Well Rob and Deb arrived last Saturday from England. After all the worry of the flight problems leading up to their holiday their flight, apart from a delay of an hour on the take off time, the passage through the two airports - Gatwick and Linate (Milan) went without a hitch.

Their week here with me flew by though. On the Sunday I took them up to San Moritz and we went over the Bernina pass and they saw the 'Diavolezza' mountain range which is nearly alway covered in snow even when we are being 'almost' cooked alive with the heat this year. It didn't let us down at all either - the snow was truly spectacular. We then went on to Livigno - the freeport between Italy and Switzerland, and from bright sunshine we ran into a hailstorm, and a cloudburst. It was just too cold for them to even consider getting out of the car. (None of us had bought jackets or cardigans - and boy was it cold!)
That evening I treated them to supper at the 'usual' mountain restaurant so they could sample the Valtellina specialities....they enjoyed it all except the 'polenta taragna'! But they both drooled over 'Mama Santina's' pizzoccheri and her 'tira-mi-su'.

They hired a car for three days which gave them the opportunity to 'go explore' on their own....my tastes are more in line with those of Rob's mum and dad and my other friends Pat and Jo...So they enjoyed exploring the sites around the lake, visiting a large market at Lecco and going up on the little train to Brunate above Como. They tried the ferry accross the Lake to Menaggio and 'loved' Bellaggio.
On thier last evening we went up to a small village pizzeria for a traditional pizza, and they were intrigued by the 'wood oven' and the speed with which their pizza's cooked.
As you can see from the photo of them, they concluded their meal with 'merengata con cioccolato caldo', 'tartufo nero' and an 'affogato al caffè'....

They left this afternoon and phoned to say they had arrived safely. It has been a real pleasure having them here with me as they are two very 'down to earth' people - no airs and graces at all.... and Rob (bless him) rebuilt an old wardrobe I had for storage in my attic and built a garden bench I had but was unable to put togehter myself! For that help I am very grateful to him for doing it and to Deb for letting him. Thank you both.

When I got back from taking them to the airport, Ciccio (who stayed at home), was most upset as they weren't in the car. He would not settle until I showed him the inside of the car and that they weren't still in it!!! He loves any company and Rob played what we called 'roustabout' with him...something I can't do - oh he enjoyed it so much! But was he out of breath after all this fun!

I do hope they can get over to visit again - and maybe for a bit longer next time. One week just flies by I'm afraid!

Now it's just another seven days and #1 son arrives...it doesn't seem that it is eight months since I last saw him! But we do talk frequently so that does help things along when I miss him.