Summer holidays!!

Ollie and Louis in the land of chickens.

This was our last chance to do a big trip, so we put down for 5 weeks. Alright.

We took off after jamming everything in the car. Quite a feat already, not minding that John came in later on with a bag big enough for half a cricket team.

Visited Jelena and Danilo. All good. It rained as always when we're there. The locals had a micro brewery festival. On stage was various Michael Jacksons. A little kid was very good. The older guy was a bit too serious, the pelvic thrusts too graphic to watch comfortably. The corn fields surrounding the stage added the rural Italian touch. The beers was all too good. Started my birthday with a headache.

Anna Maria, Ollie and friends.

Had 2 cakes, champagne, more beer, and headed to the local farm at 3pm. The calves were annoyed by the flies, poor things. The goat was happier. Chickens pecked at the pear we dropped for them. Ollie loved playing with the dogs, and playing fetch with a tennis ball. Louis loved the baby cows.

The big cows stood around on concrete under cover. After they crowded in for a milking, a blade slowly scraped the ground. Louis made me watch it right to the end, sickeningly, when the stinking brown slops tumbled into a trough. I felt like puking for real. The walk back home was nice. We picked some pears straight from a tree. Nice!

Danilo and Jelena near the mini farm.

We couldn't really pack the bikes on the car since we were packed up to the roof. To try to not gain weight, I decided to jog a bit. Jogging from the place we stay near Sulbiate, I saw a war memorial, an ad for appartments, a soccer field, and every factory and smokestack along the way. We've been going to Jelena's for a while, and I never noticed these things once. Even if you look ahead there is a massive domed church roof with a bell tower, almost a cathedral. There is an unobstructed view along the way. Didn't catch that while watching the road, the roundabout with the crazy drivers, and watching for the next turn. While rolling at 60, we really saw nothing.

The cows are well fed but space is just ok.