walking through Alba, Italy

Most everyone went to the truffle festival's tent... you paid a bit to get in and were given a couple tickets for glasses of wine. There were cases of truffles... as well as small meals with truffles available to buy.

I skipped the actual festival and enjoyed a leisurely walk through the town instead...

I loved this church. I like how the brick is exposed on the outside and left raw... yet there was still details made into the styling with the same bricks.

A sign in front of the church said that construction began in 1700.

Alba's main square

Alba is a cute little town and I really enjoyed walking around the cobblestoned streets. Below are some views of the church in the main square, as well as the main square itself.

There was a busy market in the morning when we first arrived. It closed up early afternoon... the market was in the main square (shown below), as well as along two of the major streets. It made for crowded sidewalks... 

The back of the church in the main square.

A nice view of the main square in Alba...

See the lady peeking out of the window next to the balcony?! Haha... cute.

looking like tourists in Alba, Italy

...Well, I suppose we WERE tourists in Alba! (The last couple photos below show that we played the part successfully...)

Leaving my apartment in the morning was... FOGGY!

I have read and heard a lot about Milan's fog... and Opera's fog is supposed to be even worse. The picture below is the view across the street from my apartment... but this isn't as bad as it's sad to get. I don't hate it (yet)... so far I find the fog very interesting... and, thankfully, the day cleared up and was beautiful in Alba!

First arriving in Alba for the Truffle Festival, I walked into town with Danielle, Sean, and Robert... we found a tourist office and were able to get a map to take a quick look... and then we were on our way! The town is actually pretty small and very walkable, which was really nice.

Looking like tourists   : )

going to Alba's Truffle Festival

School and its Orientation Committee for new teachers is pretty awesome... they have set up for us to take a day-trip to Alba... a town a couple hours from Milan. Alba is supposed to be famous for its white truffle... and, of course, its wine. Each year there is a truffle festival in Alba... and it's going on now!

Rather than for the actual truffle festival, I'm excited to go and see another area of Italy. It will be nice to have a mini trip.

Below are some Google Map screenshots of where Alba is in reference to Milan and some other places...

The red marker is Milan.

The yellow marker is Alba.

My [new!] Little Ponies

When I was little (very little!)... I guess my brothers and I were told to each clean up our rooms.

When we didn't get to the cleaning soon enough, we were then told that our rooms needed to be cleaned up by a certain time...

...and if they were not clean by that time... my mom and dad would clean them (clean them OUT) for us!

I know it doesn't sound like me... BUUUUT... I guess I didn't clean up my room by that time!

The part I remember about that day the most is: when my mom and dad cleaned out my room... they got rid of all of my My Little Ponies.

: (  Super-Sad-Face.

I don't remember fully... but I do surely hope that I learned my lesson from that incident! I was crushed.

Similar to this incident... is the Bunny Story... if you know my dad or have heard some of his stories (he is my favorite storyteller of all time!)... then perhaps you have heard this true story about my favorite stuffed bunny when I was little (very little!).

I won't write about the Bunny Story here... but let's just say that it taught me a lesson... a harsh lesson... kind of like the disappearance of my My Little Ponies. (And I still think the Bunny Story was created over an accident on my part... buuuut maybe that's just my memory, right Dad?!)

Overall - and the reason for this post - I guess my dad has felt badly about getting rid of my My Little Ponies and about the Bunny Story... I'm ok with all of it... but I do love what he did for me recently and it surely made me laugh -->

Having a Skype date with my parents... THIS is what I saw when the call first picked up:

Hahahaha... those are screenshots of the beginning of our Skype date. This is the first time I haven't seen my dad upside-down while Skyping! (That's our usual Skyping pose with each other, haha.)

My parents stopped by a neighbor's yard sale... and my dad bought these for me! Hahahaha... Oh my. I love it. He's going to bring them to Italy when they come in December... and I plan to put them in the library for the kids to have fun with.

I LOVE YOU DAD!   XOXO

and of course...

...some recent photos of the sky lately... I figure I should post these while I still can! We turn the clocks back this coming Saturday night... and then it will get darker even earlier... I think I'll be riding my bicycle home after dark every night! (Good thing I packed my frog lights.)   : )

One of my favorites... and a soccer game was being played on the field...

My ride home from school last Friday night...

...It didn't turn out so well... but in real life, the moon looked HUGE and ORANGE!

this little light of mine...

Also from IKEA?  -->

...This cute little lamp was a great purchase last weekend. 10 euro!

I moved a nice floor lamp into my bedroom to have better lighting when I'm reading each night... but that left the living room a bit dark... this little guy shown above helps fix that problem AND makes the area feel cozy.   : )  WIN!