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.