We've decided to distinguish one day of the weekend as our family exploration day so, no matter how small (or how big), every Saturday or Sunday we will at least take to the hills and hike a new trail, eat at a new cafe, try a new flavor of Gelato, drive the roads of a new city (even the teeny, tiny ones) or see a new church or castle. With all there is to do around here we shouldn't have any trouble. Believe it or not three years is beginning to sound rather short so we're already feeling that there is no time to waste!
On our first adventure we hiked to the Castello Di Caneva, the commune that our little town of Sarone is a part of. If you're "hiking" on driveable road do you still call it a hike? The map sure did even though almost the entire path was paved and driven on somewhat regularly by compact little Italian cars. But it was steep so I say it makes the cut;) The kids did excellent despite having an early morning (Isaac had a nightmare and decided he needed to wake Georgie up to watch cartoons with him since they have a television in their hotel room...note to self: never allow TV in kids room!) Georgie was carried a few times, Juliet never wanted to be even though we demanded it and Isaac did it on his own like a champ. They all seemed rather invigorated by the acres of grapevines:
The ooodles and ooodles of fruit trees (every yard has at least 3 of them but most have a small vineyard):
The interesting smell of horse manure coming from random, ancient barns in the neighborhood:
Wildflowers galore!! This one is our favorite because it looks like a snowflake. Snowflakes in summer, how charming:
and of course, the cozy family conversation and picture ops;)
We made it to the top to discover an ancient cobblestone path and wall surrounding what looked like a more modern castle (which translates to not as cool).
At some point it was turned into a cathedral and now I'm not sure of its purpose. We know they have a festival there every July that you have to dress up in Renaissance clothing for;) We'll definitely be there next summer!
The yard of the castle was filled with graves of what seemed to be the relatives of the original "royal" family. We're still not sure how the Italian royal line plays out in small communes like this but I'm getting to the bottom of it on Wikipedia.
All in all we decided that walking the streets, no matter how steep, is a great way to explore Italy. If we had driven up to the castle we would have missed the very best part of the experience: peeking around bushes, taking pictures of vineyards, sampling far reaching fig branches and eaves dropping on Italian family conversation. Every corner is of interest. But the view from the top isn't all that bad either!
p.s. I signed Isaac and Georgie up for Italian Swim Camp;) Very nervous for his first day Isaac spent the entire drive their holding back (and releasing a few) tears. I told him that this did not have to be a flaming success but rather was his first Italian Experiment. He was just there to observe and prepare for his first days of school. I went on to say that he didn't have to learn a single Italian word if he wanted to and didn't have to make a single friend if it intimidated him. Most likely he would never see these kids again (the camp is 30 minutes from our town). I think it helped. I paced around nervous all day after I dropped him off (he's our sensitive child so...)when I picked him up he was grinning from ear to ear!! Yay! "How was it I asked?" "It was Awesome!" Phew! What a relief!
On the other hand, I didn't have to worry about Georgie at all because the night before swim camp started she broke her arm.....grrrrrr!! But man was she a tough little trooper!
xoxo
Ash
