One Year and 15 Weeks - Roman Ruins in the Vallé d'Aoste, Italy

Yvderon

We had a three-day weekend due to Pentecost and Whit Monday.  After all the recent traveling, we decided to limit our exploring to day trips.  Saturday, we drove over to Yverdon, the city on the western tip of Lake Neuchâtel and terminus of the infamous 40-km bike ride.  We wanted to check out some prices in a local sporting goods store but figured we'd take the opportunity to have lunch and stroll through town as well.  The sporting goods shop (Athleticum) was in a strip mall of sorts, and we were happy to come across Boissons Center (read Beverage Center) adjacent to Athleticum.  It had an excellent selection of beers, wines, liquors, and sodas; it was almost worth a trip to Yvderon alone.  After purchasing some beverages for later consumption, we headed to Yverdon proper to find lunch.  The Lonely Planet guide from the library suggested a crepe "diner" in town so that's where we headed.  The crepes were pretty good (M really liked her fig, goat cheese, and honey crepe), but the service was really odd.  The waiter either intentionally didn't understand us, or was arguing with us; it felt like he was trying to trick us or something.  It's a good thing for him that he doesn't work for tips--though perhaps service would improve.  After lunch, we walked about town, through the main square and by the castle, and stepped in and out of shops (including a chocolate shop!).  We even came across a rummage sale along several of the streets and had fun looking around at the "treasures" for sale.  We managed to head back to the car only a few minutes before the parking expired and the rain started.

Swiss Alps on the way to Aosta 

Sunday was the big adventure day.  We drove south to the Vallé d'Aoste (Aosta Valley) in Northern Italy.  This  region is another of the lingual anomalies in Europe.  Along the Rösti Divide in Switzerland, there are people speaking Swiss German and French.  In Alsace, France, you have people speaking French, Alsatian, and German.  And in Vallé d'Aoste, you have Italians speaking French and Italian, and supposedly a provençal patois.  A significant percentage of the signs are French and Italian, and many of the village names look much more French than they do Italian.  The region is bordered to the north by Switzerland and to the west by France.  It was ruled by the House of Savoy until the late 1800s.

To get to Aosta from Neuchâtel, you have to cross the Swiss Alps using the Great St. Bernard Pass or Tunnel.  Unlike the Goddard Tunnel, the St. Bernard Tunnel isn't free (30 SFr one-way or 48 SFr round trip), so we opted to take the scenic route.  As expected, the Pass was a chain of harrowing switchbacks with a rock wall on one side and a cliff edge (with or without a guard-rail) on the other.  One fun thing was that many of the guard-rails were made of wood logs instead of the standard steel.  Along our drive, we had beautiful scenery, with alpine lakes, snow drifts, rocky peaks, wild flowers, and waterfalls.

Roman Theater

Some of the main tourist attractions of the region (besides the beautiful scenery) are the ancient Roman ruins in the city of Aosta, the principal city in the valley.  The city was the site of a Roman colony, the Augusta Praetoria Salassorum, sometime in the first century BC.  The ancient town walls are very well preserved and a good portion are still standing.  The old south gate of the town, known as the Porta Praetoria, is a double arched gate in the center of modern-day Aosta.  After we parked our car near the large Arco d'Augusto, built in 35 BC to commemorate a victory over the ancient local peoples, we walked down one of Aosta's main streets to the Porta Praetoria.

M at the Roman Theater in Aosta

From there, we followed the ancient wall until we reached the roman theater.  It was surprising to see how well-intact one of the walls was, and it seemed strange to see Roman ruins up in the Alps (I generally associate them with more mild or temperate climes).  The site is open free to the public, and we were able to walk around on the footpaths cutting through the site.  Next to the theater is the Tour Fromage (named after a family, not cheese).  It was one of the original Roman towers, but what seemed most interesting was that it houses a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci; unfortunately, we couldn't seem to figure out how to get inside or if it is even open to the public ever.  So we walked around it and looked at its exterior.

Town of Aosta

We had lunch at an outdoor Bruschetteria in Piazza Chanoux.  It included a mixed salad, a vegetarian bruschetta (the largest piece of toast I have ever seen with pizza-like toppings on it), and a plate with locally produced cheese, including a fontina cheese known as Fontina Val d'Aosta.  In addition to enjoying the view of the surrounding mountains, we had fun watching the biker gangs pull into the piazza while we sipped our fizzy red wine.

Aosta Cathedral

After lunch, we stopped in the cathedral, which originally dates from the 4th century but which has a 19th century neoclassical facade.  The cathedral had several vibrant frescoes and houses a treasury museum (which was closed).  We then rambled through the Roman cryptoporticus next door.  The cryptoporticus is all that's left now of the old Roman forum.  The part open to the public consists of three long, practically subterranean hallways with arches cutting each hallway lengthwise.  They had great mood-lighting in the tunnels/hallways, and it was neat to think how old the structure was.   M was a bit disappointed that photos were not allowed

Castello di Fénis

We wandered back through town, grabbed some gelato (green apple for K and biscotto for M), and headed back to the car.  Since it was a rather long drive (3+ hours) to Aosta, we wanted to take the opportunity to see a little more of the region since we had plenty of daylight left.  We decided to see one of the many castelli in the valley.  We decided on the medieval Castello di Fénis, a 15 minute drive east of Aosta.  Once we arrived, we waited about 20-minutes for the tour to start.  Then we followed the Italian-speaking tour guide through the open parts of the castle.  There were plaques/signs in the rooms, some in Italian and French and some with English.  But it was really difficult to figure out what the guide was talking about.  Upon further reflexion, we probably should have asked some questions in French to get a little more out of the tour.  Regardless, we did get to see interesting rooms within the castle.  The highlights of the castle included several frescoes (one featuring St. George slaying a dragon and rescuing a princess) and artisinal pieces of period furniture.

K in the Alps

After the castello, we decided to start the long, winding drive home.  On the drive over the Alps, we stopped to walk around a little bit and play in the snow.  We stopped at a turnout, and then climbed over the rocky terrain.  While K dipped a finger in the snowmelt stream, M felt she needed some refreshment so imbibed some fresh Alpine water; we'll see if she gets any intestinal parasites...  As M was taking her chances with Alpine cholera, K scrambled up a mountain hill and spotted a marmot.  Once M finally figured out where K had run off to, she scrambled herself up the mountain hill.   We both watched the plump furry creature bounding on the snow and rocks until he disappeared into a crevice.  We found the easy way back down to the car and made our way home.

Monday, we chilled at home and did some "spring cleaning."

Lessons learned:

1. You can get gelato on a stick!
2. St. Bernards are no longer used as search and rescue dogs in the Alps.  However, you can buy a stuffed toy dog all over the St. Bernard region, from Martigny, Switzerland to Aosta.

One year and 14 weeks - Alsace, California, and Milan

Yes, we have been delinquent bloggers.  No good excuses really.

Breakfast on the patio in Huningue

Shortly after our trip to Ireland, we made our way up to Huningue, France again to see Mike and Christina before they left Europe.  After a year assignment, they were headed back to California.  We drove up Saturday night, and then we went wine tasting in Alsace on Sunday.  Just about every place we stopped was closed, but the people were so friendly that when we asked they said to come in anyway.  We drove up the Wine Road to Barr and then worked our way back south.  At one winery we stopped at in Dambach-la-Ville, we had a show on top of a tasting.  The proprietors were this really old Alsatian couple.  The elderly lady was running the tasting room.  She wound up pouring wine all over the table either due to not being to see the small tasting glasses or having lost some hand eye coordination.  We decided to buy a couple of bottles, so we followed her to the small warehouse behind their house, where first there was a search for the key to open the warehouse, and then once it was open, there was a treasure hunt to find the bottles of wine we had just paid for.  Quite fun!  After a few wineries, we finished with a big lunch in Ribeauvillé.  We had planned to cover a lot more ground, but we ran out of time.  Along the way, we tried Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Edelzwicker, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner and Auxerrois.  It was an enjoyable day in wine country.

We did host another apero in early May with some rhubarb pie that K baked, some home brew, and savory snacks.  The middle of May was consumed by M's support of an FDA audit going on at a sister plant in Israel; she remained in Neuchâtel.  This support included a Sunday at work since the Israeli work week runs from Sunday to Thursday.  Therefore, her weekend was cut short.

A day after the audit ended, we packed up some Swiss chocolates and headed to Northern California for a week.  The purpose of the trip to California was two-fold: 1) visit with old friends and 2) allow M to finally take the Culinary Institute of America's (CIA's) Baking and Pastry Arts Career Discovery class.  On point 1, we certainly succeeded.  After 28+ hours of travel from Switzerland, we spent the first half of the trip at Mary and Jack's goat farm in the Capay valley.  Sunday, the day after we arrived, Mary and Jack hosted a barbecue with some of our old coworkers from Alza.  We enjoyed corn on the cob, grilled tofu/tri-tip, and plenty of great conversation and catching-up.

Monday, arising before Bjorn the rooster could muster a cock-a-doodle-doo, M drove from the farm to St. Helena in Napa Valley for class at the CIA's Greystone campus.  Class ran from 7 am to 1:30 pm, Monday to Friday and consisted of a relatively short lecture followed by hands on baking and pâtisserie-ing.  It also included breakfast and lunch, composed of items prepared and cooked by the short-term and long-term students at the CIA; the food was awesome, and it was difficult not be completely stuffed after lunch.  The class itself was taught by Chef Brown, an instructor at the school, who was obviously going much easier on this short term class than the long term students, but who also gave plenty of constructive feedback.  For the class, we were split into pairs; each pair had one or two "products" to make each day.  Over the course of the week, M and her partner made walnut shortbread, lemon meringue pie, currant scones, rosemary and olive bread, orange pannetone, pretzels, and orange coconut truffles (all in commercial quantities...think 20ish loaves of rosemary and olive bread).  Additionally, she got to cook naan in a tandoori oven and watch a half dozen other demos on various baked goods/sweets.

M's creations during the week (minus the rosemary bread)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...K busied himself with shopping ("alright! $20 slacks!"), eating mexican food, drinking beer (a big thank you to all our friends that remembered Brother Thelonius is K's favorite beer), and relaxing.  He met up with several work friends for lunch and stopped by the old plant to say hi.  He also managed to take a nap in the Northern California sun and get a sunburn on his feet; now that's a sign of a relaxing vacation!

Towards the end of the week, the Boltons moved from the farm to the small town of Winters to stay with Steph, Matt, and Andy.  It was our first chance to meet Andy in person, who was born a couple of months after we moved from California.  He was a cute, happy one-year-old!  We hung out with Matt and Steph and watched the toddler toddle about for entertainment.  Friday night, we went out for a Thai dinner and Czech dessert in Davis.  Saturday, M had a stomach bug and was pretty much confined to bed; K went out with Matt and Steph to the Davis Farmer's Market and then had pizza for lunch.  Sunday, we went to Kim and Blake's house in Davis for a cookout they were hosting in our honor.  (What awesome friends!)  As always at their home, we had totally awesome food and Blake's now world-famous margaritas (at least famous in the Bolton Swiss household).  It was an excellent way to close out our California trip.

Early Monday morning, we drove back to San Francisco airport to start our travels back to Switzerland.  We arrived mid Tuesday morning in Zurich.  After we got home, hugged the cats, cleaned up after the cats, and did some errands, we tried to keep ourselves awake. We managed not to fall asleep until 8:30.

Since Thursday was the Ascension and Friday was an extra day off, we only had one day at the office this week, Wednesday.  Thursday, M slept in and K spent the morning decoding our 2010 Swiss tax documents; the rest of the day was spent lazing about and giving our kitties much needed attention.

Pizza in Lugano

Friday morning, we were off again, this time headed for Milan.  Milan is about a 4 hour drive from Neuchatel, through the Swiss Italian canton of Ticino.  Pretty much as soon as we exited the 17-km long Gotthard tunnel (Gottardo), the signage all switched from German to Italian.  The area was really beautiful with grapes growing on the sides of mountains, long, skinny waterfalls, and several lakes.  We had lunch in Lugano on the edge of Lake Lugano- pizza of course!  Then we took a very brief walk around town and got a scoop of gelato.  The town was so cute, and M is anxious to come back to Ticino for a weekend.  After our leisurely lunch, we headed back to the highway to complete the last hour to Milan.    We found our hotel on the outskirts with little difficulty and parked the car on the sidewalk as the locals do.  After a short nap, we took the tram into Milano city center.

Duomo di Milano

We started our early evening walk at the Duomo, the cathedral that is the symbol of Milan.  Construction on this decorative cathedral began in the late 1300s; it is the fourth largest cathedral in the world and is known as Italy's most important gothic cathedral.  The inticate facade is really breath-taking.  And although the cathedral has no bell tower, it does have the gilded Madonnina (the city's protector) atop one of its spires.  Next door to the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a sort of upscale, open air Italian mall built in the late 1800s.  It was one of the first structures of its kind built with glass and cast iron, and it is famous for the murals and mosaics in the center of the building, as well as the shops and cafes inside and around the perimeter.  An interesting and unfortunate fact is that the architect of the building, Mengoni, fell to his death from the glass dome just prior to the building's completion. 

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

After leaving the mall, we found the smaller than expected La Scala opera house, behind the galleria and then strolled around various streets, getting in some window shopping.  We had dinner at a foodie restaurant (Pane e Vino) that had both a classic menu and a modern menu.  We split a salad of raw artichoke hearts, fava beans and pine nuts.  For dinner, M had chestnut gnocchi with pumpkin soup and amaretti, and K had lobster linguine.  The food was ok, but it was fun to be a little adventurous.  A Müller-Thurgau wine from the next region over complimented the meal.

Top of the Duomo di Milano

Top of Duomo di Milano

Saturday morning, we headed back to the Piazza del Duomo, and decided to walk up the steps to the top of the Duomo.  On the roof, we were afforded not only excellent views of the piazza and the rest of the city, but also had the opportunity to see the flying buttresses, pinnacles, and spires up close.  It was amazing the level of detail on the spires, but also the walls, where no one would ever see it other than pigeons and foreign tourists hundreds of years later.  After descending from the top of the Duomo, we headed west to the Castello Sforzesco to peak around its courtyards and stroll through the Parco Sempione behind it.

Interior of Castello Sforzesco

At the Castello, we caught a bite to eat next to the fountain while we watched the street vendors and living statutes.  Then we tailed it over to Brera to visit the Pinecoteca di Brera, one of Milan's top art galleries.  In the pinectoteca, we saw Rembrandt, Carvaggio, Hayes, and Titian.  Our favorite painting was Carvaggio's Cena in Emmaus, which exhibited a high skill of capturing light.  From the gallery, we crossed town in search of the Navigli area, known for its bars and cafes, which had been recommended to M by a Milanese coworker.  We did eventually find the area but not before we both had been almost completely broken by the walk.  (M's feet and K's ankles had both been in better condition.)  We had a rejuvenating gelato and beer before we headed back toward the city center.

We decided to have dinner in the Brera district in which we had seen numerous shops, cafes and restaurants.  M ordered risotto alla milanese (saffron risotto) and spinaci (spinach); K ordered penne all'arrabiata and lamb chops.  We got the risotto and penne pretty fast, and it was delicious, but then we seemed to wait and wait for the rest of the food.  Finally, one of the waiters came by and asked us if we wanted dessert, and we said that we wanted the rest of what we had ordered; the food then came out in about 10 minutes.  The food was worth the wait, as it was yummy spinach, and K couldn't stop raving about the chops.  Then, however, we needed to get the bill.  Again we waited and waited and tried to get our waiter's attention to ask for "Il conto, per favore?," but we couldn't seem to flag him down.  After half an hour, he finally understood we wanted the bill and brought us one...but not ours.  Che comedia!  Eventually, we were able to flag down another waiter who brought us the right bill, and then offered us a plate of biscotti and limoncello on the house.  We were happy to accept the recompense and were in excellent spirits as we caught the tram back to the hotel.

Sunday morning, we drove back to Neuchâtel.  We got caught in traffic at the Gotthard tunnel, which added an additional 45 minutes to our drive, but nothing terrible.

Lessons learned:

1) I haven't been whipping my egg whites long enough!
2) On the way back from Milan, I got to wondering where we could go by traveling in the car so I made a map to demonstrate travel time and places from Neuchatel. Each "circle" of color indicates another hour in the car. The markers don't necessarily indicate where we've traveled, only to where we could travel.

View Neuchâtel Travel Map in a larger map
3) If you're planning on shopping in the US, take more than one empty suitcase.
4) Enough said...