NW Italy with the GR - 1

[quester]

Finally managed to get back here, this time with shots from a really great trip we took to north-west Italy, mostly Piemonte, but also a bit to the east and south of this province. We met lovely people, ate delicious food and saw wonderful landscapes. Truly an unforgettable experience. Three weeks is not too long and not too short, and we came at a good agricultural season - grapes, corn, chestnuts, hazelnuts, rice and pumpkins all in different stages of harvest. Weather was good, too.
I don't know how it is in the rest of Europe, but this country sure has an admirable appreciation for the good things in life - family, friendship, food and free time. We stayed mostly on farms, but there's a lot of spirit in the cities too. The emphasis on aesthetics is also envious.
The best part was the interaction with people, whenever possible - I only have a spattering of Italian, but here and there we managed to meet good English speakers. Many of them have similar fears about the economy and an uncertain future, but.....life is good, and it's to be passionately experienced, no compromises on that.
Hope you are all well.

[riccadonna]

What`s there to say, Bella Italia! Long time since I`ve been there, it`s often in my dreams. I always feel very comfortable with italian people, partly because I speak italian pretty well, partly strange enough, it`s not necessary belonging to same language group makes it easygoing. We Poles, for example, strike a cord with Hungarians and Italians much better then with Chechs or Ukrainians.