Getting colder now

Hello again and we're back to the fun and frolics of typing up about the day. Onwards without any more rambling I reckon.

Sun rises on a chilly morning

Once again we both slept really well last night, barely shifting all night. I think this is down to a combination of the traveling and the fact of the temperature change; our bodies are simply having to work harder to stay warm than when it is 30 degrees and you have no need to heat yourself up. Louise was really disruptive in the night, asking to go out twice (I went the first time, A the second) before the alarm went off. I stayed in bed after A got up but not for that long; I really wanted to be productive in my morning time. It was quite a chilly morning (A said it was 6 degrees when she got in the car) and she declined to join me when I went onto the balcony to get a picture of the sunrise. It was bracing though, I'll give her that.

Where the day ended yesterday

As I said yesterday Gyuner had made quite a good start on knocking away the back ledge and step with only the little hammer as I had been unable to find the lump hammer yesterday. I was put to shame for my man-looking when A got back with the men and found it immediately in the garage. At least it has been found and Gyuner was very pleased to be able to use the correct tool for the job.

Rubble that needed shifting (that big bit was HEAVY)

Anyway, back to the timeline. When A left to collect the men I pretty much straight away went outside, grabbed the wheelbarrow and shovel, and started clearing the rubble that had been left by the balcony men when they knocked down the extra bit of the balcony we no longer wanted. Technically they should have cleared this and removed it all with the rest of the rubble in the truck but no matter; it was good to be out there and working away again. I really need to get the chainsaw sharpened so I can go back to cutting up the wood every morning; hopefully tomorrow.

Too cold for this little fella

While I was on with this I kept disturbing a lizard. It moved from one hiding place to another as I moved each one, very slowly and not looking very pleased at being disturbed. Finally it wriggled its way right underneath the overhang of concrete which Gyuner would be removing later on and I no longer disturbed it. Later on Thelma was going a bit mad over the stones I had moved that it had been crawling over however when I pointed out where it was hiding she didn't go in to get it.

Job done

It took me about an hour of effort to clear everything, and also move the broken up slab which Gyuner had done yesterday, and pile it all up a bit further up the bank. I will be getting the digger driver to come and collect this when he turns up to clear the rubble from the drive, most of which I will be keeping myself as it is good quality white stone and can be used around the garden for many different purposes.

Nearly all the bricking up done

I was just finishing up when A got back with the men and I went in to get a brew but first checked out how far Sally had got with the bricking up around the door the day before. This was his first task of the day and there wasn't that much left to do at all.

Cold enough to want the blanket

I was feeling pretty hungry after my exertions and decided that a cooked breakfast was in order. First of all, though, I had to fix the gas connector on the hose for the oven which has been leaking very slightly recently. I stole a newer connector off another cooker and swapped it over and it works fine now; on closer inspection one of the ball bearing was missing from the old connector. Not good. Breakfast was lovely, though I slightly overcrisped the bacon. It was just what was needed on a cold morning like this and to give you an idea of how chilly it was here are the puppies hiding underneath a blanket to stay warm.

Tiles are really going on fast now

The weather improved a little bit over yesterday, at least for those workers in the sun (unlike Gyuner, in the shade at the back) and the tiling really did crack on today. When I popped out mid morning he had already completed two rows from by the bedroom balcony door. He did scare me a little when he said we didn't have enough tiles. I went down and counted 36 more boxes which he was very surprised to hear but then laughed when I showed him the other stack. I think we have way over ordered. Ooooops but then if we have some left over we can use them on the little terrace that Gyuner is working on at the moment so no loss.

Balancing act

Sally had finished off the bricking up and was making plenty of progress on finishing off around the doorway. He started off inside though he probably would have been better to do outside first while the sun was out as later on he was pretty cold out there on the balcony as the clouds came in and the wind picked up. As you can see from the picture he was stood on a bucket to reach the high parts and when I gave him some steps to use he used them while I was there and later on was back on the bucket. I suppose it's what you feel most comfortable with.

Nikolai working on the retaining wall

After our decision yesterday that we wanted them to build a proper wall and not just fill the random cap with concrete I went and had a word with Nikolai about it first thing. He smiled his shy smile and said "yes, I'd thought that" so there was no issue whatsoever and he was pleased with himself for having worked out in advance what we would want.

Back step has disappeared

Gyuner had been working away all afternoon, though he was finding it cold going. This picture was taken pretty much at the end of the day and he has completely removed the back step, including all the white stone which had been used as a base, and is a fair way into lowering the level of the ground between there and the back door so we can have one slab across. This has happened so much quicker than expected, I figured another day's work to get to this stage, so that is great.

Concrete poured around the reinforcing

Bodged together buttress for the shuttering

I went out at the end of my working day to help out and get my blood moving. I shifted rubble from along the back wall of the balcony into the pile to be removed and also slung a few of the smaller rocks from where Gyuner had removed the strange, slight, step up by the back door. After I ran out of this stuff to do I strolled over to see what was going on with the driveway and was pleasantly surprised to see that they have started pouring concrete already. I suppose this answers the question about whether they will get a truck of mix in; no.

Cold end to the day for Sally

As I mentioned earlier Sally finished inside before heading outside but by this time the temperature was dropping and the wind had risen so he wasn't having a very good time of it. As you can see from the tiles they are getting very close to the door and we want to have a (tiled) step outside here which I think will be Sally's task for tomorrow. I think it is being done just with concrete but I'm not sure; those details I leave to Bekir who, once again (if you hadn't already guessed) didn't work today.

End of an overcast day

And so it became time to take the men home and off we went and nothing really exciting happened apart from several times when I kicked myself for not having brought the camera as there were loads of lovely shots as the sun set having finally got low enough to get beneath the cloud cover. I got back in time to leg it onto the roof terrace and though I was worried I was too late I did get a nice picture.

Lovely slow cooked pork joint

A was VERY impressed with these tatties

Served up and about to be eaten

Dinner had been slow cooking all day, again, and after a while it was ready. It was just as lovely as it looked and I wolfed it down and now I have to have my top trouser button undone while I'm sat here; I'm supposed to be losing weight!

And so another day with the fire on draws to a close. I was hoping it would be warmer today but maybe the weather has turned and this is it for a while. To be fair I think it is early to have a petchka on so hopefully it will warm up again. It's good to see the river with water in it again after our rain, though.

Working all day

Back to the normal service for me (and you) today. It's been a corking day though I've spent all day until later than normal at my paid work. The workmen have cracked on substantially though so there is plenty to talk about.

Humanure nicely covered over with hay

I don't remember an alarm going off this morning but I do remember A getting up while I stayed firmly in bed and refused to move. I was feeling particularly exhausted for some reason and I didn't even really wake up when she came through with a brew for me which she placed on the table next to me. When I woke up to drink it it was not that cold, fortunately. I was aware that the builders would be arriving soon and coming through the bedroom onto the balcony so I took myself into the guest room to keep sleeping however the move woke me up and soon afterwards I was up and about. I had one task to do this morning which was to empty the humanure so I went straight out and did this. When I got back in I did the washing up and was just finishing this when A got back with just Sally and Gyuner as Bekir had other things to do today.

Water from the deluge yesterday

While I was outside getting the humanure done I took a quick stroll around to see the outcome of all the rain yesterday. Now we didn't get all that much; there is a RED weather warning for Bourgas today (more than 70L of water per square meter!) however we had enough and the sad wreck of Rambo's pool has returned. The drainage on the balcony has worked quite well as well but the amount of damp there is in the new cement cladding is concerning. I spoke to Bekir yesterday about getting the tiles onto the top of the wall and this comes back into focus when you see that damp. We shall see.

Shivering little puppies

The puppies were kicked out the house once I got out of bed as they were playing a lot and jumping on my face while I was in bed (another reason I ended up getting out of bed when I did) and when A got back they came back inside and went to sleep. The weather change has really been met with some unhappiness by them and they were lying in their bed shivering. We gave them a rug to tuck themselves inside however they declined this and crawled out from underneath then lay there, shivering again. Poor puppies.

Gyuner gave us a present to celebrate the birth of his daughter

As I briefly hinted at yesterday Gyuner's wife gave birth to another daughter during their holiday last week however I wasn't sure how it had gone so was a bit circumspect in informing you all. Anyway he was very pleased when he arrived today and handed me and A a little packet of sweets each to celebrate the birth. He really is a lovely guy and I'm very pleased for him.

Damp start to the working day

The balcony tilers who didn't come in yesterday because of the terrible weather had returned this morning though I must admit I'd not have if I were them. The one was back on with finishing off the cement around the walls while the tiler kept on cutting and laying tiles. It was quite cold today and progress was a little slow though by the end of the day they have started laying the tiles in front of the bedroom door.

Scaffold over the stairwell

Sally was straight into the living room and on with the plastering. When I went through to take the pictures he had moved the scaffold over the top of the staircase and was happily on top of it plastering away. He laughed when I said I would never go up on top of it there. He's just so phlegmatic.

Snoozing in the bed

A's arm was a lot better this morning than yesterday (as witnessed by the fact that she was able to drive to collect the men) however she was also very tired because of the pain and so when she found she didn't have any work to do first thing she took the opportunity for a quick snooze first thing. The girls had gone through with her and when I popped in to check she was OK I snapped a quick snap of them asleep under the covers. I didn't wake her up and slipped back out.

Even less secure; he just gets on with it

The next time I went out to stretch my legs I found that Sally was off the scaffold but was still above the stairs. He was casually stood on some pretty dodgy looking planks plastering the lower part of the wall. Terrifying to watch.

This kept the birds out of the garage

I took a little walk around downstairs after this and spotted something which I've meant to mention for the last month or two but always forgot when I sat down to write the update. Today I snapped a picture to remind me and while it doesn't look like much any more due to damage from the work that has been done around there it still makes me so very proud of A. I struggled all last year to secure this window (where the garage door will be eventually) against bird entry and A managed to solve the problem really effectively. She's pretty amazing, huh.

Slow progress on the tiling

I had told A that she had to get up regularly while she was working to stretch her legs and prevent her arm from being in the same position for too long. She headed off with the camera obediently and got pictures for me through the afternoon. Here is the progress mid morning on the balcony tiling.

Starting to sort through the wood to build the shuttering

The other workmen were making some pretty good progress on the driveway. They had dug out a channel down the side of the drive and were in the process of putting the wooden shutters up which they will use to pour the cement for the retaining walls. This they did all day and I was called for advice about the steps we went up from the back of the drive onto the back bank. We have chosen a 1m wide gap that will be in the middle of the back wall. I can't wait and I was bouncing around a lot today as I do when progress excites me.

Shifting the huge pile of bricks

Gyuner had the unenviable task of shifting all the bricks which had been thrown off the roof yesterday and stacking them up next to the green building. There were more than either of us realised and it took him til after lunch to finish the job.

Chipping away at the concrete step

Once he had finished this he knocked on the door to Room 13 for his next task and sadly it didn't get much better for him. We want to finish off the back door area, put a little patio in and remove the old steps to make them take up less room and also shift things around a little bit so there is less chance of flooding and this is what I asked him to make a start on. The lump hammer has gone missing which meant he was doing this with my old metal hammer. I must find the lump hammer for him tomorrow, or buy a new one. It isn't right to expect him to use the wrong tools for the job. He kept at it, though, and obviously didn't complain. An excellent worker.

Another wall nicely plastered

Sally had been working away all afternoon and midway through it finished off the plastering on the middle wall. It looks so much better in there now with only these two walls done; I can't wait to see it in a few days time. Rather than start on another wall today he got on with the bricking up that Bekir had begun yesterday. It isn't absolutely finished yet at the end of the day but it's very close. Tomorrow I will want Bekir to finish off the wood store so Sally will have to carry on with this.

Tomorrow they will have to double this up

At the end of the day the other builders snuck off quietly as they do and this left us with the chance to think about the next steps out there. They had said they would just fill in the gap behind the boards with concrete however upon further thinking I reckoned that I wanted it to be a wall and therefore they'd be putting more boards up to keep it to a certain width. A had a look while I was taking the men and she thinks the same so I'll be having fun explaining this to them tomorrow.

Loving the warmth

The journey back was pretty uneventful and when I got home I found the fire lit (it had even been on this morning for a while) and dinner cooking and the smell was lovely with the fragrant wood and chilli on the oven. The puppies were also loving the fire being on and had found a really comfortable position not too close so they didn't burn but close enough so they were lovely and toasty.

Lovely big grin

Dinner was really tasty as expected from the smell and I wolfed a huge plateful down before I remembered to take a picture. Since then I have been typing here, arguing on twitter, watching the rugby and chatting to an old friend on facbeook. Hence it taking a bit longer to do this update than usual. The girls have been dozing on their bed near the fire all evening apart from just after we finished eating when they came over to see us. Look at that smile!

So now it is nearly time for bed and I'll just get these pictures in and head via the shower for a snooze; the weekend is still being paid for in sleep terms I think.

Balcony door

This is the second update I'm writing today however it will be MUCH shorter than the previous opus magnus. This is mainly because not much has happened but also largely down to me not wanting to spend much more time typing this evening.

Bekir chipping out the bricks

When we got to bed last night at about 1am I was aware that the 6am alarm would be brutal but even with this warning I was shocked at just how much I didn't want to wake up. I can remember lying there bargaining with myself: "I'll keep my eyes shut for another four breathes, that'll be fine won't it?" but when A got up to let the puppies out I dragged myself up also so I wouldn't pass back out and miss collecting the men. It was raining this morning so there was no balcony but I don't think either of us were in a fit mood to do much anyway. A's collar bone was even worse this morning so I jumped into Thomas and collected the men. There was no Gyuner tomorrow due to baby birth but both Bekir and Sally were ready and in a good mood after their week holiday. Bekir rang the window people early doors and found that they were still planning on coming out today so he started off knocking through the hole for the doors.

Sally on with the plastering

Sally got straight on with things and made a start on the task which he would stick at all day; plastering the walls. He got all of the window wall done, and half of the wall up to the staircase, including polishing it all. He works so hard and fast and we had some good laughs every time I went in and saw just how much he had achieved since my last visit.

A rainy delivery

The other builders had said they would be working today but with the weather as it was, raining more and more all the time, we pretty much realised that we wouldn't see them. They surprised me a bit when a van arrived with a load of wood on the back and they unloaded it all but then they disappeared again pretty quickly as the downpour continued. The forecast is for better weather tomorrow and for the next few weeks so that is good.

Soaking tiles

It really has been a miserable day today with quite a lot of thunder rumbling around all day, though nothing over top and not much lightning to be seen either. The tiles are shedding their water well out of the drains however the rest of the balcony soaked up quite a lot of water during today, and the walls really did also. We need to get the rest of the tiles down, and fast.

Hole nearly big enough

Bekir bashed away until about 2pm and made a big enough hole for the double door to fit in. I went out and helped him at one point in a break in my work (that's all I have been doing today; working) to throw the bricks off the roof and we settled into a good rhythm. I think he was quite pleased that I picked up on how he wanted to do this as a convey belt and fitted in with his working pattern. It was nice as well for me to get some fresh air.

Finishing the hole off

Not long after he finished the window people turned up and set about fitting the door. I had to help every time they went to their van as both of the guys who turned up are not good with Rambo. They found that the hole was not quite the right dimensions so there was a bit of effort in trimming some overhanging bricks out of the way and after that was done I left them to it and went back to work.

I don't have pictures for this next bit but when the window people left (after fixing up our back door which no longer held shut unless you locked it) they left the gate wide open which mean the sheep dog brought the sheep onto our land. Rambo was barking, but didn't chase them, and when A told me I went out and just told them to leave and the sheep dog took them. Literally. They are so well trained, these sheepdogs.

And bricking the gap back up

Once they left Bekir got cracking with bricking up the gaps around the outside of the door. He didn't get this completed today but there isn't much left to do now. It was then time to take them home and again we had a bit of banter in the car which is just so lovely; they have great senses of humour and it's good to laugh along. There wasn't anything else of interest really about the journey though I do hope to maybe have another body on site tomorrow to take over the task of chopping and splitting all our wood.

The petchka is lit once again

When I got home I found A had lit the petchka which was excellent as I had been thinking about it all day. Today hasn't been all that cold but there is a certain comfort to having the fire on when it is damp and miserable like today. I started the update that I published before this one and haven't really stopped typing since. Dinner was an absolutely amazing pork stew thing that A threw together which was so tasty.

Now it is time for me to stop this typing thing and head to bed. It's been a long day, what with A not being well and me being worried about her. Tomorrow I'll probably be taking her to the doctor. I hope she is OK.

Machine Head then Italy

A whole weekend to write about... how am I going to remember anything that happened!? It has been such a cracking time as well with so much going on. I'll do my best to do this justice.

Probably the most exciting thing all year!

So I left you as me and my guest were about to settle down to listen to some music and drink some local booze. We did exactly that for a fair amount longer then planned which was a lot of fun. I even managed to introduce him to some metal bands he hadn't listened to before. Eventually it was time to go to sleep though and when the alarm went off the next day I wished I'd got a little more sleep. We had a little bit of a rush on that morning however A and I got to go drink our brews on the balcony. She had just finished telling me that she had seen some duck feathers in the pond when I noticed the water was rippling so went to have a look and sure enough they were both in the water! There was much celebrations as we watched them having a great time splashing and diving and swimming around. Now I wish I could make it larger.

Sunlight through the mist

The day had dawned slightly overcast and it got mistier and mistier as we were out there. Of course it didn't matter so much today about the weather as our plans were basically travelling ones. We watched the sun come up and then got on with the day. We had to pack, get the puppies ready for their holiday, and get the house ready for leaving so as to not attract too many rodents. I set a burn going as well and also pointed our guest at some sights (including poor Mo's grave) and he had a good long wander around with the puppies.

Having fun on holidays

We left pretty much dead on time, locking the vehicle gate as we left and also having a quick word with the Special One about the animals that they were going to look after. Our first port of call was to SandS's where Thelma and Louise were going for their holidays while we were away. We spent a really pleasant time chilling out there drinking very nice home made cordial and then waved goodbye and headed off. The girls had a great time on their holidays and went on walks and got totally mucky. It was great to be able to leave them with SandS while we went away.

Time to order our lunch

From there we went to try and get lunch but our first port of call, the kebab shop, wasn't open so we ended up back at our favourite restaurant which at that time of day was pretty much deserted. We ordered our food and as per usual it was absolutely lovely. The diversion had only delayed us a little bit and from there we were straight on the road to Sofia.

We didn't order this

It was quite an easy drive and we found our hotel without any problems and got ourselves checked in. I was pretty tired and so went straight to bed and slept for about 40 minutes and then got ready for the evening. We ordered a cab and once our friend had joined us we headed for the location of the gig we were there to see. When we arrived A spotted a chinese restaurant right next to the venue and so in we went and what a good choice that turned out to be. The food was really nice, the portions were just humongous, and the service was very good. We ate until we could eat no more and then A got in a cab (with a driver who had said he knew where he was going but apparently then got lost and had to phone a friend to find the hotel again) while my friend and I headed for the gig.

Not a queue, really

In England, and most other places I've been to gigs as well actually, the queue for a gig is a very organised thing. You stand behind the person who got there before you and late comers suffer the long walk of shame to the very end of the line. Not so in Sofia. When we got there it was quite a diffuse crowd standing around and as we walked through to where it was thickest we saw the security staff and the entrance. There was no queue, just a very large and very friendly crowd standing around talking. We were spoken to in English by a group who were checking they were in the correct place and it was a very good advertisement for Sofia (though metallers the world over are always friendly).

The crowd, and anticipation, builds

The doors were quite late opening and after stopping past the merchandise stall for a t-shirt for me and one for A we made our way to my traditional location by the sound desk and waited. Then waited again and finally waited some more. I always watch the sound crew at gigs, not just because I'm a soundy geek but because they let you know what is going on, and this particular one was looking more and more annoyed as the time stretched on. He will have had to stay after the gig to derig and tidy up and late starts mean late finishes.

The good part of the long wait was watching the crowd build and seeing them singing along and dancing to just the CD playing gave a good indication for what would come when Machine Head finally took the stage. We were not let down. The place jumped from the first note right until after the last one at about 11.50pm and for that 2.5 hours not one person in their let up. I took a video of the opening song, as is my wont, but the sound was so loud it really didn't come out. The video I have put is more to show you the energy of the crowd than anything else so sorry for the sound quality. This was just before the end and these people had been doing this throughout; even getting more energetic as the night went on.

So very metal it hurts

I was tempted to join in these mad scenes but decided against it because I didn't want to get battered before our holiday. It was a very good gig indeed though I wished I knew the songs a little bit better; my friend said he was very impressed indeed and from their updates on social media since I think the band would agree. Sofia rocks. We slid out of the venue after the band had thrown their plectrums and drum sticks into the crowd but were about 10 seconds too late to get the taxis waiting outside. There then followed a few minutes running up and down the road chasing taxis until finally we got in one and pretended ignorance of the language until he took us back to the hotel. OK, it didn't take much pretending. We had a drink in the bar when we got back, sitting outside on the terrace to calm ourselves and ready for sleep, and then it was parting greetings and off to bed, as he had a very early start the next day.

Breakfast the the hotel

Sat outside relaxing before heading to the airport

We had a lovely lazy start to the day with no need to rush at all. Our flight wasn't til much later and breakfast wasn't on early. A was up well before me and went for a coffee and to check us in while I dozed on. We headed down for breakfast eventually and it wasn't too bad, though the non-sausages were a bit strange. After this we headed out onto the terrace and drank tea and relaxed until it was time to head to the airport.

We got free food!

It was the first time I've been to Terminal 2 in Sofia and it was a pleasant experience other than when we went to get a butty and a coke and had to spend as much as we did when we took our friend out for a meal with beers the night before. This left a slightly sour taste in the mouth, particularly when we bought some icecream and it was BGN3.20 a scoop! On the plane, however, we were most surprised to be fed and watered for free. This is something I have not seen on a short haul flight for many years so top marks to Bulgarian Air for that.

Mountains over the wing

Lake under the wing

The flight over was really comfortable and quick and the views out of the window were stunning as we started to go over the Alps. I got A to take these pictures as she had the window seat (aren't I nice) but I did get to look out as well. When we landed we were very quickly through customs and made our way to the care hire place and this is where the day got a little less smooth.

Our little Fiat 500

Our paperwork had been misleading for the car hire, saying in one place that only credit cards were allowed for the deposit and in another that it would be fine without. When we got to the counter we found out quickly that it was the first that was correct and without a credit card we would be getting no car. Fortunately as the paperwork was clearly misleading, and we were very polite about it all, the girl behind the counter did everything she could to help and after about half an hour, a lot of telephone calls, and some laughter we finally had it sorted out and were off to collect our car. Of course the fun wasn't finished there as I tried to set my satnav to take us to the hotel and found that I have every country in Europe apart from Italy. Fortunately the car hire people also had a spare satnav and we were able to set off.

Waberers truck

Bridge porn

It was a lovely day in Italy and I was really happy that I had been grumpy and brought my normal sandals with me to drive in. After an initial confusion with the sat nav trying to take us back to the airport we had just left we were on our way (we were tempted to avoid the toll roads but it said it would take about 5 hours, instead of 2, so we just paid up). These two pictures are specifically for my dad. See, I do think of you.

Loads of terraces up the valley side

Hill top castle

First view of the Matterhorn

As we made our way further north we left the flatlands behind and started driving up a valley which was dramatic to begin with and then got better and better the further in we got. There are a lot of pictures of this that I just went through but these are the two I have chosen. First of all how the locals manage to farm on such steep ground; they terrace it using stones and a lack of fear of heights. Secondly is our first glimpse of the Matterhorn, on which flank (very low down, though) we would be staying.

View from our bedroom balcony

The sat nav took us right to the door of our hotel however it wasn't clear that this was it so we drove around a bit before returning to the first location and then being invited in by the owner. It really was a stunning location, as you would expect from our host (whom I'll call badass for the purposes of this update) whose birthday it was. They were in the bar already so we said hello then went up to our room to freshen up before the evening festivities. And what a room it was. I didn't get any pictures at all of the room (sorry) but the view from our balcony was so amazing I had to get a panorama.

Raspberry present

It was a really lovely evening from beginning to end. My tooth had done it's crazy pain thing that it hasn't done for years which was really not cool and meant that I necked a load of whisky with painkillers to try and stop myself from just curling up in a ball however I did my best to stop it spoiling the time and a bit later the pain actually went away. After everyone arrived the owner of the hotel went and picked us up some pizzas which were very tasty. Eventually the evening ended with us all in the hot tub drinking whisky (on my part) and champagne (everyone else) until everyone decided it was time for bed and the party finished.

Breakfast in our room

The next day there was no hurry to be up and about so we had a lovely lie in. We were awake on and off from early and it was magical watching as the sun rose and glinted off the mountains opposite. Despite the amount of alcohol we had both consumed the night before neither of us was suffering in the slightest which was a bonus indeed. Breakfast was served via a basket delivered to the door at about 8am and it contained some very fine things indeed. The funniest part, however,was when we took what we thought were hard boiled eggs and found, upon cracking them, that they were not cooked. After a bit of a scramble (badoom tish) we ended up with edible eggs and they were very tasty indeed.

View from the carpark

Everyone else was up and about at roughly the same time and so it was decided we would head down into the town for some coffee and to meet up with the final two to make our party complete. Badass drove us into town in his lovely hire car and we found a carpark in the centre which had probably the best view of any carpark I've ever been in. And I have been in a few.

Cervinia is beautiful

A stroll through town brought more lovely sights and sounds and I think we may well return here again out of season with more time and walking boots to explore the surroundings better. Of course there are so many places we want to go that we may well not get back soon. We were looking for a cafe and struggled at first as it is real off season there and no where was open at all.

Hot chocolate and beers

Eventually we found a place and settled down. It was such a lovely morning, the sun was warm on our skin, and so on top of the coffees and hot chocolate we ordered a beer each. What a lovely way to spend the morning and soon enough we were also joined by the other members of our party and we were up to our completed count. After chilling there for a while it was time to go back to the hotel to get taken up to our picnic spot for lunch and so it was into cars and back.

From our lunch spot

Everyone enjoying the views and the weather

The Matterhorn, clothed

We couldn't all fit in the Land Rover that was taking us up the side of the mountain so A and I waited with one other person for it to go up once and then come down to collect us. It took ages for this to happen but when we had our turn we realised why; this was a proper low range four by four track and we ground up at not much more than 10mph. When we reached our destination, however, it was all worth it. This was a restaurant that is on the usual main ski slope during winter but was shut for the summer that we had been allowed to make use of. We spent a really lovely few hours sipping wine (beer in my case, mainly) and eating fantastic hams and cheese and fresh cooked bread while sunbathing on the tables. It was so warm that we all caught the sun really quite badly which really wasn't expected at all.

Haze far down the valley

The weather stayed stunning the whole time we were up there but slowly the clouds were rolling in around the fringes of the valley, and there was a haze much further down which was beautiful to watch as it developed. While we were sitting I heard a roar and looked over at the glacier clinging to the valley wall opposite in time to see a huge rush of water and ice fall down its torrent. What a thing to see! We couldn't stay up there all afternoon, particularly as the weather was changing, so eventually we were ferried down again (we went in the first trip this time) to the hotel. When we got down we were so exhausted we fell asleep for ages and I must admit I really struggled to wake up afterwards.

Squashed in the back of the land rover

We were heading out for a posh meal that evening so had to get up and get dressed and polish ourselves which we did with plenty of time to spare. I put my shiny shoes on which I really like wearing so that was fun. We found out that it wasn't just us who had gone back to their rooms to sleep; everyone had done so. The sun must have wiped us out. Once again we were ferried to the restaurant by the really helpful son of the owner. This time we only had one too many so it was a squash in job rather than two trips.

Sheep skins on the tables outside

It was quite cool when we reached the venue but we still sat outside for our aperitifs. The staff brought us rugs in case we were cold which was a nice touch. Sadly one of our number (the porsche driver) ended up not making it as his car had a flat tyre which we didn't laugh about at all obviously. The story got worse through the night as first of all Porsche were not able to change the wheel at the road side (what?) so they took it away and then we found that it would take them FIVE WORKING DAYS to return it! What kind of service is that?! Anyway, our Russian friend was able to join us by taxi leaving him fuming and the evening continued.

Three of the four coursed (the amouse bouche wasn't owt to look at)

The food was rather special, though the portions were large (the starter was almost a main) and the steak came out a little over done for everyone. No matter we had a lovely time, more wine was drunk (not by me though) and everyone managed to fight through the tiredness of the day to stick it out. When we got back to the hotel, however, everyone was so tired that there was not even a single night cap and it was straight to our rooms.

Early start

We were leaving really early the next day due to a cow festival in the valley which would shut the roads from 9am until about 2pm which then would have been too late for us to get to our flights. When the alarm went off and it was still dark it felt something like a bad joke however it was a good idea to be up so early as I was awake by the time we left. I got in touch with Badass the Birthday Boy and he joined us for a brew before we left which was a lovely way to end a lovely weekend. Everyone else would be staying for one more day but with the animals we had to get back here, really.

Gorgeous colour water

And so almost dead on 8am we hit the road and rolled down the valley. The owner had given us some details about a nice location for a walk but A's collarbone, which had been getting worse and worse, precluded anything like that so instead we kept straight on down the valley, only stopping once when we drove past an amazing turquoise lake. The people here are really friendly and we were greeted very cheerfully by a fisherman who was there for the morning catch.

We didn't get to see this

We got onto the toll road and then proceeded to get very annoyed at Italy. There were loads of interesting places to see, a lot of them signposted from the road, but never anywhere near a junction. It was so frustrating to sail straight past places like the Forte di Barde which looked epic and had a little train to take you up the side. I sulked quite a lot when it was apparent we wouldn't be able to stop there but eventually we spotted a sign for a castle that was accompanied by an exit and off we went through the Italian countryside in search of some tourist stuff to pass the day.

We didn't expect to arrive for an important local event

Imagine our amusement when we drove up to the gates only to be waved on by an Italian speaking policeman up the road and there into what was obviously a temporary carpark because of some event they presumed we were here for. We stood in a line to buy an entrance ticket and then were eventually allowed through into the lovely grounds, around which was set loads and loads of stalls selling all sorts of produce. If only we had checked luggage for the flight we could have spent an absolute fortune!

The benches are a bit far from the table, but yeah

We wandered around the stalls, resisting the urge to purchase, finally stopping at the cafe stall to buy some cappuccino and croissants which were absolutely lovely. With these eaten we strolled towards where the actual castle was, through a beautiful mixed woodland (even including a stand of bamboo). I liked this stone table and benches in one of the clearings a lot; we have all that stone piled up the top bank which we aim to do something like this with. Eventually. Maybe.

It doesn't look like much from the outside....

.... but inside... wow!

When we got to the castle we found that we hadn't actually paid for entry, just paid so we could get a discount, but we still coughed up and were told we would be on a guided tour and just to wait. At this point I started getting a bit worried as the outside of the building wasn't all that impressive, and there were few people with more than a couple of words of English around, so the tour would probably be a bit of a waste. This could not have been further from the truth and when we finally went in through the door to the inside both of us had our breath taken away.

Detailed ceiling and gorgeous chandelier

Such an amazing ceiling again

A sumptuous drawing room

The tower room; stunning

I really want something like this

Our guide, showing some of the fine china

This is only a tiny selection of the photographs that we took on that tour and I hope they give you the impression of how sumptuous the decorations were, how amazingly detailed it was and just what a beautiful building it was. The tour lasted about 40 minutes in total and by the end we were both exceedingly glad we had stopped and then stuck out the wait to get inside. What a place.

Long table of food

Once we had managed to find our way out of the castle where the tour finished, via the cafe kitchens I think, we made our way back to the car and headed on towards the hotel. It was a shame in one sense we couldn't have stayed at this castle (The Castello e Parco di Masino, if you're interested) as it seemed that there was going to be a feast there later on; there were loads of long tables set up around the grounds (including one right in the middle of all the stalls, probably for the bigwigs) and it would have been fun to join in.

Unfortunately the sun set on the other side of the plane

The drive from there was rather easy, we had some fun trying to find a petrol station to fill our trusty car up, and half way I stopped and we had a doze in the car, then some lunch made up of food taken from our breakfast basket which we hadn't eaten that morning (including hard boiled eggs; we didn't make the same mistake twice and did our own). The car drop off was simple, eventually we had a gate for the flight, and the flight was also a really easy one with more free food and drink. When we got home to Sofia we were in a taxi and then in Thomas within about half an hour or landing. Smooth as.

Frog in Rambo's water bowl

The weather was not great in Sofia and it got worse as we drove home; there was plenty of lightning around to keep me awake as I drove. I took the mountain route which was a good choice as the motorway was monotonous and also the weather largely kept away so it wasn't too slow. We were going straight to SandS's to collect the puppies and didn't reach them until about midnight which was quite late enough for me. After a brief visit we got back on the road and finally pulled up at the Old School at about 12.30. Rambo came pounding across the front garden to the gate when he heard us and I almost ran him over which wouldn't have been the best of returns but I stopped just in time. It was marvelous to be home again, lovely as the weekend away had been.

We didn't bother unloading, just got in the house and went to bed and that is where I'll leave this update as it is quite long enough for me.