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| We celebrated our tenth year anniversary together with an exciting trip to three European locations: the Alba truffle region of Northern Italy, Madrid, and Paris. This was also the first anniversary of our wedding, so our gifts could be both tin and paper, as observed by tradition. |
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  Luxury, thy name is La Villa Hotel in Mombaruzzo, Italy. We definitely hope to stay here again one day! |
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 Antique furnishings in La Villa Hotel |
 Converse trainers were on my bingo card |
 A balloon seller in Alba |
 I call this Angry Chestnut Seller |
 An Alba visitor |
 Nick outside one of Alba's shops |
  Our visit to Alba coincided with the world famous truffle fair. |
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 Flag tossers were part of a truffle celebration |
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 This vegetable was popular in the Italian markets in October. I have no idea what it is called. |
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 We bought a truffle at the Alba truffle fair and took it to our local pizzeria, La Mistral, where we shaved it over our pasta. |
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  Room service and wonderful breakfasts were the norm at La Villa Hotel. |
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 We found a shaggy ink cap mushroom. |
 The lounge of La Villa |
 The truffle hound arrives! |
  The highlight of our visit to Alba was a truffle hunt with Mario and his dog, Rocky, who sniffed out several small truffles underneath oak trees. |
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  Eating amaretti biscuits at the founding bakery in Mombaruzzo |
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 A natural hot water spring. |
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 Nick's business took us to Madrid for a couple of days, including Halloween night. We bought our weight's worth of turron there. |
 A fellow churros eater |
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 Our third stop was Paris, where we have spent many past anniversaries |
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 We always like to spot the Space Invaders on our travels. Not sure if this Oscar the Grouch is the same artist. |
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 Obama mania hits Paris |
 Gordon joined us on the Seine |
 Neil, too. They were also at our wedding. |
  This is the spot where we always drink Veuve Cliquot champagne and toast our lives together. |
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 At the Louvre |
 A lovely candlelit restaurant on the Ile St. Louis |
 An impractical Parisian broom |
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  We love Sunday mornings in Paris, usually eating at the Pain Quotidien. |
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 We have a photo of these Montmartre steps in our garden studio. A lovely return visit to our bench on the Ile St Louis |
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 Nick has had an urge to buy an entire candied pineapple from this shop. |
  And we finally bought one! We also bought a truffle from the Maison de la Truffe, something we've wanted to do for years. |
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 Some day, we're going to ride through the streets of Paris on one of these. |
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 Our truffle, flavouring eggs and risotto rice |
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georgenick.co.uk 
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