We have just spent a great 5 days in Aosta.

We stopped off on the way at a cute little town called Ivrea and had a very short wander through the streets as it was still bloody hot.

We did see the Ivrea Cathedral built between the 13th and 15th Century and also had a peep at the Ivrea Castello which was built in 1358 to 1395, and was transformed to a prison in the 18th Century and was still used a as prison until 1970.

We then arrived in Aosta , an old Roman town surrounded by mountains located in the Aosta Valley.It is situated in the Italian Alps where the roads to Switzerland and France converge. As soon as we arrived we all said “wow this is really nice”. There are loads of restaurants shops and Roman ruins.

We checked into our apartment, quite old worldy , and right in the centre of all the action. The first night we had a fantastic meal at La Grenette , and had some typical Aostan food. The Cotoletta alla Valdostanna, or pork chop in breadcrumbs with proscuitto and fontina cheese and baked potatoes was delicious and the Cervo , venison fillet with raspberry sauce , potato cream and mushrooms was delicious too. We washed it down with a bottle of Arneis , a dry white local Italian wine.

Now it’s photo overload! the following day we went up the Monte Bianco Skyway, ( Mont Blanc).

The Cable car links the town of Courmayeur with Pointe Helbronner on the southern side of Mont Blanc at an altitude of 3466 meters. The skyway took 3 years to construct and opened in 2015 at a cost of 110 million euros, the most expensive Gondola in Europe.

We travelled to the first station of “ThePavilion” at 2173 meters. As you ascend, the Gondola rotates so everyone has a 360 degree view. Pretty clever! Then we arrived at the top, to mist , clouds and a temperature of 2.8 degrees! Greg was shattered as he desperately wanted to see Mont Blanc. However we stayed up there for 1 1/2 hours with the everchanging clouds giving us some great views , just not Mont Blanc!

We descended back down to the The Pavilion and low and behold , in front of our eyes Mont Blanc came into view and it was spectacular. Greg was a happy man!

We sat for a good hour having a celebratory drink in the sun and admiring the view!

By the way , Mont Blanc is the snow capped mountain in the background! It was a great day!

We have had time to wander round the town and check out the Roman ruins. The Cathedral Santa Maria was built in the 13th Century and the Portico was decorated with beautiful statues and frescoes. The Arch of Augustus was erected at the time of the foundation of the town in 25BC. The Hotel de Ville / Town Hall is relatively new , built in 1839.

The Criptoportico was part of the Roman Forum, classed as a monumental structure from Roman times, it was possibly built for religious reasons, but no one is quite sure. It was quite spectacular to see with the long row of archways. The Roman Theatre has only one wall standing today and it cost 10 euros to go to see it! We decided to sneak a photo of it through a small hole in the wall! It is said that it could hold 3000 to 4000 spectators.

The Pretoria Gate was the main access to the city of Augusta Pretoria. The ruins of the Roman walls date back to 25BC , so pretty bloody old! The Roman Bridge has been perfectly preserved and built at the end of the 1st Century BC .

The Aosta Valley is known as “the Valley of one Thousand Castles”, many of which are built on rocky outcrops. They were used as lookouts and signalling system that stretched several hundred miles . Messages were transmitted with flags during the day and fire by night. Some such as the 2 we visited were built to show the power and wealth of the owner.

We took a guided tour of the Castello d’Issogne. The frescoes were magnificent and depicted scenes of ordinary life in the middle ages. It was bad enough that the tour was in Italian , but we had a woman who obviously thought she was on a private tour and didn’t stop asking questions, so the 30 minute tour lasted 50 minutes. Greg was getting a little bored , so he wandered off , and got growled at by the tour guide! All in all , not a pleasant time, but the Castello was lovely!

We drove by Verres Castello which was restored in the 14th Century and was Military Manor . it was perched right on the top of a rocky outcrop. Our next stop was Fennis Castello built in the 14th Century as a hunting residence. We were going to take a guided tour of that one too, but after the previous experience we decided it was better to return home and have a few drinks. However it was a ratrher spectacular looking castle.

Now that Greg hasd seen Mont Blanc , his next mission was to see the Matterhorn! We drove about an hour to Breuil-Cervinia to “do lunch”. We had read that there is a lake, Lago Blu just before the town , where if you are lucky you get a reflection of the Matterhorn in the Lake. When we first stopped , the cloud cover was quite bad, but luckily as we stood and watched suddenly The Matterhorn came into view! How lucky!

We proceeded on into the town catching glimpses of the mountain between cloud cover. Again Greg was a happy man, two out of two! We found a spot for lunch with a view of the mountain, and it was fabulous home made tagliatelle with vegetables and a glass of wine. Fabulous day all round!

So our time in Aosta has come to an end and tomorrow we head to Torino for Jude and Rhonda to shop , shop, shop! It’s been a great stay , still rather hot , although today it has cooled down a little.

So it’s that time again, time to pack the car and then have a farewell drink!

Ciao ciao from Aosta

Greg , Rhonda and Jude.