Now THAT'S what I call a Climbing Rose! (with apologies to Gattina)

Absolutely no apologies needed! Is this your house? At first I thought "My word, that's a very leafy rose", and looking closer, I see it's up there with something else - ivy? It must be a so-and-so to prune and dead-head!

Wow... that one has a head for heights ;o)

Incredible!

How romantic....looks idyllic.

No, that's not my house Gattina - it's a large very nice hotel where we sometimes go for a coffee or a meal and a stroll around in their grounds. I think I did a couple of blogs about it last summer when I wanted to identify the beautiful blue drift of flowers, which turned out to be Russian Sage. It IS idyllic Julie, the setting is amazing - across a small ancient bridge over a river that runs over rocks where there are Dippers; opposite another beautiful stone building, which has now become part of the hotel and which has its own little church - also covered in ivy and - naturally for this region - surrounded by mountains. If you'd had a longer time to spend on your holiday here, Sheila, we'd have directed you there. :o)

I thought it looked a bit big................ It sounds lovely.

Cheers Nariz . . . next time!!

is their food as good as their flowers Nariz?
nice combo , ivy and big climbing rose but i agree with Gattina's pruning comment ;~))

Sadly Resi - no! Like all hotels, their restaurant is huge and charmless and the food, although OK, is nothing special. The 'special' bit is sitting on their shady patio in lovely squashy chairs overlooking the garden and river, surrounded by mountains, and being served coffee with a chocolate on the side.
The ivy has obviously been 'stopped' at a certain point, so I suppose they must have a gardener with a head for heights who doesn't mind getting up a VERY long ladder to prune the roses!

Nariz, where you live sounds just the place I would like to live.
The only fly in the ointment is, the winters look very cold & snowy!! Do they last long?
I could put up with a couple of months maybe, but I hate the winters here, long, cold, wet, snowy, dark, horrible!!!

If I was years younger I might even go house hunting there! Not now though, I couldn't up roots at my age & start all over!

I shall watch your blogs etc, because it's all so interesting.
All the best
Shirl.

Thank you Shirl, the winters here are sometimes quite harsh, but the surrounding mountains make it beautiful to see. I have to say, even at the coldest time, I've never wished to be elsewhere, and some years 'Winter' hasn't started until January, then only lasted until the end of February - but not the last two winters!!!!!!!
What's with the age? I was 63 when we moved here and, although I get a little arthritic trouble, I still manage lovely long walks - even a little gentle climbing sometimes. Give it a try! :o)

Thanks for the encouragement Janet, but I am 10 years plus older than that, so I expect I shall stay put now!;)
It would be nice to think we could live somewhere warm tho'.............

My OH is 73, and I'm 67, and we find a climate and situation very similar to Nariz's very congenial. We felt we had to stop being boring and do something challenging and interesting in our final years, Shirlwhirl. Yes, it's a big step, but you should try it - you'll be amazed with yourself. I heartily endorse everything Jan says.

Thank you Gattina,
I wish we had the courage & inclination to do it!! Do you have any medical probs to contend with? O.H has diabetes (takes tablets) & has had prostate cancer & a heart attack a few years ago, so it's lots of visits to docs & clinics.
I am not too bad, but have arthritis (getting worse!) & - not had heart trouble but it's in all my family, so you never know!!!!
Not a great prospect!!
Thanks anyway - it sounds as if you did the right thing anyway.

If you ever have the time to trawl through everything I've ever written on here, you'll find out that we have every health problem and more to contend with - luckily nothing TERRIBLY serious so far (we just moan a lot!), and we have found that the Italian health service has exactly the same financial problem as the British one, but seems to cope with it better. On the whole we have been pretty impressed and happy with treatment, personnel and time-scales. Language could be a bit of a stumbling block, but we cope quite well, and for the first year attended surgeries and clinics clutching a dictionary! You'd probably not have that many problems, you know.

Still trying to encourage us!!!!
Sounds great anyway.

I can report wonderful efficiency in Health matters here, too. I simply filled in forms at the local Social Security, once we had 'registered' as living permanently in Spain, papers were sent back to Britain, papers were sent back to Spain and I was issued with a 'Pensionista' card and registered with my local doctor and had magnificent and quick treatment for a kidney infection, tennis elbow and even received my flu' jabs - all free, just as in the UK. You generally find that someone - a paramedic, or nurse, or even the doctors themselves - speaks a little English or can quickly get hold of someone who does so translation is no problem. Go on ..... give it a go! I promise you, quality of life is far better here (or with Gattina in Italy) than in Britain! I could never afford to live the way I do here if I had to return to Britain - so I'm not coming back! :o)