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Tag Archives: Alps
Saving a corner of wilderness.
Regulars of this blog will know that I originally hail from NW Italy. I was born in Piedmont but spent a lot of time in neighbouring Val d’Aosta (also known as Almost Switzerland). A region of glaciers, woods, gurgling streams, … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Uncategorized, Val d'Aosta
Tagged Alps, Annamaria Gremmo, Aosta, Cime Bianche, Climate change, Conservation, Francesco Sisti, Italy, Last wild valley, Marco Soggetto, Mountains, Ski, Skiing, Val d'Aosta, Vallee d'Aoste, Vallone selvaggio, Wild, Wildlife
22 Comments
The ultimate StairMaster.
From the comfortable flatness of London, Alpine trekking evokes images of paths meandering towards isolated peaks and a soft mattress of pine needles covering a path running through the woods. Not in the mountains surrounding my hometown, though. Boulders make … Continue reading
Posted in Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alps, Animals, Bee, Black, Bovine, Buddhism, Cable car, Clouds, Cow, Dublin, Dubliners, Flat, Flower, Hiking, Insect, Italy, Madonna, Mary, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Oropa, Paddy, Piedmont, Piemonte, Prealpi, Rice, Rock, Rocky road, Ropeway, Sanctuary, Shepherd, Summer, Trekking, Yellow
28 Comments
Fireworks, mountains and sleeping elephants. Wrapping up 2017, in pictures.
The last trip of the year has just ended; the rucksack’s been duly unpacked and its contents unceremoniously thrown into the washing-up pile, hoping for some merciful hands to put them into the washing machine without the whites turning pink … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, China, Europe, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, London, Overlooked locations, Piemonte, Random memories, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, UK
Tagged 2017, 2017 Fireworks, 2017 in photos, 2017 London Fireworks Photos, Alps, Aqespe, Aral, Aral Sea, Aralsk, Asia, Asian elephant, Bactrian camels, Camel, Central Asia, Colombo Fort, Disappearance of Aral sea, Elephant, Fireworks Pictures, Italia, Italy, Jin Mao Tower, Jing Mao tower, Kyrgyzstan, Land Cruiser, London, London Mayor, Mountains, Murghab, National park, New Year's Eve Fireworks, North Aral Sea, NYE, NYE Fireworks, Pamir, Pamir Gap, Pamir Highway, Shanghai, Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Sleeping elephant, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan railways, Tajikistan, Train, Train travel, Udawalawe
20 Comments
The land beneath the mountains.
That’s the name of my region. The land at the feet of the mountains. Click on the photo to open the panorama In my region, topography is binary. Clear cut. It’s either flat, or mountainous. No middle ground, no rolling … Continue reading
Posted in Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alpi, Alps, Biella, Bird, Bird spotting, Duck, Emigration, Expat, Fara Novarese, Fields, Fourteener, Geese, Glacier, Immigrant, Italia, Italy, Lake, London, Malpensa, Massazza, Masserano, Massif, Monte Rosa, Musings, nature, North West Italy, Novara, Piedicavallo, Piemonte, Reservoir, Snow, Switzerland, Travel, Vercelli, Vineyard, Water, Winter, Woods
13 Comments
Where the woods are returning.
On paper, it was an easy ride. About 9 klicks, roughly 600 meters in elevation, and a smooth return to the waiting car, through the woods, up the ridge and then back again into the woods. The signs at the … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Abandonmnent, Alps, Biella, Biellese, Bursch, Europe, Federico Rosazza Pistolet, Italy, Piedicavallo, Rosazza
8 Comments
The alpine tunnel for the afterlife.
It wasn’t supposed to be dug this high. The idea, originally, was for the tunnel to be at least 400 meters lower, at an easier 1000 meters of altitude, where it could’ve been used almost all year round, but that … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Afterlife, Alpi, Alps, Biella, Federico Rosazza Pistolet, Freemason, Italia, Italy, Jesus, Massoneria, Mountains, Occult, Oropa, Piedmont, Piemonte, Rosacroce, Rosazza, Rosicrucianism, Valle Cervo, Virgin Mary, Winter
7 Comments
Out of season, again.
This is the second and last post of a series that I dedicated to mountain villages caught in the ‘low season’, when tourists have already gone or aren’t there yet. In the first post I visited Gaby, a village in the Lys … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alpi, Alps, Campiglia Cervo, Italia, Italy, Mountain, Out of Season, Piedicavallo, Piedmont, Piemonte, Prealpi, Quittengo, Valle Cervo
2 Comments
Out of season.
We visit them from December to Easter and from June to August. In the meantime, mountain villages slip out of the back of our minds, into a limbo where we rarely, if ever, venture. What happens up there, when we’re … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Overlooked locations, Piemonte
Tagged Alpi, Alps, Aost Valley, Church, Gaby, Italy, Lys, Molagna, Snow, Spring, Valle d'Aosta, Valle del Lys
2 Comments