Sunday, May 11, 2014

Montagne (mon-tah-nn-ay) – Mountains

 
          ….today was definitely a beautiful adventure….can I just say I absolutely adore Ricardo? He just wanted to show me everything today….i woke up before most everyone else for some reason so I took my time getting ready for the day and did some studying I brought with me until everyone woke up….we all had breakfast together, will pretty much….while we were eating Ricardo was practicing piano – “doing his lesson”…plugged into his headphones into his keyboard….so cute J while Loradonna literally offered me everything in her kitchen to eat for breakfast….
            …then we were off, we all piled into Ricardo’s car and drove for about 30 minutes or so through a million switchbacks to a walking path in the woods…..literally I never realized how much the smell of a few pine trees and being surrounded by mountains covered in pine trees could make me feel so at home….and it’s probably a good thing this was my last weekend trip because it kinda made me feel homesick too…but the walk was about 10 minutes to a completely cool and totally scary panoramic bridge of sorts….it was over a ravine with a river in the bottom and a view of the valley leading into the border where Mont Blanc is….we took tons of pictures and then were off….
            …we dropped off Loradonna at the house to prepare lunch while Ricardo too me up towards the Swiss border to show me a cottage his some amount of greats -grandfather built in 1600….his dad sold it without telling him or his sister so we couldn’t go in it unfortunately but it was cool to see J..
     


       …when we got home lunch was ready and when Ely said I was going to eat a lot here she wasn’t kidding….we came home to breads and Fontina cheese and vino set out for antipasti….then for primi piatti we had pasta with a broth sauce of the sauce from the meat we had for the secondo…it was a wicked good meat cut up into small pieces with lots of onion…which I thought I wouldn’t like but I actually ended up loving it!!!...it was so good…we also had Barbera which is my favorite wine so I was a really happy girl J
            …we stayed at home for a while before heading out to show me around Courmayeur….unfortunately it had just started raining, but we went anyways…we all grabbed hats and umbrellas and were off…we just walked through the pedestrian only streets, stopping here and there for me to take photos, or to look in a shop window or for Ricardo to explain another monument or mountain to me J….we stopped at a bar for cappuccinos but they also had gelato, so I had to get my daily cone (only have 6 more left after all)….when we headed back out, it had stopped raining and the sun was trying to shine too J



            …we kept walking and stopped at a cheese shop and Ely bought me some Fontina (which we later found out I would be able to take home with me thank goodness) and then tried to go the Tourist Office, because Ricardo really wanted to take me but we got there 15 after it closed so we headed back home…
     …when we parked back at the flat, there was one more place Ricardo wanted to show me…the neighborhood next to his, the perfect old Italian mountain place….







...I can’t even describe it ….it was just all as it once was….we walked in through an arch filled with old tools….wandered our way around to an old church...seeing so many cool doorways and cute view along the way 




....ending at a water fountain/bath/basin that they women used to use to wash their clothes…Ricardo showed me J….even had a little place for their soap and to hang the laundry after….i loved it….


            …afterwards it was home again for a little bit of hanging out before dinner…a bit of leftovers and a bit of new….a great chicken broth with peas and rice soup….warm and delish….and of course more fantastic cheeses and breads and a new wine from Valley d’Aosta….I seriously wasn’t even hungry, I was just eating to make people happy haha (I know I live a rough life here) …

            …after dinner we all relaxed for a bit before we headed off to sleep….Ill truly miss Ricardo…although we couldn’t speak so well together all the time, we always communicated perfectly J….Love him J….tonight as I was writing this by hand in my notebook on my bed…he brought me some strong wine (almost grappa but not) to try….a really special one from here in the Mt Blanc valley….it’s an extremely top of the line vineyard because its 1400 meters above sea level….he wanted to buy me a bottle of it to send home with me (but I can’t because im still under age in the US)….so he explained it all to me, gave me a catalog of the company…and we drank the rest of the bottle together so I could take the empty bottle home with me J….I adore him….I’ll miss my Italian Nonno so terribly…..still so hard to believe only 6 more sleeps in Italy….tomorrow we are heading back to Torino…unfortunately we couldn’t go up to the glass balcony on Mount Blanc since it was in a cloud the whole weekend L I guess that’s what happens when you’re 4810 meters tall…..the tallest mountain in Europe….no big deal J

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