Luglio 2011
DK & RFL taking a break from the
Milano - Pavia heat wave - Piemonte
(vacay house & ) Alba

Left: DK & RFL Spotorno (look at the
gorgeoous wrap Donna brought for
me)- Right: The Leonetti Boys - sans
Av  (he arrives in August and we are
off to Rome)

3 luglio 2011

Below bike ride through Pavia
Baci and his REALLY
big bone
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S    Z A V E N
for an all A and only 1 B (in French) report card and with outstanding teacher comments - we are so proud!!!

Av is burning the midnight oil as this week is his final's week.

Joe is in London at a training...for an entire week. We miss him.

Donna is back home too.

And what have Zaven and I been doing to beat the heat and the dog days of summer, while trying to not contract malaria from the swarms of
mosquitoes? Well Zaven has discovered the show Lost and has been working his way through every episode and sleeps until noon because
he is a teenager now. In the evenings...Wii JUST DANCE - dance party, practicing our moves - we look/feel  like idiots, but it is totally fun and
a great work out. Zaven deserves 20 million gold stars for his excellent report card of course and for playing Wii Just Dance with his mother.

LINK

6 luglio 2011
Monviso Trek July 21st - 24th 2011
Day 1: Departing Oncino and hiking to Rifugio Alpetto - 2268
meters  - a climb of over 1000 meters - UGH. Lovely Rif. but
cranky angry bitter not loving life German wife of the
proprietor killed our buzz a bit. I am thinking of starting a blog
- "Rhonda's Reviews of Rifugios" If so, this one would get 10
gold stars for the view, resident fox, hot water and normal
toilets but would be negative 1000 stars for the terrifying wife
who really should be kept in the kitchen and away from all
the guests. We did meet a half nice German couple (ie half
nice because the girl was friendly but the guy was creepy
and wouldn't make eye contact) who had done the summit
that day, so I took the opportunity to pump them about the
bivouac that they had stayed in, the route they took, etc...I
would like to climb Monviso even though Farmer Franco of
Serole fame and X Alpinismo told us "Monviso e' pericoloso'
Well of course it is if you are drunk and in your hot pants (he
is always in short, nylon running shorts which should have
been retired in 1984). In the evenings, we played tons of
card and dice games, which was totally fun - Rasmus,
Zaven's Danish friend, taught us a new game called Bullshit -
although that is not what his family calls it, but since he
knows we/I have a pirate hooker mouth, he felt he could
divulge the true name of the game.
Day 2: Rifugio Alpetto to Rifugio Quintino Sella - 2640 meters - only 2 hours,
so cruisy  hike which the boys needed because the day before was grindy.
This rifugio would get 175 gold stars for friendliness - (young, energetic,
dreadlocked, college kids thinking 'I have a cool summer job goin' on' vs.
craggy Wolfman Jack - who has never left the mountain or showered), plus we
had our own little room (it pays to get there early), it has the most amazing view
as it was literally at the base of Monviso, and there were a herd of stambecchi,
but no hot water and only squatty potties. Note to self: Don't try to save space
in your pack - always, always, always bring your Underarmour gear no matter if
it is July. It was damn cold. Since we were on the hairy edge of France we met
tons of French people on the trails. TIP: If you want to meet French people
come to the Italian Alps. You know we have encouraged (forced) Zaven to take
French just because we want a translator and since Av doesn't live with us
anymore and would never ever go on a trek...
Day 3:  Rifugio Quintino Sella  to Rifugio Giacoletti - 2741 meters- everyone, and
the internet seemed to be time challenged for calculating how long it would take to
get to the rifugi on this route- "It will only take about an hour and a half to get to the
rifugio" - and 4 hours later....that was a theme from the beginning, so we just sort
of gave up trying to figure it out, screw checking our altitude and time on our
Suunto and just kept walking - did we have any other option? This day was tough
because we had to descend about 500 meters and then climb back 500 + 200 =
beat down. However that day was really the most scenic. I must say this was by far
the most beautiful trek I have been on - there were blankets of wild flowers, even
though it seemed sort of late in the year, Alpine meadows and then those lakes,
the ones with the surreal acqua color - just breathtaking.  This rifugio was
excellent (150 stars), high, wonderful food and staff but  totally over capacity, I kept
telling Joe if the fire marshall showed up (via helicopter) - they would be shut
down. I have never seen anything like it, people kept showing up, without
reservations  - they literally had to put mattresses on the dining room floor. I get a
bit panicky in crowded barrack conditions , but since no one was speaking in
German (must be a past life thing), just loud Italians, so with a little Dolcetto I did
just fine.
Night 3: After a very cozy dinner - what did Bronwyn tell me, the best
dinner parties are the crowded ones, I tried to apply that here - I think
the Gay Gym was visiting again - I am wondering if Rifugi are some
sort of haven for forbidden love. Out of too many people there were
very, very, very, few women, fully realizing mountains and
mountaineering are macho, but still it was a bit odd how many 'only
men' groups there were...
We did find space for 4, to play our evening Zonk, BS, Hearts....etc
sitting on our bunks. I love that we have no connection to the world,
our mobile phones don't get  signals, no internet, no distractions just
us.
Day 4: Rifugio Giacoletti to Pian del Re to Crissolo to San
Giacomo...6 hours hiking down (we are walking pretty poorly
today and no amount of Advil seems to be helping). The wind
was fierce when we left Rif.G - [right mountain bandits] PS - I
know the 'Heidi' / bandit look is never good for me (Joe looks
totally handsome sportin' the bandana any ole way), but it 1.
keeps the hair out of my face when I am looking down figuring
anti fall foot placement 2. hides my gross dirty hair and 3. kept
my gross dirty head warm. I sometimes ask myself - after 4 days
without warm water, even to wash my face, squatty potties (Joe
literally asked the 3rd rifugio, "Do you have a normal toilet?" And
they said, "Outside." ie, like an outhouse), and sleeping with 50+
strangers, snoring (the loudest being my husband), coughing,
seeing them in their undies, looking and smelling super subpar,
myself included ... but I am truly in love with the Alps so I can live
without these luxuries for short periods of time...as said before
Rifugi are not for the faint of heart or princesses.
Joe staged and took this photo of
Rasmus. Both the boys were
amazing, never complained - just
sweet, polite and happy. Che bravo!
Amen brother we made it back to
the car, surviving 6 hours of
insane views, knee pounding and
Zaven being shocked by an
electric fence - we thought they
were just to fake out the cows,
but apparently not. Baci stayed in
our Serole house, Rosanna had
the key, so she walked him, fed
him and he slept in our bed. Upon
arrival, Tiziana, knowing we were
jonsin' for fresh fruit and
vegetables (none of that in rifugi),
gave us a huge sack of just
picked from her garden zucchini,
tomatoes, basil and peppers - our
neighbors are the best!
Donna's Visit