AOSTA (Aoste for the Francophones)
Walter had some business in Pisa at the beginning of the holidays, so we decided to meet up somewhere in Italy (exotic sounding, eh?). Aosta is only ~3 hours from here, so Walter took the train, and I drove the boys to pick him up. I cleaned the car inside and out, put the "CH" sticker on, filled it with the requisite toys and books and packed a picnic. I had all my maps and music on hand.... and passports. We left at 10:15 (I had aimed for 10), got gas and tootled on. By chance I stopped at a lovely rest stop with picnic tables, park and nice loos. We had a tasty packed pizza lunch and set off again. I was a bit trepidacious about the Tunnel Grand Saint Bernard, as the Gothard is long and has a bit of a dangerous reputation. I also had to get us through the passport and customs checkpoints. Well, it was a doddle- we were waved through and there were few cars, except for the crappola Berne drivers that get everywhere, driving up one's bum and behavign badly. Berne drivers are for another post. The boys were very good indeed, the trafffic was easy, the views were stunning and I was feeling very proud of myself. We were wending our way through the Alp roads, getting closer to Aosta, and I was looking out for the hotel (which according to my map was very close) when Toby started doing his "I'm going to be sick" moan. He was tired, hot and the roads were twisty. I wasn't paying attention (looking for hotel in land of many, small signs) when he started barfing EVERYWHERE. Now, I had prepared for puky Tobe by putting sick bags (that Walter collects on his trips) in all the seat pockets and beside me. I tried handing one back, but he wouldn't take it and just kept going all over himself! I pulled over at the first opportunity into a restaurant parking lot and proceeded with clean up. After I was done, I started to pull out when I saw our hotel just exactly opposite us! Every time we went out after that, we got a wee reminder... bleurk.
The hotel was really nice and reasonably priced. I highly recommend :)
There was an orchard below the hotel, where the boys picked apples and ran around. Idylic I say.
Spot the boys!!!!
Naturally, religiosity was around every corner.
...and an interesting view. We never got to see this group perform.
One funicular, two funicular, three funicular, four.....
The boys' interest was kept occupied enough to get up without too much moaning.
Cool views down the valley towards Aosta.
Can't caption this one!
On the other side of the Grand St Bernard on the way home.
Our first "family holiday" was tops. I want to to go back for skiing... and summer... and spring!
Pisa Addendum.
The photo above was taken by Walter in Pisa. It's a dispensing machine that gives one pasta dishes instead of coke. The dishes available were carbonnara, pomodoro or SEA FOOD.... It was right beside a really nice restaurant, and eating in Italy isn't that expensive (unlike Switzerland with its 50 CHF pizzas from take-out). The Italians with Walter were horrified! Did he buy one for the sake of reporting on it? No. So you'll have to search it out syourself.
PPS- I'm not writing again till the beginning of December. Too much to do. Trying to sell stuff in a Christmas market.
The hotel was really nice and reasonably priced. I highly recommend :)
The boys play in the garden ouside our room. The clock tower in the background did all kinds of weird ringing: At one point in the middle of the night Walter heard it ring once, then 3, then 5 then 7 times....
There was an orchard below the hotel, where the boys picked apples and ran around. Idylic I say.
Spot the boys!!!!
The center of Aosta had lovely food stores (ofcourse), boutiques and cafes. Probably a good thing the boys were there, or we'd have come home skint.
The Piazza at the last flash of sunset.
Wee boys enjoying the insanely rich and thick chocolati. They buzzed around a bit after that.
Naturally, religiosity was around every corner.
Forte di Bard
We were lucky enough to be there for a festival in a neighbouring town of 'Bard'. Taken from buzzle.com: "The medieval village of Bard is fairly close to the northern border of Piedmont. In addition to its historic homes perched on a mountain overlooking a gorgeous gorge you can visit the Twelfth Century Forte di Bard that held up Napoleon’s military progress for almost two weeks. He had it destroyed. The fort was reconstructed in the Nineteenth Century. " And what a fort it is. 3 funiculars, and lots of uphill walking.There's where we's gotta get!
One the way up to the fort, we stopped at the first (of many) of food stands for a top up...
...and an interesting view. We never got to see this group perform.
One funicular, two funicular, three funicular, four.....
The boys' interest was kept occupied enough to get up without too much moaning.
Cool views down the valley towards Aosta.
Can't caption this one!
On the other side of the Grand St Bernard on the way home.
Our first "family holiday" was tops. I want to to go back for skiing... and summer... and spring!
Pisa Addendum.
The photo above was taken by Walter in Pisa. It's a dispensing machine that gives one pasta dishes instead of coke. The dishes available were carbonnara, pomodoro or SEA FOOD.... It was right beside a really nice restaurant, and eating in Italy isn't that expensive (unlike Switzerland with its 50 CHF pizzas from take-out). The Italians with Walter were horrified! Did he buy one for the sake of reporting on it? No. So you'll have to search it out syourself.PPS- I'm not writing again till the beginning of December. Too much to do. Trying to sell stuff in a Christmas market.
