Rifugio Manzano, first venture into the Dolomites

 One and a half hours climb up  from the cabin, first stop, Rif de Manzano.

This is very nice...

Lots of mountain bikers here.(which equals one in Nellspeak). We went on up to another peak about 1000 m climb again...she does like to go up.

Track out to the final hill.

View back over Lake Carpenetti where we biked to yesterday

Ingenious method for making disinfectant  in 1200's  involved heating the limestone water, rich on calcium carbonate - all in the middle of a forest 2 hours walk up the mountain!

Cool steep rock formations 

We were lost or at least a little bewildered when we came upon this tiny cabin complete with porcelain espresso cups in a cabinet...?retirement option. Murray 'read' the year old Italian newspaper while I worked out where we were.

At a small pub, a welcome stop on the walk back down to the village, an ingenious machine for cutting shingles. Murray was intrigued by the design of the hand turned wheel which coordinated the dragging through of the timber and allowed the shingles to be cut off at an adjustable length. 

Bike ride to Lake Carpenetti

UThis was one of those days when everything falls into place... We coasted down the mountain road on the old mountain bikes from the cabin into the idyllic old village, Vigolo Vattaro. Swooped past a supermarket with fresh berries, peaches, arrays of cured meats and cheeses, and got heavenly things for breakfast and lunch. Ate our breakfast in a tiny vege garden in a ravine above the  village overlooking a little weir. With flowering hollyhocks. Then along a little trail through beech forest past Castelo Vigolo and visited the beautiful little church Madonna des Feles with an outdoor chapel in a grassy grove. We coasted on down through narrow cobbled streets, window boxes filled with cascades of flowers. Biking from a mountain to a lake is so easy but as we hit a steeper downhill stretch the bikes started to show their foibles; both brakes clenched on full hardly slowed the speed but teased out a chorus of  screeching in four parts (one for each wheel) so we were careering down to variations of wee ooo bip a bip a waaay ou waaaay ou aaark aaaaark....

We recovered after a swim in the lake and long laze under  a tree til late afternoon then had to slog all the way back up. My bike was about a six year old size with a seat on a cruel angle but at least the gears worked. Murray's gears were minimal but then the back wheel nearly seized up completely. This would have assisted the braking if it had happened on the downhill but made pushing the bike uphill quite hard work for him. It took an hour and a half  to walk the bikes back up to the cabin, but at least we could hang the supplies off the handle bars. 

Chapel outdoors with dappled sunlight

Fountain falls into a hollowed out bowl in the marble slab. The Christ figure is lovely and pale in the shade.

Overlooking the lake behind a rambling rose

Salute to the Sun

Good intentions to arise early came to naught. Breakfasted on espresso as this was all to be had. Nell studiously decided to attempt a 'salute to the sun' as we are de facto members of the mythical 'World Free Yoga Association (NZ branch)'....(to the villagers we are ostensibly staying with Javed to learn yoga techniques)...As I stepped over her, naked, and opened a drawer over her head, IiI commented that the sun had been up for 4 hours. Among other things she replied that 'the age at which you start yoga is the age you stay at'. I (jokingly I thought) quipped 'perhaps you should have taken it up twenty-five years ago then' which just goes to prove that husbands are very slow learners. I sense a visit to the local patisserie will be required ASAP.

The local vintage

We sampled some the village wine gratis last night. To say that it was rough would be akin to calling the Southern Alps gently rolling hills. We are hoping it will prove to be an effective ant killer as there are a few marauding about the kitchen here.

To the Hills

Today was a bit fraught thanks to Airbnb making us re-verify our identity prior to confirming our booking for our next abode. This proved a frustrating exercise trying to upload images on an iphone with dodgy wifi and by the time we had achieved it the booking had been annulled. Although we managed to rebook ok we were no longer sure that Javed, our new host was still able to meet us at the station in Trento as we had arranged previously. As it transpired he was there at the appointed time but failed to recognise us despite he and Nell walking right past each other. So we finished up walking into town to find a place with WiFi to hopefully make contact with him which fortunately we did and he duly arrived. After a welcome cooling beer he drove us up into the hills to the little village of Vigolo Vattara and to his ex apartment (he has moved into town). It seems odd to live in a 7 apartment building surrounded by farmland and forest a kilometre from the nearest village. Great views across the valley to the Dolomite Mountains out the kitchen/living room window and peaceful and refreshingly cool relative to the heat of Sirmione. There are plenty of walking tracks into and up the hills behind us which we will explore tomorrow after shopping for supplies at the village stores. The plan is to chill out here for a few days before hitting the high trails of the Dolomites later this week.

Sirmione

Gathered up our belongings again this morning and trained out after lunch for Sirmonie via Milan and Desmonoza. We posted home another parcel of surplus clothes etc with the kind help with translation of a girl in the post office...no need for the warm weather gear anymore! The temp. hit 30 today.

We had mixed feelings about Stresa. Very beautiful but touristy place. Some palatial old hotels along the lakefront. Interestingly, these hotel owners have bought up other old villas and simply let them turn slowly into ruins. Some of them are now covered with creepers and  with wildly overgrown gardens making them look like haunted houses or Sleeping Beauty's castle. Apparently they are hoping the by laws change so they can demolished and replaced by new hotels...all very strange.

Travelling today down the valley of the Po we saw the uglier Side of Italy with semi derelict looking factories and commuter towns on a broad featureless  plain  crisscrossed by transmission lines. However, Desmonoza was a buzzy little port town on Lake Garda and after refreshments we crossed by ferry to Sirmione as the twilight came on.

Full moon behind Castelo Sirmione. The moat connects to the lake.

Murray practicing his devilish look out on the town

Larger than life,Veronese poet Gaius Valerio  Cattulus. The Grottoes of Cattulus are named after him. These are Roman ruins at the tip of the peninsula. Look at http://www.gardalake.com/place/grotte-catullo-sirmione/

We had to google it for a closer look as the gates closed as we were about to go in. 

Sunset up by the ruins

The olive trees are so old, the trunks are gnarled and often split into two or three.

Lazing by the lake under olive trees

Walking back down to the ferry 

Bellissimo Lago Maggiore

Soft evening light at Stresa

Lovely 1863 hotel

Huge park like gardens ...

Our hotel down the road

It even has its own resident pet rooster!

Leaving Omegna

Sadly taking our leave of our charming apartmento in Omegna today. I will miss this place. It has a chaotic simplicity about it. Waking to the sound of pealing church bells followed moments later by Italian mamas gossiping vociferously and seemingly endlessly to each othe reform their balconies while the traffic noise slowly increased in volume on the streets below. There is something unique about the curious whine that only a Fiat engine can generate. Looking down, the trucks rattle over the uneven cobblestones their loads jouncing around as if in a cartoon. There is a love affair here with the 2 stroke motor...weed eaters, leaf lowers, outboards, and of course the ubiquitous motorcycles and scooters. It creates a cacophony but somehow the ear becomes sympathetic to sound.

Yesterday we cruised the lake on the ferry to Orta chugging past will ages squeezed onto a small patch of flat ground at the waters edge or perched high on a hilltop. The houses all the hue of faded rose petals glowed in the sun and we imagined the lives that must be lived within their walls. One particular villa piqued my imagination...set by the lake within a woodland of rhodendrums and hydrangeas and immediately behind the house a stunning waterfall cascaded down the steep hillside. To add to the envy, a classic motorboat and yacht were moored out front. A dream of a place alright!

Murray daydreaming about his dream home (no. 10?)

Omegna 

Omegna

Domestic bliss in our apartmento 

Tall doors with shutters and linen lined glass doors at the front and back keep it cool and airy. The linen, crockery, cutlery and well stocked pantry basics inspired a return to domesticity 

Martigny for an afternoon

Foundation Pierre Gianadda includes the Gallo-Roman archeological museum and sculpture park 

http://www.gianadda.ch/

Modigliani et l'Ecole de Paris was a great exhibition to see

Some faves from the sculpture park:

Brancusi

Calder

De Kooning

Rodin

Cesar 

Friends of the park were selling excellent apricot tart in the cafe, made from the fruit trees growing in the park.