Blighty, Bath and By Yon Bonny Banks

It is difficult to put into words just what the past 6 weeks have meant to me. The experiences I have been through have taught me a great deal about myself as well as the folk and the countries I have been lucky to have visited.
David flew into Pisa late on 12th August and I had trained down from Aulla to meet him and guide him back to Northern Tuscany. We had a wee trundle around the city before heading north again back to Karen's hospitality. On the route one passes Carrara which is the home of the marble used so extensively by Michelangelo, in Florence and indeed all over the world. To see the scars on these mountains where the quarries are is a reminder of how much damage we can do all in the selfish interests of our consumerism. I will certainly think twice before ever considering a marble benchtop!

We had a great time together at Settimo Cielo, David helping to clear the parking area together with Ari and Emily. More Prosecco consumed in the lovely surroundings and a fab Pizza evening created by Ari (actually not sure of the spelling, sorry). We all tried to guess whether the lovely wee jack russell, Ruby, actually was in pup to a cute stray who happened along at the wrong (right) time! Turns out she was and has had a litter of dear wee pups since I left! Oops. Had a fabulous time in Northern Tuscany and we are trying to work out how we can get a group together to return to explore the haunts Karen has discovered. Many delights on offer including trawling the antique shops for fabrics, taking a photography course with Karen who has been a professional photographer in a past life in the UK, being close to the Cinque Terre and having the advantage of Italian speaking hosts but with a complete understanding of the needs of New Zealand and British travellers.... If anyone is keen, just be in touch!!

David and I returned to the UK via Milan courtesy of Trenitalia and EasyJet and had a hassle-free departure from the relaxing lifestyle in the Med. Sad but hassle-free! Landed at Gatwick so that it was an easy journey south to catch up with friends near Lewes. Good mate from NZ, Dale, was looking after her granddaughter for a few weeks and our paths crossed in Lewes for just 24 hours! We were able to catch up with her and our hosts, the Bradleys (some of you will know Brad, ex Havelock North boy who knows more about what is happening in our town than we do!) for a drink or three and a pub lunch the following day. We actually had time to explore a little of the lovely town of Lewes and meet some of their friends at Breaky Bottom Winery where a very special champenoise style of bubbles is created along with Cassis.  Very nice, and up on the hill is Kiri Te Kanawa's South England retreat!

The sweet Maisie

We made our way north to stay with my cousin in London and took in the Jersey Boys show while there. Sue made us very welcome and we enjoyed a delicious dinner with cousin Murray and joined Sue in her dismay at a family health drama unfolding in the States with their son-in-law before we headed to Bath for the last few days of David's employment with Bath CC. It was very nice to meet up with old friends in Bath again and enjoy more of that beautiful city which feels very like home to us. Flying back to Edinburgh towards the end of August, we were able to spend time with Sarah, Simon and Maisie before we hired a car and headed down to Sheffield via Selkirk and morning tea with Jim and Mary. Always great to spend time with these two local heros and Souters through and through! "It's aye been" is a favourite saying of theirs describing why things don't need to change! We were on our way to the wedding of James Kingwell, son of David's long-suffering hosts over the summer in Bath. He married in the Peak district and we were treated to a great weekend enjoying the local hospitality and a sumptuous wedding breakfast, marquee and all! I had booked a night in a country house hotel in Yorkshire on the way back with dinner and breakfast thrown into the deal. Rowley Manor Hotel was trying very hard to get up there with the best but it had to try a little harder, poor thing. The food was absolutely superb but, oh dear, I wandered around the garden with a glass of wine, just dreaming of how it could be!! The pond had plastic bits and pieces floating in the mucky dregs and blackberry had taken over what was probably the "long herbacious border" at some time in its glorious past. What they needed was a Helpxer for a week or two!!

Saying goodbye to Sarah, Simon and wee Maisie was made easier with the knowledge that they had booked flights to New Zealand for Christmas this year!!  So looking forward to seeing them all again and having another squeeze of that wee sweetie. We are constantly asked if we will be going back to the UK again next year and while we say "Never say Never" we feel ready to enjoy more of what New Zealand has to offer and plan to hunker down next winter and enjoy our cosy home, (maybe!).

Al Settimo Cielo

Seventh Heaven (Al Settimo Cielo) is the name of the house here up a narrow and rutted lane in the woodland.  It is the culmination of a dream for Karen, Jim and Karen's two daughters. 26 year old Emily lives here too in the apartment under the main house, with Zeus her Italian breed, sheep-herding dog. She speaks fluent Italian and also understands the local dialect so is able to act as interpreter and teacher of both English and Italian.Wouldn't it be great to run a week of Italian language, photography and/or heirloom sewing classes with an Interpreter to guide, scouring the antique shops for fabulous fabrics etc?!  Karen and Emily have such talent and the house lends itself perfectly as a venue. My mind is running away!

Today (Saturday) has not been one of the best. Weatherwise, perfect after a night of rain on Thursday to soak the parched earth, but the rooster has gone missing! He was strutting around with his girls this morning and then just wasn't there when Em went to put them away in their house tonight! Maybe a fox? a wolf? or a viper? who knows, just isn't there anymore. Then to cap off a bad day, Zeus got the cheese straws Em had just baked!  They were on one of Karen's beautiful blue China cake stands and that is now in tiny pieces! He is in disgrace having already done similarly with a piece of the Cornish Blue ware earlier in the week. Karen has been in England since last Saturday as her mother has been very ill and is still in hospital. We are looking forward to having Karen back tonight, but in the meantime I have been sewing up a storm, using her beautiful fine linen to create some slip dresses for her to layer with shirts and skirts. What a project- now I really am in Seventh Heaven! I have always said if I could spend my time between gardening and sewing, I would be very happy. And here I am.

Happy too because David is coming over on Monday for 3 days! We will travel by train together from Pisa to here and then again to Milan to fly back to Blighty together on Thursday for the last of my planned break. Seemed just too  good an opportunity to miss and as he is now so practised with a Weedeater...! There are plenty of jobs to do here, the vege garden was my first project and apart from the chickens scratching up most of the potatoes and eating every ripe tomato, it is looking very nice! Note to self, large plots of land need large amounts of work to keep neat! Have tamed 2 wisteria and now they look as though they will romp up the pergola as intended. The first one I attacked a week ago and already it has sprouted some new spurs with flower buds on! Stand back!

On Tuesday I was able to train down to the Cinque Terre and join David's cousin Grant Fickling and his wife, Robyn to walk part of this area between 2 of the villages. I met them as they came off this first stage between Monterosso and Vernazza (2 hours) at 11 am and it was already extremely hot! Mad Dogs  and all that, we started out on the next 2 hour walk at around 1pm. Searing heat and climb, climb, climb. Almost the anniversary of conquering the Ben last year and it took me right back! The trouble with hiking is that unless one goes slowly and remembers to stop and look around, all one sees is the ground in front!  The towns are quaint and the colours of the houses in the 5 towns are stunning. There were thousands of visitors at this time of year as all clever Mediterranean dwellers take their holidays July or August - too hot to work!  Sadly, in my view, the much lauded beach at Monterosso was covered with sun loungers and umbrellas for hire, much like the French Riviera without the sand! Bikinis and bulges en masse. Give me Waimarama any day. The track between the remaining 2 towns was closed for maintenance (looked like slips) so on Wednesday we took the boat and visited them. I have now completed that song, Trains and Boats and Planes that Fickles used to play on his guitar. So good to catch up with them.

For the 2 nights I had booked a hotel in La Spezia, to the south of the last of the 5 towns so I was able to join the local promenade of families enjoying the cooler evenings. It is really nice to see families out together in the evenings with babies and grannies enjoying each others company and not too bothered about sleep times. The children take a nap during the afternoon as is the norm with adults too as most of the shops shut for siesta. Wise people. The market was fair buzzing in the morning as the women were out gathering supplies to cook for the rest of the day.

As I near the end of the Med adventure, I am reflecting. It has been a time I am so fortunate to have spent experiencing so many items on the list!

Thank you, David for accommodating my wishes.

Slipping into Switzerland

I mentioned earlier about Covoiturage being a shared ride service in France and the proposed ride was confirmed from Mulhouse (Moolose if you are French) to Riomaggiore, one of the Cinque Terre towns. On Monday 29th Manon took Le Kevin and me the hour's drive to Mulhouse in intermittent rain, down through the clouds from the mountains. We left behind the "weathervane house" across the valley, never having witnessed the little man or lady (or even a cuckoo) popping out.
Having met  up with Julian, the driver, and his girlfriend, Ying, we were on our way via Basel to collect another passenger. What an interesting drive south down through Switzerland and into Italy. Borders are virtually non existant nowadays in the EU, we only stopped at Swiss Border Patrol for Julian to purchase a sticker that paid for all the tolls on the motorways in Switzerland for an entire year. France is revenue collecting every time one leaves the motorway with toll booths everywhere. Something to remember when planning to drive long distances in France in particular. I think it cost Manon around €80 for our long trip, in tolls alone. However, we had a great trip via many tunnels (one is 17k long!) and some spectacular scenery, mostly viewed through heavy rain until we came down towards Milan. The clouds were black and threatening on both sides and behind us when coming down the valley but before us was clear blue sky. Summer had returned to welcome us to Italy.

Julian and Ying realised that we were very close to my destination of Aulla, just off the highway, and very kindly offered to drop me there at the Stazione where Karen, my next host was to meet me.  This saved me a train fare and I could not have asked for a more competent and courteous driver. Big fan of car sharing!  Great system.  I was able to phone Karen from the call box and she collected me very soon after. The nice young man at the station shop actually gave me 50 Euro cents for the phone! How kind people are! Of course I then felt obliged to buy something from him so I now have an Italian Sudoku book, fortunately numbers are numbers so no language problems there.

Karen drove me to their beautiful new house in the woodland high in the mountains behind the Cinque Terre, to give a reference for those lucky enough to have visited northern Tuscany. They are amazed that so many New Zealanders know about the 5 towns and have visited. Karen is a very talented photographer and she has also collected vintage laces and fabrics to enhance their home. A lovely example is the fine linen embroidered sheets being used as a curtain in my room and elsewhere in the house. I also have my own shower room attached to the bedroom - what a luxury! Lucky me. We have so many common interests we have difficulty actually stopping the chat to get work done! They have even been owned by a Scottie dog!
I shall enjoy the cool breeze lifting the curtain this evening as I forget the 35 degrees we had today to accompany my efforts in harvesting the lavender and shaping the bushes that surround the house. The chickens are safely away, the dogs in their baskets, and the cats outside. All peaceful apart from the band playing in a lower village for some fiesta.
Ciao!