Where's the sun?

It's now Sunday morning and we've yet to see the sun shine in Italy, confirming the welcome knowledge that this is their worst summer for more than 50 years. Great e perfecto!

The journey here went pretty smoothly although it would have been quite a challenge without the assistance of the double act, Tom and Tom. We managed to rendezvous as planned with Chris at Torino airport, which is a bit of a dive to be honest, and the Corsa didn't complain too much about the extra passenger and his bag.

An hour later we were in Ivrea, which is only a few km from our destination (Piverone) and as it was lunchtime and we couldn't arrive at the house before 3 we, well what else, stopped for lunch at a small ristorante. This could develop into a theme. And very nice it was too. Three of us had 'roast beef', which consisted of thin slices of cold beef with rosemary potatoes. And of course, it was all washed down with a bottle of house red (theme alert) and was followed by dessert and caffe con latte, which is punishable by ostracisation in Italy (milk in your coffee after 12 that is).

We arrived at the house (only as far as the electric front gates to be precise) and after a few minutes were joined by the owner's daughter, Louise, who lives next door. Louise provide a detailed tour of the very impressive house, which is set above the delightful village and has a balcony that stretches along the entire width of the house. This was a great spot from where to eat our tea and watch the storm that swept through the valley until it got too close for comfort and a massive crack of thunder prompted a few girlie screams (from Chris and me).

We retreated inside and had a pub quiz with Lou as the quizmaster/persone, which was accompanied by a couple of glasses of red and grappe (separately). Talking of Lou, she is finding life very difficult here because the internet access is a little unreliable.

This morning we awoke to glorious.,...pouring rain. And I mean pouring. It has cleared since but the sun has still to make an appearance and I won't be changing into my shorts anytime soon. Rach is putting a casserole together so no barbecue anytime soon either!!

BREAKING NEWS: the sun has been spotted heading in a westerly direction.