Amphibias International Travel Pup!

I was going to write all about Olney and how he swims in the pool now and we got him a pet passport so we can bring him to Nice, but he just ran around like a crazy pup jumping on the furniture (and me) and I'm annoyed with him. So instead I'm going to get a little ice cream and relax on the couch a little before writing this blog. It's sooo hot here, and ice cream is perfect for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

So like I said before, Olney's a great swimmer! He can go in and out of the pool by himself and does a couple laps around us while we're all in the water. He's really fast too and beats Fabri at swim races! This is me about to grab him so he can rest in the water with us for a sec.

From Olney at the Pool

Here's me holding him so he can take a break from paddling. I think he gets tired because there's no where for him to rest except for on the steps. Maybe we can get a special dog friendly raft for him!

From Olney at the Pool

Look at how cute the little swim pup is!!

From Olney at the Pool

We took Olney to the vet last week for a general check up and a rabies vaccine. We needed the vaccine to get him a puppy passport and you have to have a passport to take him abroad (for example, to Nice where we're going for a weekend in August). We also had them do a heart worm test, which was negative and we gave him the preventative pills. In Saluzzo the climate isn't right for heart worm, but Ruffia (where the pool is) and Monasterolo di Savigliano (where Olney was born) are hot spots. So we decided to have the test and get the pills. While we were waiting to go into the exam room, a horrible pit bull came out and was vicious and bit another dog waiting on the face and would have bit Olney if he had been closer. The other dog that got bit (which was very sweet and had played with Olney before the bit pull) was bleeding on her face, and the vet took care of it of course. Fabri was so mad, and I was upset by the whole thing. And of course the dog's owners were as well. So it goes.

A few days later I went and got the International Travel Pup his passport! It was very easy because the office is in our apartment complex! It was very easy, the hardest part being Olney got bored waiting for the woman to fill all the necessary information in for the passport. Puppies!

Now I can't wait to head over to France! We wanted to go this weekend, but Fabri's parents are there, and we don't want to have that kind of family vacation there right now. Instead we're going to go on another mountain top hike tomorrow and hopefully put together our shelves for the cellar on Sunday.

We're hikers!

So Fabri and I are officially Alpine hikers. Last Saturday we went for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS with a colleague of Fabri's and his wife (Davide & Elena). We were between 2,200 and 2,500 meters. It is hard to breathe up there. I don't think I've ever been that high on the outside of an airplane. Yikes.

The entire experience was exhausting and I still have a sun burn on the back of my legs. I managed to collect some excellent insects and I took a lot of beautiful pictures especially of the beautiful alpine flowers.

Davide and Elena are REAL hikers and brought us to this somewhat difficult trail. When we arrived at the parking lot and they pointed out where we were headed, I thought they were joking.

From Sampeyre Hike July 09

We were headed for the top of that valley in the middle, but I couldn't make it. We ended at the valley to the right and had lunch there. This is Elena and I relaxing on a rock waiting for the guys to join us for lunch.

From Sampeyre Hike July 09

So that was Saturday. Oh wait, then after the most exhaustive hike ever, we went to Ruffia to have dinner with Fabri's cousin Pina & her fiance Achille. They were at the wedding in Brookeville. They're getting married next June in Caserta. Then Sunday we slept in and relaxed until the early evening when we went to the pool and relaxed and had dinner with Gaetano & Detta. Not a bad weekend.

On Monday Olney went to the vet for the first time. He played with a sweet dog in the waiting room and was generally very good. He was a little nervous about the exam table but got a vaccine with out a peep. He didn't like having his blood taken at first for the heart worm test, but I gave him treats and he was fine. There was a little incident with a very ferocious pit bull which bit the nose of the dog Olney was playing with. She was fine and the vet fixed her up, but everyone was upset by that. There was also a cat in a cage and Olney was play barking at him. I imagine he wanted to know why he was in a cage and asking him to come out and play. Olney is only interested in playing with everyone, getting pets, and mostly getting food. Anyway, he's heartworm negative and now has an animal passport so we can take him to Nice soon.

Last night Fabri and I had two neighboring families over for dinner. Both families have 4 year old boys and one also has a 1.5 year old girl. We had a lot of fun and now we're friends not just neighbors. They loved our house, their's houses all have the original floor plan with a closed off kitchen. Olney was pretty good, but it was stressful for him having little boys running around his house. He barked a bunch both begging for food & at the boys, but it was a good socializing experience for him. And Fabri & I didn't yell anymore at Olney than the moms did at their kids!

The Day I Walked from Italy to France

First, a bit of housekeeping. I fixed my blog settings so that you can comment without having an account/password. Under your comment, select the Name/URL button. Then you can just put your name in (URL optional) and press publish. So now I can get your comments!! Hooray! That will certainly help me write more often because it's hard to write when I don't get feedback. Leave those comments!

So this weekend we took the little pup to the mountains. We decided to go to Limone instead of to Nice. Fabri and I aren't big beach people, and Limone seemed like a good way to beat the heat. And it was. It got chilly at night and I loved it!

Limone is a ski resort town in the alps located at about 1300 meters. Altitude is important here, so pay attention. It is a really sweet little town with very narrow cobblestone streets so there is almost no car traffic. Fabri's parents have had an apartment there for over 20 years. So we grabbed the keys and on Friday I met Fabri at work in Cuneo with the puppy and our bags. We transferred everything to Fabri's car and after a pleasant drive of only 30 minutes, we were in Limone. That's another nice thing, Nice is 2.5 hours, Limone is 30 minutes (from Cuneo, +30 minutes from Saluzzo).

When we arrived we unpacked a little and aired out the house. Unfortunately it started raining, but it was a quick storm. We had planned on walking down to Limone from the house (the house is up the road at an altitude of 1400 meters), but drove instead so as not to arrive in Limone completely muddy. We walked around the town with the pup and had dinner outside. Then we went to an Irish pub (the only Irish beer on tap was Guiness, the rest were Belgium). We met an Italian guy who spent 4 years in England and was looking to possibly travel and teach English. I told him about my experience teaching English around Cuneo.

The next day we woke up early; partly because we wanted to and partly because Olney wanted us to; and headed to the mountain peaks. We decided we wanted to walk part of the old salt road from France to Italy and see some old forts the Italians built on the French border. We drove up to about 1800 meters and parked by a refuge. There are refuges all over the alps for skiers, bikers and hikers. This one was easily accessible by car so it was a pretty nice restaurant and very crowded at lunch time. Anyway, with the pup we hiked from there for about 2 hours up to 1915 meters and around 2 forts. We walked back and forth from France & Italy a few times. It was very windy on the French side. Fabri had thought the forts were built between WWI and WWII in preparation of Italy's invasion of France, but they were actually built in the 1880s.

From Limone Summer Hiking 09

There was a second fort that had a dry moat, but we couldn't explore inside because the bridge had been half removed. That was too bad. We wanted to hike to another fort further in France, but the French side of the peak was very windy and cold. We did see a marmotta there which is basically a big groundhog and the mountains are full of them.

Then we walked back down to the refuge and had a wonderful lunch. The bread was especially good. Fabri explained that the bread from the mountains is so good because they have such clean and fresh water up there. On Sunday we bought a kilo of bread from Limone for our freezer.

From Limone Summer Hiking 09

That evening we did some shopping and hanging out around Limone and then had dinner at this pizzeria we were familiar with. Olney was a bit of a pain though and kept barking during out dinner. He is always hungry and barks when he wants us to give him food. It's harder to ignore it when you're in a restaurant...

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. We woke up a bit later than usual and I made french toast for breakfast. When we were ready we walked down the old Roman road along the river to Limone. We let Olney go down into the water in a couple places and he loved it. The water was really cold, but it's fresh and we allowed him to drink it (he's not allowed to drink pool water which isn't easy for him to understand).

From Limone Summer Hiking 09

Later that afternoon we headed home to Saluzzo. Now we're all about hiking the alps and on Saturday we have plans to go with a nurse friend of Fabri's, his wife & their dog (Na-na). The two dogs know each other and get along. Well, Na-na just ignores Olney, and Olney follows her around like she's the coolest thing on 4 legs. Eventually we plan to go hiking some of the tunnels dug during WWII. They're supposed to be honeycombed all over the alps connecting several forts. I think this sounds like the perfect excuse to buy a new head lamp! (Yes I'm a dork and I own a crappy $5 head lamp).

There are more photos in my picasa web albums (link to the right). Don't forget to comment!

Busy Bee

I have been so busy. Trying to keep the house clean is a full time job! Emphasis on trying. Also I've taken on 4 new classes this week which keeps me busy. And of course the puppy is generally crazy and wants to play all the time.

This weekend we had a 4th of July party at Ruffia. As soon as it was time to start cooking and set things up, it started raining. People were huddled under umbrellas and hiding in the house. I made a couple of pasta salads and everyone devoured those while we waited for the rain to stop so we could cook outside. Eventually we were able to make sausages and a couple dozen hamburgers and eat outside. Fabri's friend Robi made FOUR desserts to share with everyone which was awesome. After eating we sat around outside and Fabri, Miki, and Danielle played the guitar and sang. That was a lot of fun. We saw some friends who we haven't seen practically since our wedding party last September. Fabri's family was there having fun too!

We spent the night in Ruffia and Sunday morning poor Fabri had to wake up early and go to work. Thankfully he showed up in time for lunch. The extended family came back to Ruffia in the afternoon for lunch and to play by the pool. We ate a bunch of left overs plus some salamis that Francesca's boyfriend Ellio brought. His family has a farm with 100 cows, so they make their own salami and meat.

Fabri had a dicey patient he was worried about, but he didn't have to go back to the hospice which was very lucky! He was able to take a nap and then play badminton and swim all afternoon. Olney was really happy getting to play outside all day, but we're worry he got a little sunburned on his face.

That night we made hamburgers & hotdogs again and had a little pasta. A huge thunderstorm rolled in and dropped a lot of water. It was very windy and the guys had to run around the house closing the shutters. Everyone was very worried about having left their windows open and such, but I wasn't. And when we got home, the house was fine. I'm always right!

Anyway, that was our weekend in the country. Now this week we're both working a lot (Fabri's in the hospice all week instead of visiting his patients at their homes'). Then our plan for this weekend is to go to Nice! We need to do more traveling/hanging out together just us. The plan is to bring Olney too cause we're crazy dog people. We're those people who always have our dog with us and assume everyone loves our dog as much as we do... Just a warning.

Ok, back to work for me! Busy, busy bee!