Finding ourselves with only a short 3-day window in our schedule while traveling by train from Lyon, France to Munich, Germany, we planned a quick trip to northern Italy. As Turin (Torino) was an intermediate stop on the scheduled train route, the city gave us a perfect starting point for a quick visit to the Piedmont area, which is rich in history, historical sites, and renowned wineries.
Wanting to avoid staying in the city and using it as a base hub everyday for our touring, in addition to our desire to experience the local flavor of the Piedmont area, we did a lot of research on the Internet looking for a bed-and-breakfast we could call home for a few days. We inquired at several different establishments in the Cheri, Asti, and Turin area and were delighted when we found a wonderful bed-and-breakfast less than an hour from Turin and located in the rolling hills of the Monferrato in the province of Asti. Cascina Le Roasine is a beautiful bed-and-breakfast run by Ute and Francesco. Located in the beautiful countryside near the village of Moncucco Torinese, this bed-and-breakfast was a dream come true for us.
The bed-and-breakfast is a recently modernized hay barn lying adjacent to the family’s beautiful 19th-century farmhouse. There were two very spacious private bedrooms, each with private bathrooms, and a very spacious suite available for rent. The bed-and-breakfast also contained a spacious kitchen; a very large common room, complete with a fireplace; and each room opened out onto a large second floor balcony that overlooked the beautiful property and surrounding rolling hills. While we were informed that the lodging included a free breakfast each morning, we were truly unprepared for the total personal care and in-depth planning that Ute and Francesco did for us to make our short stay memorable.
Equipped with a rental car we picked up in Turin near the Port Nuova train station, we arrived at Cascina Le Roasine at nearly 6pm to meet Ute, the charming hostess of the bed-and-breakfast. She and her husband Francesco had laid out a detailed 2-day itinerary for us, which she presented upon our arrival while offering us a very welcomed drink. Ute informed us that our dinner plans were already made and that while we waited for our time to dine, she would show us a little of the local area. After allowing us to settle into our rooms and get refreshed, she took us for a nice ride through the hills to the tiny village of Vezzolano, where we visited the grounds of the Abbazia Di S. Maria. The Monastery of Santa Maria di Vezzolano was founded in 1095. The monastery, with its important medieval works of art, witnessed a long period of splendor between the 12th and 13th centuries, followed by a slow decline that culminated in 1800, with the expropriation of its estates from the Napoleonic administration. The surrounding grounds are beautiful, and we enjoyed the privilege of a private tour and a walk through the surrounding vineyards with Ute. After our tour, our host led us to Trattoria del Friesa, where we had dinner reservations for the evening. While our host returned to her home, we were left in the very capable hands of the wonderfully attentive wait staff, who overwhelmed us with some of the finest cuisine of the area. The food and wine kept coming, and coming, and coming and at the end of the evening, fully satisfied and anxious for the following day’s plans, we returned to the bed-and-breakfast to retire for the evening.
See Part 2.