Carlo Tabarelli, 82, fought against the fascist regime in Italy as a "partigiano" in the Second World War. He worked as a technical consultant in China during the Tiananmen Square riots and has travelled extensively. However, he most enjoys panning for gold, a long arduous method of shifting earth and stones to find flecks of gold. He started practicing at a tender age for extra cash. He pans on the river Elvo in Northern Italy, an area of flat plains and Alpine mountains, where the Romans originally used slave workers to search for gold. The day starts early, carrying all the equipment; shovel, buckets, bowls, shifter, and a step-board to the river bank. Franca, his wife brings a large Italian hamper, complete with a bottle of Carlo's homemade wine. He then clears a patch of the river bank making a dam to control the river flow, so as to trap the flecks of gold on the ridges of the step-board. After a long day he is satisfied with a few flecks of gold and decides to pack up and go home for dinner with Lily the dog. Besides panning for gold he labors in his orchard and rides the big cruise ships with his wife, exploring ancient and modern lands.