First thing I was keen to learn was how to pronounce the name of this small commune. I learnt that you do not sound the ‘g’……. (OH-REAL-EE-O).

That accomplished, we found the local Catholic Church and cemetery. 

  
 And the corner store near a very old quaint part of the town that I had seen earlier on the Internet.

   

  
The blocks of land here are quite large which surprised us both and we spotted more than one of these machines plus saw evidence that other home owners had one as well. Our host wants one too! 

  
The gardens look and smell amazing although Mick has already had to start taking hay fever tablets.

Our host showed us the rules about disposing of the garbage and recycling. They pay for special bags which allow them to put absolutely everything into them and then someone, ???, amazingly sorts the rubbish out after they have been put into large skip bins.

We took the dogs for a walk around the lake this morning with the host and eldest daughter and noticed many other walking trails we’ll be able to explore over the next two weeks. Both dogs were a bit aggressive towards other dogs they spotted but no one seemed too worried (except us!). 

We had a few lessons in how to care for the dogs and on how to use the dishwasher, pool vacuum etc., and we met Salvitore the poolman who will call once a week. Other than that, we kept ourselves out of the way this morning while they finished packing for their trip. I can’t imagine taking three children under 12 on such a journey. My kids would say “more’s the pity”. Their best holiday for them at that age was a two-night stopover in the Blue Mountains with a one-day pass to Wonderland. 😎