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!