Each more beautiful then the next....

Just when I thought I had made it to heaven in Valpolicella we arrive in Canale (a very small town just North of Alba in the Piemonte region).  Valpolicella was just the waiting room for heaven.  We are staying in an absolutely amazing bed and breakfast on the very top of a hill.  When looking out from the B&B all you see is beautiful vineyards.  Vines cover each slope leading away from the property.  This really is the most beautiful place I have ever been.  It doesn't actually look real.
We had a great time today in Canale for lunch at Leon d'Ore.  It was...far too nice for our t-shirt and flip-flop attire, but we went for it anyways.  After our yummy lunch of Piemonte ham, handmade veal ravioli, and hazelnut cake with muscato sauce, we decided there was no need for a big dinner.  We asked for directions to the nearest place for cheese and fresh meat.  Ilaria was happy to provide very descriptive instructions on how to get to each place.  "You-a go-a 50m that-a way-a and the macelleria (butcher) is-a right-a there-a, and then-a you-a a go-a 50m that-a way-a and the formaggiria (cheese store) is-a right-a there-a."  Now what you must know is that I would have no idea how far 50m was without the huge arm gestures - from the tip of this finger to the tip of that finger  away is how far you must go.  You understand?  Yes I sure do!  We found the formaggiria and the ladies there spoke not one word of english.  We tasted cheese, they spoke in Italian and we spoke in English and we left with an entire bag of things we wanted.  What a success!  Let's take this to the Macellaeria.  Well there we struggled.  We could not explain that we wanted the salami sliced.  For one salami she finally understood and cut us a nice package with the exact amount we wanted.  For the second one, she just could not understand, so we left with an uncut link of of sausage the size of my forearm.  I kid you not - we measured.  So now we have dinner for two nights - or maybe four!  We also stopped at the produce store where it was everything I had to only buy the strawberries.  We have no where to keep this - we have no where to cook this - I had to keep telling myself.

We are now headed downstairs for a wine tasting as we just found out they produce their own wines here, and they have invited us to join in on the tasting.