Dogs, cats, kittens...

Yesterday we were both feeling a bit down but today has reminded us why we decided to move here. We met with Franco who is the estate agent we are renting our next property through, I hasten to add he's nothing like estate agents we've had dealings with in the UK! Last time we met him we bombed around the countryside at great speed in his battered Suzuki jeep looking at properties to rent but it was essential that we stopped at 10.30 as he couldn't go on without his morning coffee! He was also more than happy to offer assistance and advice regarding anything else and we didn't even purchase our Italian property through his agency. Today he was just as pleasant and our conversation struggled along in a mixture of Italian and English (not that much Italian from us unfortunately). He drove us up to the rustico on the hillside just outside Cortemilia that we will be renting where we met with Stefano, Isabella, two of the five children, two dogs, a cat and a tiny kitten. They were all lovely and so friendly. Again we struggled along, part Italian, part English while we talked about the rental, what we did, why we were moving to Italy and various other things, an hour and a half in total by the time we'd chatted and finished our coffee. We also met with the current occupants of the rustico who leave at the end of the month, a dutch couple who lived in Spain, worked in Germany and had bought a house in Gorzegno, not far from our house! They are hoping to move to Italy permanently next year.

We also picked up some information while in Cortemilia about the 52nd Sagra della Nocciola (Festival of the Hazlenut) which takes place during the last week in August. There seems to be lots going on so we must try and go one day, after all we will soon be living on a hazlenut farm that produces hazlenut cakes and biscuits!