Alba to San Bovo

8/2-8/3 Alba to San Bovo (a village of Benevello, for those of you tracking) - 14.22 miles

Alba is the cultural capital of the Langhe, and is centrally located in the heart of the region. Besides being well known for its wine, Alba is also apparently famous for its selection of truffles, particularly those of the white and black varieties, as well as chocolate. It is also close to Bra, capital of the slow food movement.

I had heard of a campsite about a mile and a half out of town, and after dropping the backpack, setting up camp, and taking a quick shower, I made my way back to town for a delicious dinner of pasta with baby shrimp and zucchini flowers, as well as an abundant mixed salad. After wandering around town for a bit, it was getting late and I had a long walk ahead of me, so I fueled up on a gelato, and once I had finished it, on another. So much for starving to death and wasting away from all that walking...

Exhausted, I collapsed onto my mattress pad, but a peaceful slumber was to escape me; the campsite was located next to a discoteca, and as it was Saturday night, the music blasted until 3:30 in the morning. I might as well have been camped out inside the discoteca for how clearly the bass pounded in my tent.

The next morning, I was invited to breakfast by my campground neighbors, a Dutch couple named Gerd and Sabrina. They were generous and pleasant, and it soon came out that they had taken a six month trip to China and Russia back in 2000, living in the moment and seeing both countries from the insider's perspective. I was absolutely amazed at the stories they had of their travels, of the various mishaps and adventures, and part of me quietly started thinking about my own trip to those countries. However, I must not get ahead of myself. I believe I have some walking to do first, and with that in mind, I prepared myself to head toward Cortemilia.

Someone had recently requested that I write my proposed path in the blog, so that people have an idea of my itinerary throughout the course of the week. The events that followed my night in Alba form a perfect illustration for why this is not feasible.

I headed into the middle of town in order to get some maps at the tourist information center. My plan was to take the following path: Cortemilia-Bubbio-Acqui Terme-Ovada-Parco Naturale Capanne di Marcarolo-Genova. After describing this itinerary to the representative, he told me that this was a great path... if I liked smog and industrial plants. Since I'm not crazy about either, I asked if he could suggest an alternative route, and was told to walk due South. The path as he described it cut right through the Langhe, and even included walking paths much like the ones I had taken up in Valle d'Aosta. His promises of vast vineyards, hazelnut groves, and virgin forests quickly won me over, and I resolved to figure out where I would stay once I got there. This freedom to choose my own path, and the ability to drop a week's careful planning at the drop of a hat in exchange for uncertainty, is something that I find very satisfying, so I took a few painfully inadequate maps and headed off into the unknown.

The only certainty was that my first stop would be in a village called San Bovo, and it appeared to be a short walk from Alba. This suited me fine, since the breakfast, long walk to the center, and time spent at the tourist information center had caused a late start.

After making my way out of an eerily silent Alba (it was Sunday, so everything was closed and deserted) The first hour and a half of the walk was easy, a slight decline but mostly flat, with town giving way to farmland. Then the hills hit me, and didn't stop hitting me for the next three days.

After 3 hours of uphill walking in 95 degree weather and +98% humidity, I finally made it to the point that my GPS knew to be San Bovo. And then, a funny thing happened: the road kept going, but the GPS didn't acknowledge the existence of a road. The signs kept pointing to a hostel, so I had to trust these over my GPS, and it was only 3 miles later that I finally made it to the village of San Bovo, a teeny tiny dot amidst vast expanses of vineyards.

The payoff was that I had the whole hostel to myself, and had earned my dinner (including 4 delicious homemade cheeses) with over 14 miles of walking. A "short walk," as I had projected, had turned into one of the longer walks of the trip.

Here are some of the pictures from the walk, including the beautiful church at San Bovo. I can only imagine how must work it must have been to carry all those stones by mule up that hill from Alba.