Italia!

Today my dreams came true when we crossed the border from France into Italy.

After scraping ice from the windscreen early this morning, we drove along the motorway through Provence and then above the Mediterranean past Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo with exquisite views of the coastline and the alps - including a few peaks covered in snow - and finally crossed the border at about 1:30pm.

And what was the first thing we did when we arrived in Italy? Stopped at a pretty scruffy looking petrol station to buy 2 fabulous cups of coffee - why can't the French make coffee like this? - and for my first conversation in Italian.

We then headed north-east towards Alba to our beautiful village on a hilltop, surrounded by vineyards, and drove through narrow winding little streets to our "commune" of 3 cottages.  We were met by our landlady Marina and "caretaker" Margherita, both absolutely gorgeous women, Margherita's dear  little 5 year-old  daughter Martina and Stella, their tiny little dog.

Marina and Margherita then provided "afternoon tea" of wine and antipasto on our verandah just as Anka, Lincoln and Oscar arrived, and then made a dinner booking for us.

At 7:30, we headed off down the hill to the centre of our busy little village to a gorgeous, unpretentious cafe/bistro called La Salita where Lincoln was in  his absolute element ordering from an extensive wine list (up to 500 euros per bottle).  The food was great, the wine was fabulous, the staff were delightful and they seem to understand most of my very scratchy Italian, and I am able to understand at least some of what they are saying.

I wonder what experiences await us in this most fabulous part of the world.