Hello. I've just returned from Italy!

Waiting at the airport getting some sun. The town where we were staying was on such a remote location, we had to get three trains/buses to get there and back, and in the end had 5 hours to spare before the flight home. There was NOTHING to do at Malpensa, except for sitting on that block of cement in the sun.

Next up is a bus stop. I asked for an iced latte in the coffee shop in front of us while we were waiting, and the girl had no idea what I wanted. Conversation went something like this (bear in mind I don't speak italian. I was speaking half italian half spanish)

- Can I have latte with ice?
- A latte?
- Coffee with milk?
- Capuccino?
- No latte. Coffee with lots of milk?
- Ah latte
- Yes. Latte. Ice.
- Oh. You want it like, cold?
- Yes
- Do you want it with ice?
- Yes
- Small glass like an expresso, or tall glass?
- Just a normal glass like a latte?
- Oh normal glass. So coffee, milk, and ice?
- Yes!
- Ahh...
- Can it be decaf?
- Decaf latte on ice
- YES!

I have to say, everyone was soo nice to us the whole time. I didn't think of learning italian because it was all a bit sudden and we were only going to be there for two full days, so I didn't even have time to get a dictionary. I ended up doing my infamous spanish with an italian swagger thing.

This was the Healing Centre. It had the most wonderful energy. We didn't actually go there for a retreat; we went to see the Lama who was going to be there this weekend. After getting to know the people, I've become very interested in all they were doing.

This doggie was soo cute. She was wearing a pearl beads rosary on her neck. I played with her for a while until I bothered her while she was sunbathing and she tried to bite me. Love dogs with a character. Especially little chihuahuas

Aren't Tibetan sculptures the most beautiful?

I booked a room in a (the only?) hotel nearby. View from the breakfast terrace was extraordinary:

I won't lie, I'm a beach girl. Being amongst so much green and so much mountain felt a little claustrofobic. I don't know why. I think it's beautiful, and I am in awe of it, but I feel more relaxed on a cliff by the sea. Maybe because I'm not used to it: I've gone from sea to sea and to city to city, and the mountain isn't something I've ever experienced. This was definitely out of my comfort zone, a little village by a lake.

BREAKFAST. I am a sucker for a good breakfast. And this one was incredible. Soft, toasty pastries: just-made croissants, napolitanas with bitter chocolate inside and sugar glace outside, brownies, toasts. Natural yoghurt with organic honey. Fig with lemon essence marmalade. Ginger marmalade. Tea presented as boiling water with 5 separate Twinings sachets to choose from. Grapefruit juice with all its pulp. Herb-filled scrambled eggs in a fine creamy result. AMAZING! This is definitely my favourite kind of breakfast. Ever.

Peter always managed to borrow a cigaretto from the chef:



I felt like Heidi. I'm kind of dissapointed we didn't see the goats. What we did see were SNAKES! No pictures of snakes though. Snakes are really slippery and fast.

El profiterole

Cutest little cementery!

We find water!

 





To be continued...

Related posts:

1. Ibiza July 2011
2. Miss Dior Cherie 2011