Mountains, polenta and chamois.

We are nearing the end of our stay in the Alps in Piedmont. We have had a very relaxing and refreshing time. If the month of July was off the charts in terms of heat in Italy, August was another story altogether - in northern Italy at least. As I mentioned, we landed in Milan to 20C - a pleasant respite from the heatwave in Athens. 

And in our two weeks  here we have seen all temperatures - hot sunny days, overcast days, pouring rain and on Monday, Gregorio, Janie and I were at 2,400 meters and not at all prepared for the wind, rain and even freezing rain. We swear it dropped below zero. We could not feel our hands, we walked as fast as we could. Never has a cup of hot chocolate been so appreciated when we returned to civilization!

We have wandered through mountain pastures filled with wild flowers, awe-inspiring alpine vistas and fields and fields of cows. The sounds of running water in a stream close by, or a waterfall beyond and cow bells ringing intermittently but little else. It has been idyllic. We have enjoyed some lovely walks and savoured picnics of local cheeses and salami while taking in the beautiful scenery, or pausing in a refuge for a rewarding bowl of polenta. The girls, much to Gregorio's pleasure have used their hiking boots and proved themselves good walkers. The 12km walk  above Mont Cenisio nearly finished them off though. They were fascinated by all the "Bonjour's" along the route, as many of the walkers were from just over the border. We did even go over to France one day and relived my youth and indulged in a chocolate liegois and a bottle of orangina.

We have seen marmot's but the highlight for Gregorio was spotting a chamois on our truly memorable walk up the Colle dell'Assietta on Monday. While for the girls it has been a relaxing couple of weeks, when they could play and run around. They enjoyed the company of Lala and Betta who came up with Lele and Marina from Rome, being spoilt by the grandparents and also searching for local wildlife. We had quite a colony of snails at one point!

Despite the pouring rain and pretty awful weather this past week-end we also had fun taking Peter and Janie around the local napoleonic forts, abbeys, towns  and picturesque scenery of the valley. Thankfully our final day was picture perfect. We even got Peter to do a bit of walking - it was probably the promise of a glass of red wine and some cheese at the end of it!

And in no time at all we have packed up our bags and are onto our final destination - Mallorca to visit Grandpa Ross for our final week. We will return to DC via London next Friday and back to school on Monday. Gregorio claims he could continue this trip, but I am mentally ready to return  - the emails about the start of school are streaming in and I am already looking at September after school activities and ordering new school uniform on-line. The power of the internet, if only it were a bit faster here in the mountains.

Hope you are all continuing to enjoy your summer. 

Love,

Emma, Gregorio, Isabella and Matilde. xxx