This was the house we stayed in for 3 months last summer; a "malga" in the Dolomites Mountains in North Italy.
A malga is basically where the cows go to graze in the summer and the house is where the people taking care of the cows lives. Sometimes it will also have more animals, make cheese or butter or, as in this case, have a restaurant.
Roberto, my partner, got a job as a chef in the restaurant in this malga - "Malga Venegiota" and me and our son Willow were aloud to stay there with him and the other people working there.
Since we are nomads with no fixed base and were only travelling around in our camper, this was a perfect way to spend the summer, with a free place to stay in a wonderful place, and making some money too!
I actually don't know what this "house" is, but I love the look of it! On the way on the walk to the malga
Luckily another 4 kids also stayed there with their parents, so we had a great little tribe of children :)
My friend Patricia with Willow, Roberto and Ilaria, one of the other children in the kitchen
(Almost) all the people working at the restaurant and staying in the malga
People can only reach this malga by foot, either by the shortest and flattest road, ca 30 minutes from the nearest road (on this path people working at the restaurant were also allowed to drive, but no one else) or by the longer and more beautiful trek from Passo Rolle, going right underneath the mountains.
The malga is situated 1824 meter above sea level, which meant that even in summer it could get quite chilly at night and when the sun wasn't out! But when the sun was shining it was like paradise!
In winter on the other hand, this place is completely covered by snow. No one lives here in winter and the restaurant is closed.
In this malga apart from cows they were also goats, dogs, pigs, chicken and donkeys enjoying a summer holiday in the mountains! And all (apart from the goats) were roaming around freely, even around the outside tables, where the restaurant guests were eating!
When the goats arrived
Here are some of the best photos with the animals (and children) - I took quite a lot in those 3 months!
*One morning the pigs had decided that where that stable of firewood was, was the best place to chill, and they managed to move all the wood in their favour!
A part from the farm animals there were also wild animals!
There was seen a female wolf not long before we arrived. I didn't encounter this beautiful wild creature, but we did see lots of these wonderful guys..!:
These are wild marmots, large "squirrels" living only in mountain areas, and they are amazingly cute!
They live in holes in the ground and when they get alarmed, they say this loud chipping sound, alarming all the others who then quickly return to their holes.
We managed to get quite close to them though, apparently they didn't see us as a huge danger and we were very happy to consider them friends too :D
peaking out of the hole, saying hello (or "fuck off" maybe... ;D)
We even saw their little babies, but those with babies didn't let us as close!
One marmot far away with the baby to the right
Okay, for not making this post waaaay too long with too many pictures, I will spare you the gorgeous mountain and forest photos for the next part where I will show a bit more of the restaurant and life in the malga too!
Thanks for coming along and hope to see you in the next part! <3
The picture of that piggy just reaches into your soul! What a little piece of magic you’ve experienced :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you! Yes it was such a joy seeing the animals so free and happy!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
by the way, the second part is here, if you are interested :) https://steemit.com/photography/@frejafri/3-months-living-in-a-malga-in-the-middle-of-the-mountains-part-two-life-in-the-malga-the-mountains-and-the-forest
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Your post has been hand-picked and shared in our "Spreading the Love" weekly curation series because your content promotes our core values of life, freedom, truth, love, and happiness! You can check it out here.
We'd also like to personally invite you to join our Freedom Tribe. Thank you for your conscious contribution to this platform! Steem on! 🙏❤
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This looks an amazing adventure and I love houses made of stone.
That first little earth house were called 'soddies' here in the USA and when the country expanded West they were often the first house of the settlers as you could easily make it into the earth and have shelter straight away. Then as your homestead grew it eventually would become a root cellar or cool place to store preserves or things like butter and milk.
I bet it was a lovely summer.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Thank you for the information :D Probably is something like that! though it's in the middle of nowhere, so maybe works as a shelter for hunters or something...
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I love when you share you travels with us, your photos are amazing and I can feel your passion in your writing and this spot is so beautiful xxxx such a great spot to share with your son xxx
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you! yes he really loved it there!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Beautiful post, and I love your pictures as usual. Willow looks so happy, what a wonderful experience.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
he loved it so much, being around all the animals! thank you!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This is such a beautiful place! The photos are amazing! The green pastures and the children make it even more gorgeous!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wowo..so wonderful place to live...and look at the atmoshphere so pleasant...👌 perfect weather to live ...willow looks so happy with the animals...he is so cute..👌
Posted using Partiko Android
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you, he really loved it yes :) If you are interested here is the second part https://steemit.com/photography/@frejafri/3-months-living-in-a-malga-in-the-middle-of-the-mountains-part-two-life-in-the-malga-the-mountains-and-the-forest
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Sure dear will check it out the place looks to be very peacefull and fairy land
Posted using Partiko Android
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
oh my, you found paradise hidden away in the mountains! I really loved this, and all of the beautiful photos. I am looking forward to the next post.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you! here is the second part :D https://steemit.com/photography/@frejafri/3-months-living-in-a-malga-in-the-middle-of-the-mountains-part-two-life-in-the-malga-the-mountains-and-the-forest
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Thank you! :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Holy cow! That place looks unreal - thanks for sharing!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Oh, you got so close to marmots! I've only been to the Swiss Alps once and I was able to hear their callings but I never saw one.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
yes we were so lucky they lived so close to the house, we could almost see them from the house! So friendly creatures :D
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wow what a place to be! Love the view and to have lived there for some time.. You are quite lucky to have experienced that <3
Love the pictures and love that the kids got to be part of that adventure as well.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you! Yes the kids were living so free and wild there, a joy to see! No TV or computers, just the endless wilderness! The boy on 7 went walking with the cows 13 km from the village down, and he loved it!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
That makes me happy :D Good for you and good for the kids! I love it! Being free from it all is just amazing ^_^
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Thank you! If you are interested here is the second part https://steemit.com/photography/@frejafri/3-months-living-in-a-malga-in-the-middle-of-the-mountains-part-two-life-in-the-malga-the-mountains-and-the-forest
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Definitely interested! Thank you for sending me the link, heading on over there now :D
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Congratulations! Your high quality travel content caught our attention and earned you a reward, in form of an upvote and resteem. Your work really stands out. Your article now has a chance to get curated and featured under the appropriate daily topic of our Travelfeed blog. Thank you for using #travelfeed
Learn more about our travel project on Steemit by clicking on the banner above and join our community on Discord
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Congratulations! Your high quality-travel content was selected by @travelfeed curator @travelfeed and earned you a reward, in form of a 100% upvote and a resteem. Your work really stands out. Your article now has a chance to get curated and featured under the appropriate daily topic of our Travelfeed blog. Thank you for participating in #travelfeed!
Learn more about our travel project on Steemit by clicking on the banner above and join our community on Discord
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Congratulations @frejafri! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPDownvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Damn, that place is so beautiful!! I would love to live there even for only a few days. 💓
The animals are so sweet too! Stay safe!! 😀
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wow!! This place is fantastic!! So beautiful, but I can imagine the winters would be brutal! And I love marmots :) Back in Canada, near Vancouver, a major highway project was put on hold because they found a big marmot colony 'right in the way' where the road was supposed to go :) They decided to relocate them before construction could continue, which made me very happy ;)
Love this @frejafri! Thanks for sharing :) I was going to submit it to c-squared, but I see it's already been done!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you!
great that they didn't trample over the marmots, though I hope they were content with their new home!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Aaawwww.. I love the marmot!!!! It is so fun that Willow get to experience life at the mountains surrounded by animals that he can pat and see for real :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This is only a 4-hour drive from here ;-)
You captured the beauty of nature so well!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Ah, really? Where are you then?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
living in Upper Austria, so we also have some mountains here
...but I've been to Northern Italy a few years ago. Such a nice area :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
That surely is a bit of paradise! What a wonderful place for kids to be in the summer - they look so happy and healthy! That is some beautiful scenery and I love the architecture of the Malga! Thanks for sharing!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit