Photos May/June 2007

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Photos May/June 2007

 Europe » Italy By jesschap
June 11th 2007Ciao!

Here are some photos of my birthday, a wonderful few days we spent with some relatives who were over here from Australia, and this past weekend just outside Milan.

Jess x

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Photos

SURPRISE!
Lorenzo organised a surprise birthday party for me a few weeks back. We were out for dinner and then the cake and friends shocked me when we arrived home!!

Liguria - porto fino
The day after the party, Mike and Chiara arrived. After shopping in Milan we headed to the coast to relax and were lucky to have very good weather!

Liguria - porto fino
Mike and Chiara

Liguria - porto fino
It was hot but we made it to the top of the hill!

Lake Maggiore
On Sunday we went to a couple of lakes near Milan (close to the well-known Lake Como). The lakes are north of the city, along the Swiss border and depending what town you go to it takes 30 - 90 minutes to get there. These are some lillies in a small lake called Monate, right next to Lake Maggiore.

Lake Maggiore
Lorenzo and I at an old port on the lake.

Lake Maggiore
View across to the other side (it rained for about 20 minutes so you can't see much, sorry!)

Lake Maggiore
Look how many grapes are on that vine! There's also a little lizard (?) on the wall in the background.

Lake Maggiore
There are some beautiful gardens around the lake. The large number of hydrangeas provide most of the amazing colour at this time of the year.

Lake Maggiore
We felt like we were in NZ when we arrived at Angera. The huge flat lakeside greens were gifted to the townspeople hundreds of years ago by the King of Spain. Lorenzo said that the grass areas and sailing boats out on the water reminded him of Bastion Point in Auckland. I thought it was a little like Western Springs!

Lake Maggiore
Greens with the castle up on the hill.

Lake Maggiore
We bought a very heavy raisin bread from this guy as it's really nice and is Lore's grandma's favorite. The guy then made Lorenzo try wine from a used cup... and started telling us about how the pig in the photo (he's pointing to) is used to make jackets in New York. He was a little crazy and enjoyed having his photo taken.

Lake Maggiore
From Bastion Point/Western Springs at Angera to West Auckland at Lisanza. We went down to have a look at the park and stumbled upon a bikers rally. The sign in the background on the tree says "burn out". It was pretty impressive!

Back home
Half an hour later and we were back home to do some gardening on our terrace. We now have: star jasmin, gardenia, hydrangeas, lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, basil, daisies, geraniums...... That's Lore's BBQ at the end next to the wall.

Comments

[Jess Buchanan]

Good times.
Looks like good times Jess! Wish you many more to come...

[Linda]

Happy Birthday
Lovely pictures, lovely weather - roll on September!!