Yes. the weather the last few days in Monforte has been pretty average! When the sun is out , it is quite warm, however there has been quite a bit of rain too! But that has not stopped us from venturing out, doing lunch, and enjoying ourselves!

As you can see above, the mountains are sometimes very hard to find, but when the sun does shine, the scenery is still quite magnificent, and still ceases to amaze us at times!

We are still discovering many of the small villages in the area. We went to Bossolasco, the village of roses, and once we got there we could see how it got it’s name!

The roses were everywhere in the village , and above is just a few of the varieties! We intend to go back and do a loooong lunch there, as we found a great little spot with a great view to sit and ponder!

We have been watching the Giro d’Italia on the television here. At least you don’t need to understand the language to watch a cycle race! Not quite as exciting as the Tour De France, but we were a little excited when we discovered that on the last day of the race, they were coming quite near  to us on their way to the Finish line at Torino!

So we took off to the town of Racconigi, to see them ride through! There was a huge Polizia presence in the town , and for the first 20 minutes before the cyclists arrived, the police on motorcycles nearly outnumbered the spectators!

In the picture on the right , you can see the Astana team , and if you look closely, you can see the Pink Jersey of Vincenzo Nibali, who was the winner! Rhonda was not a fan of Nibali  who has been outed for “naughty things” previously, and was going to yell out a few things….however Greg pointed out to her that he was Italian, and we were surrounded by Italians, so instead she yelled out “go Orica” when the Orica Green team rode by! It was actually quite good to stand on the road , and get caught up in all the excitement. It has just made us more determined to go and see a stage of the Tour de France!

We have tested Greg’s knees out again, and done another walk, this time to another hill top village near to us called Novello. It was not quite a strenuous as the other one, and not as long, so Greg coped a little better.

The Castello at Novello, was rather spectacular. It is now a 5 star Hotel, but was originally a 13th Century Medieval Manor House, and was restored extensively in 1880. We decided that we needed a refreshment, but we were a little under dressed, and too smelly to enter the above establishment, so we went to the local bar instead!

Greg has now decided that it is the beer that helps his knees , and not the ice, so of course, it was a beer at the local bar……. hold the ice!

It is a delight to walk and drive the roads , and look out over the vineyards, hills, and mountains in the distance. No photos do it justice!

We are looking forward to tomorrow, when Claudio, Esther and JP come to stay with us for the weekend from Switzerland. We have a visit to a winery arranged, and some restaurants booked, so we just hope that the rain stays away!

We are still enjoying all the pasta we are eating at the restaurants here. It is so different from back home, and it is quite fun trying to work out the menus when they are only in Italian! So far no mistakes!!!!!

It’s bed time now, already done the aperitifs!

Ciao

Love Greg and Rhonda

xxxxxx