Italy Day 2

After a tasty breakfast, we headed off for our appointment with Rinaldi Winery, makers of our favorite Moscatto d'Asti, "Bug Juice"! We found the winery fairly easily, and then the fun began! Andreas, the 30something winemaker, and his red-headed sister Pamela (who spoke English very well!) gave us a fantastic tour of the vineyards, the wine-making process, and their beautiful cellars too. They were very friendly, and concluded the tour by inviting us to their table, to share a great snack of coffee-cake, salami, and pizza bites, accompanied by "Bug Juice" and Brachetto (their sparkling red wine, very nice! Sadly rarely availabile stateside). We sat and talked Italian politics while lingering over the bottles, but finally had to say our good-byes. On the way out, we picked up a few bottles of Brachetto (to bring back home, 7.50E/btl) and a bottle of Bug Juice (5.50E/btl)for Susanne & Michael. Andreas then gifted us a bottle of Barbera! Very generous of him! We greatly appreciated their hospitality and friendliness, and extended an invitation for them to come visit us in California sometime.


Pete and Andreas and Pamela Rinaldi.


Pete showing Andreas his "work".


We went away with some wine - mostly to leave with Susanne and Michael, we're happy we can get Bug Juice back in the states!

After Rinaldi, we hit another winery nearby, tasting their Moscato and Brachetto ... we both didn't resonate with the Moscato, but I liked the Brachetto better than Rinaldi, so we picked up a bottle.
Next up: Refreshment and relaxation! We swung by the snack shack and snagged some tasty paninis. Adequately refreshed, we steered towards the renowned thermal baths of Acqui Terme. We chose the less presumptuous one recommended by our B&B hosts - Regina. It was kinda fun, but not as nice as we had hoped. Also, they nickle-and-dime you to death! They don't provide towels, bath robes, soap, swimming caps (required), etc., but would happily sell you all of those things. We left after a few hours, having enjoyed the experience nonetheless.
We stumbled upon a fun little maternity store, and bought a pair of blue toddler shoes ... for Peter's 2-week old cousin Marc!
Next, off to dinner ... Julie spotted a pizzeria, and when we saw that it was chock full with locals, we immediately grabbed a table for two. The food was to die for! Who knew that simple spaghetti with tomato sauce could be so incredibly tasty! Ditto for a simple cheese pizza, wow. Their house wine was great too. Yum.
We rolled into bed, our stomaches stupenduously satiated with scrumptuous food.