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Published: June 14th 2017
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Geo: 45.7933, 11.9128
Not surprisingly, we were all exhausted on Friday. We had a quiet day, and did some grocery shopping with Nonna, whilst Nonno looked after the boys at home. Steven got chatting with the man in the pet store about the price of Frontline in Italy – he was very kind, and after we took photos of the cabinets that Merial (the drug company) provides him, he gave Georgia a Frontline Tshirt.
Then, whilst I did some homework with the kids and prepared lunch, Steven dropped his parents to lunch with some old workmates of Elio, who live nearby on a farm. We had a sleep, which we ALL needed, and then all went to collect Rita and Elio from the arm. The people were lovely – Rita and especially Elio had a fantastic time there, as there were three of his old workmates from Australia – two of them had moved back to Italy, and one was visiting from Perth. It was lovely to see these old men, in their seventies, all together and joking like teenagers about the old days!
The farm itself was an educational experience. As soon as we pulled up at the back of the house, there
was a tremendous stink – it nearly knocked you off your feet, and I cannot begin to imagine what it is like in summer heat! They have 300 young calves in crates, in sheds – three or four little calves in a pen, and they are kept inside all their lives….no wonder it stinks. I guess that Europeans have to farm differently, in a small land with lots of people to feed, and maybe it doesn't seem so cruel if all animals have to be inside out of the snow for 6 months anyway, but….needless to say, the kids were not impressed!
When Rita and Elio came back, Steven and I went for a drive by ourselves, and took the chance to go to the Temple of Canova at Possagno. It was closed, but even the outside of the building was very impressive, as it is modeled on the Parthenon and just completely dominates the landscape of the little village where it is located (the home town of the sculptor and artist, Canova). We then went on to Valdobbiadene, which is billed as the home of prosecco – we had to stop for a glass, and both discovered that we really
like this dry, sparkling wine.
We went back to Asolo, so that we could park the car and walk into town for dinner. As it was nearly 9pm, we thought we'd park the car back at our apartment – the town itself is closed to cars on the weekend, and we didn't want to get caught with our car locked in town on Saturday morning. When we arrived at home, the kids were busily engaged in a game of Monopoly with Rita and Elio on our little balcony – I think we almost could have sneaked past them!
Steven and I had a wonderful dinner at a posh restaurant in town – enjoying the view as the hills turned dark and the twinkling lights of the towns on the plains came on, and enjoying being together – there are real benefits to travelling with a wonderful set of babysitters!
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