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Pastries and ciabatta from the bakery down the road started the day, followed a bit later by a walk up the hill exploring the local area. The streets are narrow and cobbled, with stone walls and archways everywhere. The roads rise sharply up from the lake with stunning views at every turn. Water rushes down through worn stone channels from the mountain - cold and crystal clear. Flower boxes full of brightly coloured impatiens and petunias add splashes of colour. This is such a stunning place.
Our big excursion for the day was an afternoon walk up to a castle that sits atop of Varenna. At times a very steep climb, it was quite a hot day to do this (26 degrees) but it was only about a 45 minute walk up there. The stone walls on the sides of the pathway are favoured by skinks that scurry off as you approach. Scott managed to get close enough to touch one today. He also kept count of the number we saw on the walk to and from the castle and counted 106!
We timed our Castello visit to watch the falcon demonstration. Whilst the commentary was lost on us - being in Italian only, the birds were impressive to watch, and the views stunning. Scott got a good photo of one of the birds for his school photo competition. The castle itself is quite a small fortification, but we were able to climb up the inside of the tower - about four flights of stairs.
On the way back down we stopped for a well deserved gelato. The kids don't quite seem to be getting the hang of the flavours - they told me they wanted lime - but when I asked them to point it out that turned out to be lemon for April and mint for Sarah. We'll need to learn some more flavour names before we come back to Italy near the end of our trip, as tomorrow we say Arrivederci to Italy and head further north and into Switzerland.
Fiumelatte has been a very special place to stay - we've really enjoyed it, and would love to come back again. Sarah wrote the following Haiku poem:
The loud train rumbles
And cold water rushes down
As the geckos run
Scott: I touched two skinks. They move really fast. The falcons got fed with dead animals.
- comments
Jaimie Awesome sounds like it is amazing out there! Hope you will enjoy the rest of the journey!!