Travelog for: Elisa

Hi Mum,

Guess what?! Another guest arrived today (it’s getting crowded around here ). smaug came home and told us that there was a parcel for us .



And, as we managed to open it, a new TV popped out of it, Tatanka, a nice buffalo from Germany . He showed us the wonderful presents that he brought along and then we spent the evening chatting and listening about his recent travels .

Hi Mum,

These days neither the weather (always bad in the weekend) nor smaug (always at work) are helping much in keeping us entertained , but luckily, as for yesterday, we have some distraction: football ! The Euro Cup 2012 has started and we have plenty of matches to watch on TV . Of course I am supporting Germany, and having our own “German outpost” here in Calgary we were super-excited when today Germany were ready to take on Portugal (not sure why, but sammino said it was OK to wave the wrong colours while smaug wasn’t around, but otherwise it could have been unhealthy )...



...so we started watching the game all together.



We got even more excited when Germany scored ....




...and when the match was eventually over.



Just too bad that smaug didn’t leave any appropriate victory-party food supplies...maybe for the next match .

Hi Mum,
Guess what, a new a guest arrived in Calgary today . smaug came home with a parcel...



...and, when me managed to open it, a TV jumped out of it, Tucker a nice turtle from Germany . He brought with him a lovely card and some delicious chocolate . Of course we spent the evening chatting and occasionally having a bite of that chocolate .

Hi Mum,

Today, after a few quiet weekends , smaug took us again up to the mountains . As it often happens, the first part of the morning was spent between trees...a wonderful excuse to let smaug do the walking, take a little nap in his bag and make up for the sleep lost due to the early wake up . Eventually we reached a spot with a bit of view where we could look at both the mountains around us...



...and the prairies far away in the east .



The weather didn’t look very nice so we thought it was time to head back and maybe enjoy a nice hot chocolate , but smaug said there was no reason not to try reach our target of the day, that peak up there .



So, off we went. Listening to the wind howling outside the rucksack was a bit concerning , but somehow we reached the top and managed to take a few photos in the wind before hiding back inside. From up there we could see the Nakiska ski area...



...mountains both south and north...




...and again the prairies in the distance .

Hi Mum,

Today we all gathered together to say goodbye and wish a safe trip to Cherry Lola and Greeny delMonte who are travelling to their next hosts in Germany and the US .

Hi Mum,

Today sammino told us to get ready to go for a trip . He didn’t really give us any detail, other than the fact that it will be many long hours before we find out our destination .

Hi Mum,

Guess what!? I’m back in Europe ! After an awfully long trip including a missed connection I eventually fell asleep and this morning I woke up in northern Italy....and with a lovely breakfast ready in front of me .



Refreshed and with a full belly , we were ready for sammino to introduce us to some of the local residents.



There’s even a twin of sammino...although a tad bigger .



As it is quite hot, we decided to finish recovering from the trip and spend the day chitchatting on the window sill, where we can enjoy  a bit of breeze .

Hi Mum,

It’s freaking hot here , and having just arrived from Canada it feels even hotter . So I guess it’s no surprise that we are spending most of the time sheltered indoor . Today, to keep ourselves entertained, we decided to play some roulette. The professional skills of our feathered croupier appeared to be at the very least questionable , but generally luck seemed to ignore me, so I am afraid I can't come back home in a private jet yet .



After that we decided to do something more challenging and organised a chess tournament . It was a real battle of minds and, of course, I was the best .



Later we explored a bit the bookshelves and found this old atlas, which seemed a bit strange: I didn’t remember Germany to be so big when I left .

Hi Mum,

Today another guest arrived, Orpheus , one of smaug’s TVs who will spend a few days with us.

Hi Mum,

Today we had a very important football match to watch: the Euro Cup semifinal between Germany and Italy . Having to watch the match behind enemy lines I had to camouflage myself before it ...



...but, as soon as the teams came on the pitch, there were easily identifiable German and Italian camps in front of the TV, and emotions were running high.





Unfortunately Italy swept Germany away ...




...and, as if the result wasn’t disappointing enough, we had to look at sammino going a bit wild on the celebrations .

Hi Mum,

After just a few days, today we had to say goodbye to Orpheus and Sigfrido who are travelling to Rome...lucky them .

Hi Mum,

Today we headed into the heart of the dolomites , where early in the morning we were welcomed by pouring rain , and as we left the parking lot there were limited signs of improvement.



Still, we started walking up a narrow valley and when we came out of the trees things got better . We were following a very nice trail...



...with lovely peaks surrounding us all the time .



As we gained elevation, the view improved further...



...and we eventually saw the highest point of our day, a narrow pass at the top of the valley.



Once we got up there we saw a plateau that apparently we had to cross...



...and more mountains around us .



A few hours later , we were looking at the same plateau from the opposite side...



...before diving down this wonderful valley and go back to the car, where we arrived just minutes before the rain came back, perfect timing .

Hi Mum,

I’m back in Canada ! Alas, the holiday ended soon , but when we arrived in Calgary we found a surprise: an envelope that looked like there was a new guest inside .



And yes, there was actually a new guest , Shooga, a nice TV from Germany and she brought a wonderful card with her .



But today it was also goodbye time as we wished a safe trip to Melek who jumped in his envelope and started travelling to his next host.

Hi Mum,

Today the weather didn’t look too good, but it was actually quite warm, so we headed to the mountains for a little hike...hoping not to get drenched by rain . The first part of the day wasn’t too exciting, until we started to see something between the trees.




Eventually we reached a ridge were the view was much better : we had some nice rock walls in front of us...



...and could see the Bow valley far in the distance.



We asked sammino if that peak was our destination, but he told us that it was just a little hump along the ridge .



On the way we got distracted looking at the many flowers, we really like these little ones .



At last we reached the top where the view was a bit of a disappointment .



It was so foggy that the only thing we could barely see was the ridge that we had just walked up from.



Interesting enough, despite the elevation, it was full of mosquitoes...and fairly vicious ones too. So we hastily found cover in the bag and left the blood thirsty bugs to feast on smaug .

Hi Mum,

For once the weather was gorgeous during the weekend so, of course, we headed to the mountains. After a bit of walking we reached our first view point, where we had the side of Mt. Glasgow just in front of us .



From here our path followed this nice valley...



...that soon became very wide.



This place looked somehow familiar , and sammino pointed out that we have been here a couple of months ago when the deep snow thwarted our attempt to hike up Mt. Fullerton over there.



From here the valley started getting narrower...



...and then even narrower and narrower . But the view improved: we had a good look at the back of Mt. Fullerton...



...and some glimpses of the top of Mt. Howard.



Eventually we reached a nice little cirque where we had a great view...



...and could also see the headwater of the creek that we followed the whole day, with Mt. Howard slopes on he right.



As we were ready to start heading home sammino told us that we were going to be bold and push for the summit of Mt. Howard. We were not that convinced about this being bold business , but once we reached the top the view was wonderful in every direction .





What a day !