Is this 'The Melt'?
Well as planned, yesterday afternoon Ciccio and I set out for Switzerland....sounds very romantic doesn't it - until you realise it's a bit like going to the Hypermarket/Mall/Centro Commerciale for people up here. It's so near...
We drove up the Val Chiavenna which leads ultimately to Madesimo, the Spluga Pass and Bellinzona if you turn left at Chiavenna , or if you turn right, to Castasegna (Swiss border) into the Engadina and the Maloja Pass and then to St. Moritz and the Bernina Pass (didn't go there though yesterday) .
The weather was glorious. Bright sun and the car guage showed the outside temperature had risen all the way up to 1°c. There were clear signs that 'the melt' was starting (at least 'this one'). I could see little rivulets of water coming from the mounds of snow that snow ploughs had pushed to the side. But the torrents (the chutes) that channel the melt water down from the mountains were still frozen solid....I must get into the habit of taking the camera with me.... Once this melt gets under way those channels will be roaring torrents, capable of carrying huge boulders off the mountains. It is a really impressive sight. I am lucky in that just acrosss the road behind my house there is a small (very small) waterfall. It's just a 'dribble' at the moment, but once in full flow it is channelled under the lane and then flows right down the side of my property at the side of the hay store. The water, icy cold and so clear, just like liquid diamonds, will continue to flow 'til maybe July. This keeps the garden refreshingly cool in the summer - and sleeping to the sound of a nearby 'babbling brook' is really beyond description. So calming!
Well once over the Swiss border, the first stop was a little bar I know where they still make the 'thick' hot chocolate (strictly not on my diet), but 'chi se ne frega' - 'who cares'. I'm not going to tell the dietologist - and if anyone else does I'll 'kill 'em'..... Ciccio decided he rather liked the little wafer you get with the chocolate, and to that end he 'crawled' on his stomach (I kid you not) into the heart of the waitress and managed to 'put away' about ten of these.... Greedy little s*d!!!! Then it was off to the service station to fill up with petrol at only €0.98c per litre. Once done we wended our way back to Italy with 'his lordship' fast asleep and snoring on the back seat. Not surprised after all those wafers!
All in all it was a good relaxing day...and the bonus? Well that was the temperature here last night. The first time since the last week in November that it has not dropped below freezing. It was up to +0.5°c this morning at 6am. But the cold doesn't bother me - it's the heat I don't like.
posted by Carole B @ 2:41 PM
2 Comments:
Dear Carole, it was good reading your blog about where you live. We also live in northern Italy, but a different part, in Friuli. Ciccio sounds like a character. I have started a blog: iduediavolini.blogspot.com about my 2 puppies, Honey & Teddi. What does"Ciccio" mean? The hot chocolate sounds good. It's cute that Ciccio loves the wafers, all 10 of them! Bye, Marilyn
Hi Marilyn,
Sorry I've only just got round to this, but it's been pretty hectis getting the 'new style' blog off the ground.... What breed are your two puppies? 'Ciccio' is literally a diminuitive of the name Francesco - though with animals or children you use it when you 'admire them' - saying they are 'Ciccio Bello'!!!. I'm going to have a peep at your 'blog' too. I've never been to Friuli (I don't think)!
Ciao, Carole
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