Il Sabato Primo

We finally found a sign that said Aosta!

After a great sleep, the noise of the Sat. marketplace woke me around 6 AM.

I had to look outside to see the beginning of the set up. It was so interesting to see the automatic  umbrella canopies opening on the various trucks and vans. What a process!

Those are the kinds of serendipitous things I like to stmble across. I would never have gotten up early to go somewhere to see it, but from our room, I could keep checking the progress. I might make a movie of it later.

Around 8 AM, we stumbled down to breakfast and met up with Greg, who also was awoken by the hubbub.

Market day here in Aosta, right outside our hotel.

He did not want to wait for the others to come down to breakfast so he and Ray set off to explore. I was not too far behind and truly enjoyed going up and down the rows of goods that ranged from clothing, tons of shoes, household goods, junk, and the most beautiful meats, cheeses, and fruits and vegetables I have seen for a while. It actually made me want to cook!

I bought some fennel biscuits (absolutely wonderful), a coin purse, and a white linen top. Not bad prices.

 The girls made their way down and were a little hesitant to bargain, so I helped them. I saved Jordan about 7 Euro for the day, and Nancy about 5. Shakela bought an adorable jacket. It was a good morning.

Cathedral

St. Stephen

We headed to the Cathedral, the Church of St. Stephen, and on our own for lunch. We met back to visit the Church of St. Orso and the cloister next to it for a little meditation time.

Back to the hotel for a rest and then finally a meeting with my new friend Elana Roullet. Elana has been my °email° pen pal for almost a year. She has been so extremely helpful to me in making suggestions on where to stay, where to eat, and to arrange the busses for our field trips. She is a teacher at the high school, and we will visti her classroom on Wed. morning. Following that, we will take a trip to the castle in her town, and then to Cogne, a small village in the Aosta Valley.

Elana met us at the hotel at 3.30 and we exchanged gifts. She made 3 different DVDs for each student and for Ray and me. One is about her school, another on the products they grow, and Iòve forgotten the third. Each was in a case and professionally made. We were very surprised and happy to get the gifts.

She wanted to show us around Aosta, but since we had already seen the main attractions, we decided to rearrange our time and she drove us all to Sarre' Castle.

Ending here....  More on this to come.