Vineyards

This part of Italy is very much a wine-producing region - it includes Barolo and Asti (of Spumante fame) - and there were vineyards almost everywhere. Where there weren't vineyards, there were hazelnut orchards (Nutella and Ferrero Rocher are both made in Alba, the nearest town to where we were staying). There were also woodlands, mostly natural, where truffles grow.

This was the view from our lunch stop at a winery. The wineries seemed to be mostly small, family-run enterprises.

The extra photo is of the village of Tre Stelle, where we finished our walk.

Again there was a thunderstorm in the afternoon, and we walked past a canon pointing at the sky, emitting loud explosions. It turned out that this was attempting to disperse the clouds to stop hail ruining the grape harvest. It seemed to work - no hail fell on us.