Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Week in Mondovì – Piemonte

Stefano's Wine Bottles, Villanova Mondovì


Here we are again back in Piemonte. The name of this region derives from medieval Latin “ad pedem montium” meaning “at the foot of the mountains”. So at the foot of the mountains we are making the rounds to visit family. They surely must be sick of us? The answer seems to be no and in fact, they ask: why do we spend so little time here?

We decided this time to base ourselves just outside of Mondovì at the wonderful Cascina Bringin B&B. In previous trips we stayed in Serra Pamparato at Residenza Pietrabruno and in Dogliani at Poderie Einaudi. Cascina Bringin turns out to work great for this trip. The proprietors, Caterina and Beppe, are wonderful. The breakfasts that are carried to our room every morning and lovingly assembled in front of our eyes by Caterina are incredible. We engaged her for 30 minutes or so every morning to explain the types of food she prepared and its history. This is a highlight of every day.

We ate, naturally, mostly at the relatives’ houses, but went out a few times. In particular, we had a big mid-day meal at Circolo located in Sant'Anna di Roracco a frazione of Mondovì (location). Circolo is a Catholic charity that provides employment for those in need. It was a very good meal. We ate a wonderful Sunday dinner with another branch of the family at Il Palazzetto (location). An old converted farm and prior to a farm, a convent, and now a restaurant with a few rooms for lodging.

Most of the time we were engaged with meeting up with the four branches of family in the region, but we did have some time to check out a few new things including:

- Explore Mondovì. We started in the lower town, Breo, and worked our way to the upper town, Piazza, via the funicular.

- Visit Grotta di Bossea – an interesting cave south of Mondovì.

- Visit Il Castello Racconigi - one of the many Savory castles.

- Spend an afternoon in Cherasco, a small town where there are the fabulous chocolate shops of Barbera Cioccolato and Ravera. We had a fantastic lunch at Osteria La Torre.

- Visit the town of Carrù and get a closeup look at a building that was under restoration in the town center.

- Stop at Casa Baladin, a birreria in Piozzo, Cuneo (CN) for refreshments. The birreria is set up like a Moroccan Riad. There is a steam room and rooms to spend the night. Very high concept. We tasted a few of the signature beers and something called Baladin Spuma Nera, we believe a non-alcoholic drink that was very nice.


View from Mondovì Piazza Toward Cascina Bringin
View from Mondovì Piazza Toward Cascina Bringin

View from Il Palazzetto Twoard Sacrario San Bernardo, Clavesana
View from Il Palazzetto Twoard Sacrario San Bernardo


Sacrario San Bernardo, Clavesana
Sacrario San Berndardo, Clavesana

Driving Near Sant'Anna Roracco, Mondovì
Driving Near Sant'Anna Roracco, Mondovì

Caterina's Tortellini in Bordo, Ceva
Caterina's Tortellini in Bordo, Ceva

Rubata - A Type of Piemontese Grissini, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Mondovì
Rubata - A Type of Piemontese Grissini, Cascina Bringin, Modovì

Prosciutto, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì
Prosciutto for Breakfast, Cascina Bringin, Modovì

Poached Pears, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì
Poached Pears, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì

Lardo, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì
Lardo, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì

Apple Fritters, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì
Apple Fritters, Breakfast at Cascina Bringin, Modovì

After Dinner Bugie with Different Fillings, Mostly Jam, Ceva
After Dinner Bugie with Different Fillings, Mostly Jam, Ceva

Baladin Beer Sampling, Piozzo
Baladin Beer Sampling, Piozzo

The Bulls (I Buoi), Carrù
The Bulls (I Buoi), Carrù

5 comments:

  1. Great posts from your visit to Mondovì. What town is your family from? We are in Montaldo di Mondovì.

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  2. Hi! Sorry for the delay. Still recuperating from trip to Galapagos. One of us has family in Magliano Alpi, Ceva, and Villanova Mondovì. We have never been to Montaldo di Mondovì, but have spent time in Serra-Pamparato (http://travelmarx.blogspot.com/2008/06/ethnografic-museum-museo-etnografico-in.html).

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  3. Montaldo is about half way between Villanova and Ceva. We love hiking in Serra.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/montaldese/sets/72157606358504784/

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  4. Beautiful photos. The photo albums of Val Maira and Valcasotto in particular caught our attention. This communication is kind of a coincidence because we were looking for a place to stay in Piemonte in November 2010 and we really wanted to stay at Villa Favolosa! I believe it was closed. We saw all the beautiful photos and decided it would be a great place to base ourselves. Hopefully in the future we can stay there.

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  5. Sorry we couldn't accommodate you but we typically close in October and reopen in May. Hopefully we will be open the next time you visit. Cordiali Saluti

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