Photographic Diary
Return to 2008 menu

19th September 2008:
Camping at Monviso; Swingle Singers

	We had a free weekend and so decided to pack up our tent and drive into the Alps. About an hour and a half from Turin, you reach the base of Monviso - by far the most dramatic mountain in the region, and famous for its use by Paramount Pictures. We pitched our tent at around 1800m. It was a little bit more chilly than down in Turin, but no worse than Britain in August! From where we camped, we had a fabulous panorama of the immediate mountain range and valley below.
	Monviso's day job! (It does look like that, only from a different angle.)
	Polenta with sausages in Barolo wine and porcini mushrooms - just what you need to warm the insides while up a mountain.
	The dawn coming over the cloud-covered valley below us.
	And the sun creeping onto the mountain above us.
	Breakfast with a view.
	After which we set off for our walk...
	...the first objective was Pian del Re at 2000m, and the source of the River Po...
	...which doesn't really exist of course, because there are lots of tributaries, but at this point it is still very obviously the Po.
	We continued to climb up to a series of lakes at cloud level.
	Our highest point, around 2300m, and a bit closer to Monviso... but we decided to leave the scaling of the summit for another day. It was spectacular enough as it was!
	Like good British walkers, we had a picnic lunch by a lake and a snooze in the sunshine afterwards. Heading back down a different route, we had a good view of our final objective - our tent awaiting our return.
	We cooked at the tent and huddled up for warmth.
	The following day we visited the nearby Abbey of Staffarda.
	And in the afternoon to the beautiful hill town of Saluzzo...
	...where The Swingle Singers were giving a free concert in the main street. We arrived early and got ourselves at the front of a massive crowd.
	The London based a cappella group entertained as ever and the atmosphere was fantastic.
	clip loading - please be patient, and allow active content if it is blocked. "A Fifth of Beethoven"
	clip loading - please be patient, and allow active content if it is blocked. A medley of "Flying High" by Jem and "When September Ends" by Green Day
	By the end, the place was absolutely packed, and the final encore of "Bella Ciao" brought standing ovations. A great end to a great weekend.