The Italian Riviera

Never having seen a single cloud in the sky during our entire Italian sojourn, it came as a surprise to be wakened by torrential rain and a powerful thunderstorm in the night.  This morning was grey, overcast and cooler.  So we were oscillating as to whether we should tackle the traffic for the hour and a half drive down treacherous roads to the coast possibly to be rained out anyway, or to spend it closer to Alessandria possibly visiting Alba (famous for white truffles) or Asti (of Spumante fame).  Well, the title says it all, and we weren't disappointed.  The drive turned out to have lighter traffic than we've become used to, and the weather cooperated, even cleared a bit while staying warm.  We chose a little village called Noli (sometimes spelled Nuoli) which was just right, not too crowded since it's now the end of the season, and the tourists who were there were overwhelmingly Italians -- a good sign.  There were quite a few real estate offices, also a good sign.  Looks like you can buy an apartment for 200,000 euros here.  Here's a potpourri of images from our last full vacation day, since tomorrow we head back to Basel, then --finally-- Bochum.