Looks like we are back in business with internet, so we’ll have a few posts to get us caught up.

Just south of Alba is the Cerreto Winery with the huge bubble that looks like a grape.  It was on Stephanie’s list of things to do, so here’s us “doing” it! No wine for us since we were on the moto.

Today’s roads were great – we finally got to lean the bike!

The back roads we travel are full of farms, crops and farm equipment.  It’s not unusual to see a guy, driving his tractor like a sports car, with equipment attached.

We rolled in to a larger town and decided it was time for lunch.  TripAdvisor lead us to Il Monclavo – inside the walls of an old palace in Acqui Terme, Italy. We were there at an off time and had to ring a bell to get in.  The kind gentleman let us in and seated us – we were the only ones there.  After getting our drinks, he introduced a sweet lady that spoke to us in British English which was pretty funny.  She said her Italian in a British accent throws people off.  She suggested we have their truffle pasta as they had just received their first truffles of the season, so we had €10 worth (i.e. not much) shaved on our shared pasta dish (yep, we are finally learning).

We did a drive by of the Shrine Basilica of our Lady of Our Guard , but decided to forgo the tour to ensure that we arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure before sunset.  For a second, we thought venison would be on the dinner menu.

The views of the day were also amazing.  Stephanie whips out her camera, but sometimes video shows them better.

We ate supper near the marina, strolled the pier, looked at the yachts, and finished off the night with gelato.

After seeing Portofino, Stephanie was very happy that we stayed in Santa Margherita Ligure. As you head down the coast from Rapallo to Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, the costs go up and so do the hills.  Portofino is seemingly more exclusive, but with that comes HUGE hills and sets of steps to get to your accommodations.  Santa Margherita Ligure did go up from the water, but was easily walkable from the hotel to the mostly flat waterfront where you can find all the shops and restaurants.

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Buone notte!