Falling in Love with Castello di Montalero

It happens slowly, the drive through the gates at Montalero, up the driveway to the Castello. Gorgeous trees line the drive and wrap you in their magic.

We are greeted by Tinkie, the best-behaved Jack Russel terrier I’ve ever met. Not a yap out of this pooch, only scratching at your room door in the night to let you know he wants a slumber party.

We are greeted by Charlie Watson and his dad, Chris, when we arrive. A warm welcome, an invitation to leave our bags, and see our rooms before a light lunch with our other sojourners. Opening the door of our suite, we feel at home. A lovely room, painstakingly restored, with all the mod-cons of home.

The drawing room

Upon freshening up, we traipse downstairs to the terrace, where our group for the 5 days is assembled. One couple from Scotland, a family of 4 from Detroit and two long-time girlfriends from Long Island. Lunch is served with local wines, a frizzante white, and a Barbera red. After lunch, a rest and a little exploration of the gorgeous grounds.

First night a spumante

Where there's wine, there are always nibbles

7:45 or thereabouts, it is cocktail time, and Charlie is ready with his special concoction. Again, we are on the terrace, the weather could not be more perfect for an evening of conversation, food, and drink. Charlie tells us more about our week, as we sip on the local wines and enjoy lovingly prepared food from Christian’s kitchen downstairs, where our cooking classes will be held. There are 12 of us, so that will necessitate splitting the group into two: Team Barbera and Team Nebbiolo.

Suppli

Vegetable lasagna

Rabbit with potatoes

Sunday dawns with bright sunlight and clear skies; if you have not been to the Monferrato area, you see vineyards for miles, with snowcapped Alps in the background. A leisurely continental breakfast is served on the terrace with the sounds of the local church bells. Our plan today is Sunday lunch at an old friend of Charlie’s dad. First stop is the village of Moncalvo, with views and a lovely town square where we visit the hardware store and some local shops. The village begins to fill up as we are leaving. Sundays are for lunch, and that is where we head next. 

This is the Italian version of a VFW hall

A seven-course starter menu leaves us all stuffed, and then the primi hits, then the secondi and then the dolce. 4 hours later we are rolled back in the vans to take us back to the Castello. While we were gone the locals had a festival, saluting their Saint who saved the village.

On Monday, our group of 8 started with a cooking class with Chef Bepe Sardi, a 70-plus-year-old bundle of energy and the self-proclaimed king of risotto. We made an onion frittata, asparagus-filled ravioli, Baccala with an anchovy sauce (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it), and a hazelnut chocolate torte with zabaglione. While some of us did the cooking class, the others went to the local market, a goat farm and wine tasting. 

Bepe is known as the King of risotto

By the time they got back, we were serving their lunch, with appropriate wines, of course. After lunch, it was our turn to head to the goat farm and winery for a taste of the local products. That night after aperitivo, Bepe gave us a lesson in risotto making using beets.

Tuesday, our group visited a local market in Casale, returning for lunch that had been prepared by the other group. After a rest, we head to the kitchen for our vegetarian cooking class with Chef Valeria Degiovanni. Since it’s spring, we are preparing asparagus and zucchini in a flan (more like a soufflé), eggplant parmigiano, and strawberry tiramisu. While we are cooking, Team Nebbiolo is off to a wine tasting.

Asparagus flan ready for the oven

Wednesday is our last day here, as we have wine to taste in Barolo. For those interested, there is a morning Yoga class. Our cooking class is pizza and focaccia with chef Carla Gori, who is a superstar when it comes to baking. We learned a lot about hydration and made our own pizzas for lunch. After that, we were packed into our car and headed off to Canelli for wine tasting at Villa Giada.

My husband enjoyed every bit of the adventure, and he’s not a cook. We had a great time meeting the other students and enjoyed interacting with the phenomenal staff. The Castello itself is magical; beautifully decorated rooms, with comfortable places to sit and enjoy quiet time. The terrace was a beautiful place to sit and enjoy an aperitif or a meal.

If you are interested in coming to the Castello, I highly recommend visiting their website and putting down a deposit. The best part is that they will pick you up in Milan and drop you back at the airport. As Charlie said, your only job is to get dressed in the morning and enjoy all the Castello has to offer. Ciao for now.  

Traveling in the ERA of AI

 All of us have have seen the mounting chaos in the airline industry: cancelled flights; delays; ATC issues, and of course the dreaded call to an airline to find help or a human being at the end of the line. I preface this by saying I have flown 2 million airline miles, have Gold status with 2 airlines, and renew my Lounge pass every year. I know I’m privileged. I am also facile at making, cancelling, or tweaking a trip, so that I can be flexible and pivot.

Our latest encounter with AI (other than the one that constantly re-spells this post) came when there were thunderstorms on the East coast and our flight to DC from Newark was delayed for 9 hours before finally being cancelled.  During this time, we boarded and reboarded the flight twice, had our carry-ons taken and actually sat on the runway for 3 hours till the plane returned to the gate per US law. While on the plane on the taxiway the United APP said we had departed several different times. Flight attendants claimed the APP had the latest and best information.

During this time, while the APP said we were en route, AI decided to change our flights. Originally, we were scheduled EWR/IAD/SAN. Now, we were EWR/IAD/DEN/SAN with a 10 ½ hour layover in Denver, then another reschedule that had us going EWR/IAD/DEN/IAH/SAN arriving at midnight the two days later. Obviously, this wasn’t our first choice since there was availability on the nonstop to San Diego the next day. Now to call United and get an agent. Not so fast, as United now has AI to help you. After several attempts to click their links and explain our situation to a bot, I could never get the “speak to an agent” button to connect.

For those at United who think that AI is working, I beg to differ. When I finally lied to the BOT, I was connected to an actual human voice, who apologized for our predicament. While on the phone, you keep praying that you haven’t been disconnected and that silence you hear is only the agent helping you get home. At this point, she can’t seem to override the AI rebooking and asks to put me on hold. I almost scream, “NO,” but acquiesce, and she changes the flight. Now we have no luggage, need a place to stay, and I call again to find out if we can reclaim our bags, but of course, by this time, baggage claim is closed, and the APP says the bag is delayed—no joke. The APP is a waste of time since it continues to show my flight to DC still on the APP even though it’s been cancelled.

AI in many situations can be a great tool, but when it comes to travel, and convenience, it obviously can’t figure out that a 10 ½ hour layover vs a non-stop the next day isn’t optimal, nor is a 4-stop flight with an arrival 36 hours later appropriate.

Flying used to be a great way to get to your destination, but with the addition of AI, having to tag your own luggage, and a BOT choosing how you will get there, it’s become less customer-service centered, with less human interaction for passengers.  In a world where people feel left out and lonely AI only makes that seem more real.  Dealing with a human being who cared about our situation while trying to get us home felt so much better than answering AI’s questions and clicking buttons only to get an itinerary that no one would agree to. I am grateful to every Customer Service representative who has ever walked us through trips with compassion, patience, and efficiency. I salute you---AI Bots not so much.