Verbania Intra, Piedmont, Italy
Thursday, March 13, 2003
We train to
Milan and are picked up by coach by our Hosts. We drive to
Pallanza for a pizza supper. As we arrive for supper, it begins to snow. By the time we leave the pizzeria, it has snowed several inches. It is beautiful. We don't get snow like this in MS. After the students are dispersed, we begin our trip to Premeno, our Host's home. As the last snow of the season was suppose to have been several weeks ago, Rocco had taken the snow tires off of his Renault. Unfortunately with this unexpected snow, we couldn't make it all the way up the mountain. After pulling over to let a snow plow come down the road, we couldn't get enough traction to get going back up the hill. We pushed the car to the curb, grabbed our bags and started hiking. Did I mention it was snowing down at the lake? Our course, if it's snowing at the lake, it's been snowing more in the mountains. We get to the gate of Rocco's house, still several hundred feet from his house, and the snow is about three feet deep. Rocco, being in great shape and a climber, takes several bags and flies with ease through the snow. Did I mention it was midnight and snowing? As it was quite dark, Anna, Lou Ann, and Jan hung close to Rocco on the path to the house. I yelled ahead to just leave me. I was about to die. Carrying far more bags than I brought, hiking through deep snow, a Southern boy, by the way, I felt the Grim Reaper breathing down my neck. After realizing that everyone else was probably warming themselves by the fire, I mustered the energy to make it to the house. Now the entrance is still on the far end of the building, it's dark and with no warning that the roof was being worked on and the house was surrounded with scaffolding, I run right into the the first scaffold. After picking myself back up, I continue to the next scafold and do the same. By this time Rocco yells out to be careful, the roof was being worked on and there is scaffolding all about. What a long day!
