H i p p o's H i l i t e s
- Digging in St Bernard's grotto. Crawling inside the crypts under the monastery Eglise among human bones and bone dusts
- Chipping off pieces of marbles on top of the monastery crematorium
- A day in Aosta, looking for topographical map of the valley, visiting the romans ruins and having picnic lunch in front the massive cathedral in a warm day with pouring warm rain. And lots of shopping for Hippo.
- A day visiting the romans ruins and the wonderful museum in Martigny which had the exhibition of Manet and an awesome antique car collection.
- Being inside the church tower at Bourg St Pierre, among the bells while they are ringing...
- Crossing the Swiss/Italian border daily and mixing up French with Italian (and their respective currencies too). Hippo loved speaking French and Italian daily!!!
- Training from Geneva to Martigny, catching the St Bernard Express from Martigny to Orsiere, then hop on the bus to Bourg St Pierre.
- Evenings with the carabinieris who didnt speak any English or French
- Participating in the Swiss independence day's (Aug 1st) parade and partaking the evening meal which was raclette and contemplating the enormous bonfire and watching the French speaking Swiss alpine kids light the numerous fireworks.
- A bicycle ride through the vineyards of Martigny, stopping at the wineries, tasting the strong local 'grape juice', among vines, apple and pear trees, surrounded by the alps.
- Singing a song written by our fearless leader to the monks
- Witnessing a memorial service at the monastery Eglise for a monk and 2 young boys who perished in the mountain a week before we got there.
1996