Italy

a woman holding two brown objects
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What It’s Like to Go Truffle Hunting in Piedmont, Italy

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times to travel internationally, but the trade-off is not being home to enjoy one of the most gluttonous holidays of the year, which traditionally involves stuffing my face with turkey and pumpkin pie. But somehow we were able to bring the holiday spirit with us to Italy, and in fact, this would go down as one of the most memorable Thanksgivings ever. Just instead of turkey, this year I’d be stuffing my face with truffles and pasta.

a bowl of pasta with mushrooms
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Eating Piedmont, Italy – Truffles, Wine, and More Truffles

The Piedmont region is located in Northwest Italy and is well-known for several things. Perhaps most famously is its wines, and in particular is the home of the Nebbiolo grape that is used to make Barolo and Barbaresco wines. Piedmont is also well-known for hazelnuts, and you can even visit the Ferrero Rocher chocolate factory in the city of Alba. But as much as I like wine and Nutella, I was here for one thing and one thing only, the TRUFFLES.

a bowl of pasta with brown pieces of food
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Introduction: Everyday I’m Trufflin’

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year to travel for a couple reasons. Firstly, while other holidays rotate around, there’s no guessing which days you’ll have off for Thanksgiving – it’s a 4-day weekend every single year. Secondly, while domestic travel during Thanksgiving week can be a nightmare, it’s the perfect time to travel internationally. As an added bonus, you can essentially bank on the fact that there will be a premium cabin sales each year which means that you can fly in style, most often to Europe, for a fraction of the normal price.