Motel Alba

Piazza Medford

by JLBG

Piazza Medford is named by the name of the sister city of Alba. Medford (Oregon) has now been for 45 years the sister city of Alba. On piazza Medford stands the “Grande enoteca” in the Palazzo Mostre é Congressi (Palace for Fairs and Meetings) where wine producers from the whole Alba region present their wines. The entrance is free of charge but if you want to taste wines, you can buy for 6 euros, a bag that you hang at your neck and that holds a glass (that you can keep afterwards) with 6 tickets. Each time you visit a producer and taste his wine, you give him a ticket but most of the time, if you taste several of his wines, he will ask only for one ticket !

The city market

by JLBG

The city market is a huge structure, open on every side, built in steel and wood that stands between Piazza Marconi and Piazza Cagnasso, along Corso Nino Bixio, at the edge of the old city. Market is several times a week but it is more important on Saturday.

The first photo shows the market with booth extending outside the covered city market. The second photo shows the structure on a weekday, when there is no market operating. The third and the fourth photos show the vendors that are installed inside the covered market.

More juicy fruits

by JLBG

All the fruits on display on Alba market are looking great but moreover, they taste great : most of them were locally grown (not the bananas, however !) or at least come from not far away. Thus they are fresher than those that have been collected in some central bulk market. Before going back to retailers. The oranges on the first photo are really tummy, but if you enlarge the second photo, you will find that they are even more pleasant to look at !

General Count Giuseppe Govone

by JLBG

At one end of Piazza Savone stands the fierce statue of a man with a sword on a frisky horse. A marble slab says it represents the General Giuseppe Govone (1825-1872) and was erected in 2004. Another sign adds that the statue has been cast in bronze from the original statue and given to the city of Alba thanks to the "Cassa di Rispiarmio di Cuneo" (Saving Bank of Cuneo). General Count Giuseppe Govone, born in Alba, was nicknamed "Cuore di Pietra" (Stone-hearted) because of an ill advised youthful deception, He was the head of both the armed forces and the secret services.

Four days in the Langhe

by JLBG

Alba is a city of 30,000 inhabitants, the second in the province of Cuneo and the first of the Langhe region. The name of Alba is so much linked to 'white truffle' (Tuber magnatum Pico) that it is currently called Alba's truffle and until recently, it was considered that it was found only around Alba. This is not true and the white truffle is found in various parts of Italy, in Istria (Croatia and Slovenia) and even in Hungary. In 2004, we went to Livade, in Croatia to taste the Croatian white truffle. Guess why we went in 2005 to Alba ! You will find more on the white truffle on my Livade page.

We stayed 4 days in the Langhe (Alba’s region), based in Barbaresco and visited the Langhe and Roero. I will soon build pages on Barbaresco, Neive, Asti, Guarene and Bra.

Alba uses the white truffle as a booster for its economy and organizes every week-end from mid September to mid November the Truffle fair. Around the truffle, there is wine tasting and several cultural events that bring a lot of visitors into the city.

The city itself, though not one of the most beautiful cities of Italy has nevertheless several interesting buildings and monuments.