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+ Places to visit

Postcard from Genova

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Genova is a hidden gem in beautiful Ligurian coast and a perfect destination for a day trip from Agnes & Albin.

A vibrant city with so many contradictions, small alleys and big palazzos, historical city of banks and fishermen, so many gastronomical delicacies like pesto sauce, farinata (kind of focaccia made from chickpea flours), everything fritto (!), ligurian olive oil etc…You can smell the sea, feel the sea breeze, walk in the cozy old town, visit beautiful museums and Europe’s largest aquarium, eat fresh seafood, take a boat and have a day trip by the sea… This summer Palazzo Ducale has a Man Ray exhibition, that’s on our list for sure!

Exhibitions at Palazzo Ducale
Aquarium

By car: 1,5 hours drive from Agnes & Albin
By train: 1,5-2 hours (depending from connections) from Nizza Monferrato train station (you’ll have to change train once)

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+ House

Home away from home

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We bought this house 2019 and gave a new life to it as our home and a holiday rental.

Renovated during the covid and now, after two summers, it looks like our guests really appreciate our approach to simple living and lifestyle in the Monferrato countryside, Piedmont. This place is made for someone who loves slow mornings, days by the pool, cooking together and just relaxing. Our guests say that it feels different to stay in a home rather than in a place that is made just for rental. And we are happy we can bring you that cozy atmosphere of a home away from home.

You might say that we are a little bit off the beaten track (our village is really small :)), but that always means you are going to find something authentic and local. For us, that is something very important and we always encourage our guests to support local makers and doers, local small wineries and other producers, shops and restaurants. Piedmont is like a pearl necklace with small villages connected to each other, so there is a lot to see. Big city life is also nearby, as Turin, Milan and Genoa can be easily reached on a day trip.

So, old and new friends, we welcome you to discover authentic italian countryside living, we welcome you to Agnes & Albin. Our reservation calendar for weekly rentals 2023 is open!

Availability for the whole house (sleeps max 10 adults + 3 kids): click https://airbnb.com/h/agnesandalbin (minimum stay 5 nights)

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+ House

Fresh paint! And ready for season 2022!

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Agnes & Albin is ready to say hello to season 2022 guests.

During the winter time we had our house painted and now, with fresh paint, it looks even more welcoming. We wanted to keep the ”few vintages ago” -feeling, so we chose a paint color similar to original. That is our guideline here – to keep things as original as possible. 

Our reservation calendars are updated, so you can easily book your stay from Airbnb.

Availability for Ateljé apartment (sleeps 2 adults + 2 kids):
click https://airbnb.com/h/agnesandalbinatelje (minimum stay 3 nights)

Availability for private use of the whole house (sleeps max 10 adults + 3 kids):
click https://airbnb.com/h/agnesandalbin (minimum stay 5 nights)


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+ House

The most magical time of the year

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Want to spend Christmas 2022 in Italy?

Imagine this….Vineyards covered in snow, christmas markets in small towns, wine tastings, hot chocolate in the piazza, christmas lights and palazzos of Turin and Genoa, long walks, relaxing in outdoor hot tub, a looooooong italian Christmas lunch at the restaurant, house decorated with Christmas lights and a big Christmas tree, cooking together with your loved ones, board games and vin brûlée…

It’s Christmas time at Agnes & Albin and you are invited! Our cozy country house is available for rent for a week or two around Christmas and New year 2022. Let us know if you want to spend the most magical time of the year in Piedmont, Italy.

We will set up the Christmas tree and decorate the house. House recipes for Christmas are waiting in the kitchen and of course recommendations for restaurants, local wines and things to do. Send us a message agnesandalbin (at) gmail.com and you are one step closer spending your next Christmas italian way!

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+ House, Pool

Summer 2022 and weekly rentals

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Dreaming about next summer holiday with your loved ones?

While sunny autumn days are definitely still here, we are already thinking about next summer. Or to be exact, YOU are already thinking about next summer, since we are receiving messages every week about availability. 

So if you want to rent our house for private use next summer, please contact us and make a reservation quickly. We already have reservations for weekly rentals and we only have limited availability for renting the whole property.

Available weeks for summer 2021 (private use of the house, price per week 5000€):

4.-11.6.2022

30.7.-6.8.2022

20.8.-27.8.2022

10.-17.9.2022

Contact us by email: agnesandalbin (at) gmail.com

(We hope that we are all living in a different kind of world next year, but if you have to cancel due to covid travel restrictions, you can always do that. We are flexible.)

Agnes & Albin
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+ Food, Pool

Poolside snacks

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Sunny and warm pool days are here!

Take it easy, read a book, listen some music, do poolside yoga, enjoy cooling drink….But somehow relaxing can make you grave for some snacks, right? We like to recommend small tramezzino sandwiches! Easy peasy to make even for a bigger crew and everybody loves them. Add some sweet melon wedges on the side and even some crispy potato chips and you’ll have almost a lunch!

You’ll need:

Tramezzino bread (soft bread slices without crust, sold in every supermarket)

For fillings use different kinds of spreads that you can find from shops and I always like cucumber slices, they taste so fresh!

Try these filling combinations or come up with your own:

Artichoke spread + prosciutto cotto + cucumber slices

Olive spread + thin salami slices + mayonnaise + cucumber slices

Mayonnaise + boiled eggs in slices + good quality tuna + cucumber slices

Hummus + rucola/basil + tomato slices

Tzatziki + cucumber slices + marinated zucchini slices + feta cheese

Ricotta cheese + cold smoked salmon slices + cucumber slices + chopped chives

Tip! All kinds of leftovers work like a charm (potato slices, grilled chicken, salads…)

Tip! It’s always a good idea to add fresh herbs, salad leaves…

Make one or two layers, cut into small triangle shape breads and serve! So easy, so tasty! 

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+ Yleinen

House dog

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If you rent Agnes & Albin Atelje apartment, you will probably meet our house dog.

Lido is a mix of dalmatian and border collie, already 12 years old, but still full of energy. She welcomes you with all of her joy and energy, running around in the yard and maybe jumping around you, happy to meet new people. This lasts few seconds and then she is back to her normal self. It means back to laying under the sun, sleeping one eye open, watching the gate and giving a notice if something unusual happens. She will also regularly check if everything is Ok around the pool. It’s her job to keep us safe and she does it so well.

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+ Places to visit

Al mare

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Days at the beach doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying are an italian summer institution.

Ligurian coast is 1,5 h drive away, so you can easily have a beach day while staying in Agnes & Albin. For a day trip we recommend Noli. It’s a small fishermen’s village and you can drive little scenic roads if you don’t want to take the highway route. Camogli is also very beautiful, but a little more far away.

We have a beach umbrella and towels for your day trip, so you can use free public beaches, if you don’t want to rent a beach chair from one of the many beach clubs. In summer time our only advise is – go early to catch a parking space!

Enjoy your day al mare, have long lunch eating Frutti Di Mare and drinking Vino Bianco. Don’t forget to taste a Gelato!

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+ Wine, Yleinen

Time for bubbles!

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It’s official! Great news! Majority of Italian regions will be ”zona gialla” starting from next monday and Piedmont is one of those regions.

Gialla means yellow and it’s the lowest corona alert stage in Italy. It means that we are slowly returning to normality. I’m not listing all the changes, only those most relevant to us and our guests. So starting from monday:

All shops will be open

Restaurants operating open air can be open for lunch and dinner (4 persons/table or even more if you live together)

Museums open their doors (for weekends you’ll have to reserve your visiting slot)

Movies & theaters & events can start activities, first in open air and with reservation

Sport activity, including training in team, is allowed outdoors, public swimming pools and gyms will open later.

You can move freely from one region to another, if those areas are both in ”zona gialla”. For us this means, we can drive for example to the seaside of Liguria!

Of course many restrictions apply to all of those activities mentioned above (opening hours, limited amount of customers, reservations in advance, keeping always distances…). And there is still a curfew from 22-05 in every region. On the other hand, being home early equals to good night sleep…right?

Now all thumbs up that this will be a start for a new, better era. At least, we can all enjoy this open air season! We are opening a bottle of local Metodo Classico -bubbles (made in champagne method) for these news, for sure! 

Contratto’s For England Rosè seems appropriate, so we can congratulate also them for taking steps back to normality 🙂 Kippis! Per salute!

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+ Yleinen

Safe travels

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Renting a private holiday house from countryside is probably the most safe way to travel and experience the world this summer.

We are happy to welcome you under the italian sun with to most safe way. Wearing a mask in public areas, maintaining a distance for others and sanitazing hands frequently are a new normal here and everyone respects those rules. Also, when entering a shop or restaurant, normally your body temperature is being checked.

Italy has of course it’s own travel restrictions and from these links you can check which applies to you, when entering Italy.

Governments information site for travellers entering to Italy

Governments questionary site, provides same information as the site above, but in more user friendly questionary form.

Situation is changing all the time, as we know, but probably this summer you still need to have certificate for negative test result when entering (wild guess:)) and also when returning home (depending your home country and it’s rules, of course). Good news is that getting a test and certificate here in Italy is easy and affordable. Here in Piedmont you can take use of our pharmacies, which do rapid tests. Book an appointment in advance, go and take a test, you will have results and a certificate for travelling in few minutes. Prices range from 35-40 euros.

Stay safe everyone and hope to see you this summer!

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+ House

Holiday house mood

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What makes a holiday house? What you can expect when you book your stay at Agnes & Albin?

Agnes & Albin is a private house in a small village. It means we have neighbours, but it means also that you will be in the middle of Italian true life. The house still feels very private and tranquil, it has a big gate and walls surrounding the yard. 

Big pool is a must in a holiday house, and we created one last summer! We are thrilled to open it soon for a new season.

Terraces and different kinds of ”hang out -areas” are also important. Big tables for gatherings, different spots for reading a book in the shade…

I could continue the list forever, but the most important thing maybe is a good mood and good soul. A place where you can relax in your own world. This house has the mood for a holiday, I can tell you!

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+ Cantina, Wine

Nizza DOCG

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Agnes & Albin is perfectly located at the ”monferrato” wine area, which is especially known for Barbera wines and producers of high quality Nizza Docg version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizza_DOCG

Our house is surrounded by quality producers such as Olim Bauda, Cantine Brema, Braida, Scarpa etc. Here is a list of some producers https://www.vinorandum.com/appellation/nizza-docg

Besides barbera also great whites are produced in this part of Piedmont and some great vintage bubbles at our bubbly neighbor town Canelli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canelli

More about those later!

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