Macaroni meets Roast Beef.....: The Arrival of Uncle Laurence! (Part One)

A couple of weeks ago we were extremely fortunate to have Uncle Laurence come and stay with us. Only his second visit since we moved here 8 years ago and the first on his own. Lesley, Thomas, Melissa and Rebecca were busy visiting Lesley's sister down south so Laurence had arranged to come out here. A very generous act considering he is constantly surrounded at home and work by young kids and he could have had a week of peace at home! Instead he chose to visit with us, sharing a bedroom with Luca and basically being a brilliant uncle in all respects! A BIG thankyou from all of us, it was great to have you here and

we look forward to the next visit.

Uncle Laurence in our dining room, taken by Luca.

The only down side to Laurence's stay was the appalling weather. April was a washout, May was a double-washout and June has started off very wet with wicked thunderstorms replacing the persistent rain and grey skies of previous months. However, we did manage a couple of albeit wet walks around Tetto Piano and Cuneo in the first few days so here are the photos.....

Tanya and Amy LOVE puddles and Amy has added "puddle" and "raining" to her list of favourite words to say!

Amy and Luca on his new bike (see later).

Luca, Tanya and Amy with Piazza Galemberti in the background. Normally, at this time of year, they'd be in tee shirts and shorts but instead they're in their winter coats!

Despite the fact that Italians are renowned for their love of children, mothers and babies/young children are not very well catered for (no whacky warehouses or toddler groups here) so in order to get out of the house and stay dry we ended up visiting local commercial centres where at least the kids could stretch their legs and have some fun.