munich - Oktoberfest - Wkd. Sept. 23rd

As a break from work, I went to Oktoberfest this year for my 4th time (2011, 2015, 2016, 2017) and my 6th time in Munich.

I spent the trip with a few Hastings friends (Paul) and then also some old friends from Royal Oak and Switzerland (Brad, John, Pat) and we had a fun few days in the tents and on the carnival rides of Oktoberfest.  We stayed very close to Oktoberfest and went to the HB, Hacker-Pschorr, and Schottenhanmel tents.  We also had our fill of German food eating in the area; needless to say and consistent with my prior trip, I was excited to see vegetables/fruits when returning home!

Royal Oak Crew

Hastings Crew

Let me know if any of you plan a trip to Europe as I feel like I could be a tour guide after visiting this city more times as a tourist than any other location in Europe.

Vallee de Joux - 8 Oct.

Trail Valle de Joux is a 22km trail race in the Jura mountains, which are about 1 hour by car from Geneva.  A group of friends decided to try a trail race and trained together during the weeks up to the race and then we had a potluck dinner the night with the group the evening before the race.

Before

The style of race is very typical in Switzerland, but something that I had never experienced.  I would compare it to more of a speed hike than a true run given the inclines are at a degree where almost all participants are walking.  The declines were then steep, rocky descents where runners would try to remain on the paths while dodging rocks to avoid a sprained ankle.  Our race was one peak ascent in the middle followed by one descent; however, typically these races are 50-160km and have multiple peaks.

Climb to the top!

Crossing the Top of the Mountain

The day after I was extremely sore consistent with what I would feel following a Marathon.  When training for the race, I did road runs of almost twice the distance of the trail run; it was different set of muscles from what I was accustomed.  The race was very pretty and I would do another.  

After

Of course the Swiss/French give out wheels of cheese and wine to every finisher!