Blogs from Aosta Valley, Italy, Europe - page 2

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Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Courmayeur July 9th 2016

"Please put down ice axes and backpacks". Well, that sign does make you wonder what sort of mishaps have occurred in the Skyway Visitor's Centre lift before people even made it out to the snow! After a great breakfast at Cresta et Duc with immaculate service from a guy who looked just like Hector Elizondo, we walked down the hill in Courmayeur to the brand new Skyway cable car, not really knowing what to expect up on the glacier. It was brilliant blue sky down below, but as we are frequently warned, things can change pretty quickly high in the mountains. I snapped a picture of the ticket booth because it suddenly occurred to me that we hadn't pulled out a wallet in days! That has got to be one of the nicest parts about being ... read more
Excellent sign in the lift.
Crowded into the cable car
The snowball fight

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley July 9th 2016

Not surprisingly, it was a bit of an effort getting packed up and down to the van by 8.30am this morning! We were soon off to Aosta for a visit to the Roman Theatre, and with a bit of luck, some hidden frescoes in a little church off the beaten track. Aosta is the capital of the Val d'Aosta and it really felt that way when we entered the city via the huge Roman Arch and began making our way through the old town. Little things that I've never seen still amuse me - l thought an ice-cream truck was coming when I heard tinkling music and saw a tiny van lurching down the street, but it was actually selling blow-up toys like you would see at the Royal Melbourne Show. Scores of them! The main ... read more
Greg, Cate, Julie at lunch, Aosta
Parco Aventuras di Mont Blanc
Adventure with a view

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Arnad July 8th 2016

Today Cate saw "A deerish, goatish thing" shortly after we began our big climb to the land above the tree line. She got a fair bit of ribbing about that, too, but I believed her - unlike some who likened her "Deerish, goatish thing" to a Mr Tumnus vision caused by lack of oxygen as we puffed up the steep trail. Mick, who I guess had to at least try to believe, suggested that as the creature was quite small, it might have been a chamois. I had never heard of chamois (Except in car-cleaning talk), but Frank reminded me there had been a few stuffed versions in the Alpine Museum that I'd deliberately avoided. This walk was one of the biggest on the hike- and once again proved that kilometres on a brochure can be ... read more
Breathtaking, really.
Jackie hiked in the picnic
Post-lunch nap

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley July 7th 2016

We've had a lot of fun today with a new Italian phrase we learned from our guide at Queen Margherita of Savoy's fairytale castle in Gressoney-St-Jean. Apparently she was "Una Buona Forchetta" (Literally, "Good on the Fork"). This phrase can be used to describe a lover of good food if you are being polite, or, reading between the lines in this case, someone who just likes to eat far too much. All good if you are a queen, except for the poor men who used to have to carry her up to the peaks of Monte Rosa on a massive chair, or pull her through the snow on her special wooden sled! We got the feeling during the tour that there was not too much love lost between ordinary Italians and this royal family. The walking ... read more
The church in the valley
Swimming pool, Gressoney-St Jean
Wildflowers, Gressoney Valley

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Aosta June 30th 2016

We filled in no toll roads and that was what we were driving. We crossed the German, French and Swiss border several times but is was an exceptional tour trough the mountains. The roads were good but not at all places. They are small with lots of curves and full of slow drivers. The German part was still good, but when we entered Italy, that changed to the worse. You need a lot of patience. The original speed limit in build-up places is 50 k.m. But that drags on for miles. Suddenly it changes to 70 immediately going to 90, Just at the moment you want to put your foot down it is 50 again. Frustrating. We had to go through the Mont Blanc tunnel and had to pay 43.50 Euro. Aosta is a nice little ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Aosta May 15th 2016

Ok then, we have had nothing but rain . That pesky work of fiction the weather forecast is actually a work of fact. They said it would rain. It did rain. We are up north in the colder part of Italy and the weather like a bad smell is lingering and following us. We have had to think out of the box to make this holiday work. We have realised we are going to have little sun. News from most parts of Europe suggest the weather is the same everywhere. Northern Spain is having rain, Southern Spain too so had we switched holidays we would have hit rain somewhere. Ah well it is better than work. Where would I rather be ? In Clay Cross or in Suzy in a dullish Aosta deep in the Valee ... read more
A roman arch
the second half of the roman arch
Marzipan sweets

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Aosta September 20th 2015

After three nights in Turin we headed north to the Aosta Valley. There was a big Sunday morning market being set up on our street as we were driving out. We were tempted to linger but we wanted to get on the road, our trips are never straight forward, they involve stops and unplanned detours. We didn’t have a hotel booking and wanted to get to Aosta while there was still light. The hotels in Aosta that I checked on the internet were all very expensive, not very attractive and also full up so we decided to take our chances. We had a similar experience in Cesky Krumlov -- we walked into the old town, found a room at the first hotel we liked and liked it so much that we spent another two nights there ... read more
Aosta
Courmayeur
Courmayeur

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Aosta January 25th 2015

As mentioned previously in one of my travel entries, when I was living in France, I used to make frequent day trips (mostly by car) in-country, as well as to neighboring countries. One of those journeys was to Aosta in Italy. It was late August in France, nearly the end of summer. I wanted to take advantage of the remaining days of summer and decided to travel to Aosta the principal city in the Aosta Valley region of the Italian Alps. We left home very early in the morning as it was only to be a day trip. The distance from Bourg en Bresse, the city where I lived in France, and Aoste (the French name fo Aosta) is approximately 235 kilometers or around 145 miles, and we were hoping to get there in about 3 ... read more
Courmayeur, Italy
Italy
Italy

Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » Aosta June 2nd 2014

I would have said “hey guys” but I am pretty sure that no one will be reading this blog except for my english teacher so I’m just going to start by “hello miss Sahtout.” During the february holidays Tano, Mathias and I went to Aosta: a little town in the north of italy for a ski trip which did not make particularly happy because I have always been and always will be completely terrorized of skiing. But tano and mathias really helped me through it by inspiring me with a quote said by Bruce Will in after earth: ‘The danger is real, but fear is a choice’ and by promising me that nothing could happen to me, that I couldn’t get hurt. Well they sure as hell were wrong because I broke my arm the very ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Aosta Valley » La Thuile August 28th 2013

The month of August was spent in the Swiss and Italian Alps so read on for the details. On Thursday 1 August we headed around to Saas Fee to the aire on the terrace overlooking the valley. The only down side was the giant multi story car park directly behind. However, we had one night in the back row and the next day a van left so we got a front row spot with the view. Saas Fee has a deal for reduced parking rates and free rides on buses and cables for a small daily price. On Friday we took the gondola up to Hannig to do a hike up to Mallig for great glacier and 4000mt peak views. The walk back through the Azalea rockery and the pine forest was lovely. On Saturday we ... read more
Beautiful
Finally, a photo of the elusive Wallcreeper
Forest art




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