The breakfast room is waiting for the guests of the Agriturismo with its warm smell of coffee, and plenty of homemade bread, all served with salami and cheese, specialities of the region.
The three comfortable rooms of the Agriturismo have once again met the expectations of visitors, who had a restful, comfortable night and now are eagerly looking forward to starting a new day.
The kids run along the shore of the pond, trying to find the little fishes that glide and hide between the stones in the water. Meanwhile, their parents sit under the porch, enjoying a cup of coffee and relaxing to the soft sound of the gentle waterfall that makes the air bubbles in the pond sparkle.
Meantime, the horses have finished their breakfast and are waiting for grooming time and then the riding lesson that follows. The training area is ready for them. The adult horses already know that, for them, revision exercises are sufficient, but the young ones learn something new everyday. Meanwhile, the mares and foals watch this coming and going of everyday life.
The sun rays reflect in the clear, dazzling turquoise water. There is nothing better than freshening up in the swimming pool.
Taking a rest in the shadow of the gazebo, you can watch the swallows swooping over the water, refreshing themselves too, and creating, playfully, a succession of black trains alternated with the white of their breast.
The afternoon is dedicated to relaxing hours in the swimming pool or to visits of the towns nearby:
- Pinerolo, the Cavalry town, with its historical Cavalry Museum. The centre of the town has plenty of shops, the Cathedral with its Piazza di San Donato and the San Maurizio-Church on the top of the hill that overlooks the whole valley.
- Turin, the Magic town, with its many museums, among them the Egyptian Museum, one of the worldwide most important museums, together with the museum in Cairo. There is also the Museum of the Cinema. Inside the Mole Antonelliana, the symbol of the town, are the castles, the Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Madama, La Cittadella, the medieval ensemble of the Castello del Valentino that gives directly to the river Po and all the castles of the county La Venaria Reale, the Stupinigi Castle, the Rivoli Castle, the Agliè Castle, the location for the fiction Elisa di Rivombrosa. There are also the places Piazza Castello, Piazza Statuto, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Piazza Carignano, Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Solforino and Piazza Carlo Felice, that leads to the shopping street Via Roma. Then there is the Quadrilatero, which is Turin’s night life centre, the Cathedral with the Sacra Sindone, the veil of Veronica, the Gran Madre, the little hill of Superga, a the marvellous lookout on Turin from the height, and countless other places
- Bardonecchia and Sestriere, the place of the Olympic Games, with its high mountains, comparable to the Dolomites, the haunt of Gianni Agnelli, where he went each winter for his indispensable skiing holidays, the fortresses of Fenestrelle and Exilles.
- The Susa Valley, the Avigliana Lakes, the Sacra di San Michele, the pass of Moncenisio;
- The Saluzzese region with its famous orchards and the old town centre of Saluzzo;
- the Abbey of Staffarda
- Racconigi, the palace and residence of the House of Savoy with its park and glasshouses and the stork sanctuary.
Evening has come, the sun is setting and in the distance, the top of the Monviso Mountain says goodnight to Piemonte as it vanishes into twilight. More and more stars rise in heaven and beside the pond, the frogs start a croaking symphony. The kids, tiptoeing and curious, try to catch a glimpse of them, but just as they reach them, the croaking stops and the small group of very fast frogs leap forward into the pond and disappear in the darkness. Silence reigns.
