January 2007 - Limone Piemonte, Picturesque Alpine Village

Limone Piemonte is a perfect little Alpine town located almost on the border between Italy and France near the Italian and French rivieras yet at an altitude of over 1000 meters in the Alps.

While we loved the town itself, our favorite spot was above the town at the top of the mountain where you can see the Italian Alps for miles.

We took this chairlift to the top of Limone in hopes of a nice lunch and a bit of unwinding after our disastrous descent at Limone 1400 (see previous blog entry).

The views are too spectacular to be captured in photos, but Kenny tried.

Finally, at the top and it's so much snowier than the rest of the town!

Wait this doesn't sound like a quiet mountain lodge. I think I hear a party!!!

They're dancing on the tables. Be careful, it's a long way down over the short glass railing.

Hey, it's the girls that helped rescue Casandra from Limone 1400. She will be eternally grateful and impressed by how tough these northern Italian girls are.

Wait, do I hear a Samba?!?!?! Finally, Casandra can show off her "talents."

Before we knew it, we were summoned to the dance floor. Hey did we tell you all, we're from Miami!!

A samba followed by a mambo. Casandra is in heaven!

Our lunch of polenta, stewed beef shank and gorgonzola covered gnocchis was delicious, but Casandra just couldn't stay in her seat. And Kenny just couldn't stop snapping shots of the party. The attendees were mostly from the surrounding towns. Apparently this Sunday afternoon party is famous with the locals. We did, however, catch some rowdy Brits drinking beer by the gallon and doing their best to throw shapes.

Here is the entertainment. Clearly, his heart is in Brazil, but his latin tunes really heated up this Alpine party.

Here's the owner, he dances while he serves and he complimented our moves.

At 4 p.m. the party is over. We had to hurry and catch the cable car back down the mountain before it shut down. Exhilirated, stuffed and feeling completely rejeuvenated after a couple of hours of dancing and eating, we headed back to the base of Limone.

Here is Casandra in the central square of Limone surrounded by colorful buildings, and a medieval stone church which seems to be the central meeting point and hub of town activity.

Here is Kenny in front of our wonderful hotel, the Excelsior, right in the middle of town and containing one of Limone's best restaurants.
Limone is a cheerful town where you see all of the same people everywhere you go and everyone seems to know each other. It is bright and lit up and surrounded by snowy mountains. We absolutely loved it and hope to return someday (when there is a bit more snow).

We said good bye to Limone with a wonderful dinner at Luz Taz. This restaurant is so hidden away in the mountain that the owner had to come pick us up at our hotel in his van. The dinner was an amazing display of Piemontese cuisine which is buttery and cheesy. Not much gravy or red sauce but plenty of homemade egg pasta and delicious stewed meat. Hearty food to warm us up on a cold night.