Italy!

It has been a while and we've been busy! We spent three days hiking in the Aosta valley around Bionaz. Fantastic weather, amazing Alpine views.

We stayed two nights in a hostel and then one night at a rifugia up in the mountains, which was a unique experience.

We also had some of the local food specialties: Fontina cheese, which is something like a cross between Brie and Gouda. And Pan Nero (Black Bread) which is a hearty, crusty bread of whole wheat and perhaps other grains. Both are very good. Also tried the local grappa (distilled spirit from wine) which I liked but Claire did not.

Since then we've arrived in Turin, where we've spent most of our time walking around and doing errands. I have spliced a European plug onto our laptop power adapter. Today we are heading off to Venice, but before then we're going to see the Egyptian museum here in Turin.