Finding Addresses in Langhe Piemonte

Boy, were we slow to catch on. It started when we tried to find our hotel and we had the address Borgata Gombe, 31. We pulled down the first road with that name and promptly got lost. (At least we asked for directions.) It turns out that many roads can have the same “name” because “borgata” means a grouping of houses in the country. As you are driving down a main route, you’ll see Borgata XYZ several times but the difference is the numbers (in small print on the blue signs). One road might contain addresses Borgata XYZ, 1-30 and another road might contain Borgata XYZ, 31-40. Or the address you are looking for might be on the main road as well (as was the case for Borgata Gombe 31). I think of “borgata” like a neighborhood in the country. The system is practical because you don’t have to remember route names or street names, just a neighborhood name and the number.