Throwback Thursday

Last New Year I was in Chamonix, and on NY Day we went up the cable car to the top of the glacier. I late fully regretted it because my ears did not return to normal for some time afterwards (this was the start of the 8 week cough) but the views were absolutely spectacular. Since it is Europe's highest cable car, at 3,777m, that's not a surprise.

Some people even get out there and hike. Crazy fools.

So, on my first day in Chamonix, I said the the ski hire guy, "There's a life right around the corner, can I just take that one? Is there good skiing out there?" Turns out, I was talking about this lift. He was very nice about it. "You might need crampons," he said. Uh, yes. And a guide, and one of those air bags, and a transceiver, and about 30 more years' experience.

Much better enjoyed bundled up in warm clothes enjoying the view without having to worry about the skiing.

Italy: San Gimignano

San Ginignano is apparently famous as the inspiration for Walt Disney's logo, although now I can't find any reference to it anywhere so I am doubting myself. In any case, it is a typical Tuscan hill town. As an aside, I have to say that Tuscany combined three things I dislike - hills, mosquitoes and British tourists....so, many, British, tourists. I think that's why, on balance, I did not like it as much as other places we went. I had just got used to ordering an espresso by just asking for a coffee, when I had to get used to asking for an espresso again, thanks to the deitalianisation of this part of Italy.

But I digress. We were extremely fortunate to be in the area for San Gimignano's annual wine festival, Calici di Stelle. The landlady at the villa explained the system: you go, pay 7 euros for a glass, and then drink as much wine as you like while people serve you snacks. It sounded too good to be true, but we went up there anyway.

We had a browse in some shops and went for dinner first. The town is very picturesque.

We thought we were on the main square and there were no wine stalls set up, so we nearly left. However, we thought we'd wander for a bit. We came across a street festooned with white paper moons and stars, so we followed it. And then we found the event!

It's tough to see, but each local vineyard had half a table and offered tastes of their different wines. I think we tried 6 or 7 in all, but there were probably 30 different wineries exhibiting. Marvellous. Meanwhile, waiters circulated with trays of meats, cheeses and breadsticks. There was even free ice cream. And a light show.

It was really rammed with people and it took us a while to get a table, which we then had to guard jealously for the rest of the evening.
We got to keep the glasses, which came in a little shoulder pouch for easy carrying. Genius.

What a lovely evening! We felt really lucky to have been in the area at just the right time.

When we got home I fed Rachael's friend Louise Vin Santo and cantuccini, because she was terribly keen to have a dessert wine. She did not care for it, at all. It is still a memory that tickles me: the look of abject horror as the flavour hit her tastebuds. I think Vin Santo is lovely. Clearly not everybody agrees.

Today I wish I was....

LASSEN.

A quick trawl through previous wishful thinking posts to check this picture hadn't already featured revealed that Lassen was my pick at almost this exact date last year. It's odd really, because it was during our stay at Lassen that I had to drive Mr Z to the hospital which was about 90 minutes away and they had to drain his knee with a big syringe; and we were camping and there was still snow on the ground (in AUGUST); and in the middle of the night it rained and everybody who hadn't put their fly sheet on (ie, everybody except us) got up and ran around in the dark and we thought our tent was going to leak because it was the first time we'd used the airbed and it was pressed against the sides because it was too big.

So, really, Lassen wasn't the most restful place in terms of what happened. However, there was no phone signal, anywhere; there was no shop and no hot water, which limited the type of camper we had to interact with; and the scenery was just breathtaking. And I would like to see more of it, which probably also explains why I'm pining for it.

Surprise sunrise

I was off sick on Monday. That meant sitting up at my computer at 7am, setting cover, which was a bind, but meant that I got to photograph this:

I love a good sunrise but normally I am driving through it. There are some upsides to being too ill for work.

Tuesday Ten

Ten things I'm saving for the Christmas holidays

1. Knitting. So much knitting. Knitting all damn day and half the night.

2. Browsing projects on Ravelry, planning knitting that will probably never happen and gloating over my stash like Smaug. I haven't had a good stash-gloat in months.

3. Afternoon naps. I miss them.

4. TV. I have various things saved. That adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover, the rest of season 1 of Narcos and season 3 of Ripper Street...all waiting to be caught up on.

5. Harry Potter marathon. It is Christmas, after all.

6. Entirely lazy Sundays where the only thing I stir myself to do is have a bath and put on clean pyjamas.

7. That dessert wine I bought on holiday in the summer. I think I should probably take it to Sib's for Christmas but, well. We'll see.

8. It's hard to think of anything else that's not centred on resting, napping, sleeping or otherwise not working. I should probably make "not working" one.

9. Endlessly long blog posts full of tales of my 2015.

10. Christmas cheesecake. Obvs. I don't think I made it last year; I probably shouldn't make it this year. Nobody ever drops in for tea and cake and I always bake enough cakes just in case.
Maybe come over for tea and cake over Christmas, OK? Bring knitting.

Italy: Toscana, the villa

We really lucked out with our choice of villa. It was just outside a tiny town called Casole d'Else, in the middle of a triangle created by Siena, Volterra and San Gimignano. It was the top floow of a farmhouse that had been converted (or built) for guests, and it had a private swimming pool.

Getting there required us to drive past the vines.

Always with roses at the end of the vine. There must be a good wine-growing reason for that. More bees?
From the villa verandah, we had this view.

The farm was organic. There were hundreds of flowers and plants and their accompanying insects for us to look at.

There was even a free one of these. He was very friendly.

Our matching rental cars. The path down to the pool is just behind them. It was not overlooked by anything, so I did enjoy a private dip in the morning a couple of times.

 You can just about see the edge of it from the balcony.

It was a very idyllic place to be staying, that's for sure.

Blue Monday

Pictures of the jellyfish tanks by Mr Z, from Monterey Bay Aquarium. I could have watched them for hours. Hypnotic, and so, so blue. One of my attempts (slightly fuzzy, of course) is my phone background.