Italian Camp: Climbing Mountains

Hi again,

The next day we got picked up at 8.45am from our Pensione. Walking down the staircase from our room there was several stuffed animals lining the walls including a huge turkey. Several other people mentioned seeing the same thing so it must be a tradition in that area. I hopped into the car feeling a bit tired from the reduced sleep time. It turned out this was to be the trend for the next week :) For breakfast i was expecting a typical affair with the usual assortment of toast and cereal. Therefore i was quite surprised when i found a table covered in assorted sliced meats with cheese as well. I was slightly apprehensive about digging into meat on white bread so early in the day. I ended up eating it though evenly though it felt slightly 'wrong'...at least for the first few days. Luckily there was a supplement of rye break and honey/cranberry jam as an alternative. I might add that after a few days, not surprisingly visitors including myself were going to the shop and buying cereal, yoghurt etc :P. Around 10am we all assembled into the carpark and found a seat for a journey to a village approximately 45 minutes drive away. Most of us headed off in the direction of the end of the valley which ended in what appeared like a steep slope (see pic). We wound our way up the side of the hill which was extremley picturesque. There was a stream of water on the left hand side and a waterfall about half way up. When we reached the top we went down into another valley where there was a small village set on the hill (see pic). Everyone sat down at the local restuarant, eager to taste the local cuisine. The most popular dish was probably strudel, which you can get everywhere in the region and another dish consisting of pancakes chopped up with jam. Pretty good food on the whole, walking an hour up a hill makes it much more satisfying as well an excuse to lash out. A few decided to keep walking in the direction of a waterfall close by while the rest of us made our way back down the slope. I got to chat with Antonio which was fun, interesting how much you an communicate with a mixture of very basic Italian and English vocab! Once back in the village everyone chilled in the restaurant for a while before we snaked our way back to the pensione in the cars. Dinner was a three course meal once again, and the same feeling of having eaten too much sunk in. For something different we had our evening meeting outside round a campfire set against a stunning backdrop. Matt was asked to lead choruses by Pr Alf which led to some funny moments where he didn't have a clue what was going on. Pr Pino was due to give the talk when we came to the realisation there was no light for him to read his bible! Luckily someone had a headlight handy so all was ok in the end. Following the talk came an extended period of spontaneous items from couple's or groups. Some did so willingfully while others had to be given a little persuasion from the audience i.e. cheers and clapping to get themselves in the limelight. The enjoyable night was concluded by most people heading up into Natz for the customary evening 'chocolata' (hot chocolate). Tommorow we head into the BIG mountains, the dolomites...Please leave comments, thanks! Also have lots more pictures here: Photobucket