With a weekend free to ourselves due to Trey’s decision to forgo playing soccer, I immediately went the my list of places that we would like to see while we are in Europe. The thought of crisp mountain air and fall colors was difficult to resist, even with a five hour drive in front of us. We decided to take the kids out of school a little early (Had to arm wrestle with them on this one :>) and packed the car for a family road trip on Friday the 12th of October, our destination “The Dolomite Mountains”.
The Dolomites (Dolmite in Italian) are very well known here in Europe as they not only possess some of the finest ski runs on the continent, but also are renowned for their hiking and rock climbing challenges. Cortina (A chic ski village that attracts the rich and famous from around the world) was the host of the 1956 Winter Olympics. The Mountain range is relatively new to this earth per Mountain standards which is evidenced by the jagged peaks that stand like rock sculptures above the alpine forest. Our drive took us due North, through Modena (Where Pavoriti was recently buried) and the “Trento” where some of Italy’s best grapes for Vino Bianco are grown. The landscape was amazing flat for the first three hours or so and then suddenly we began to climb. As the temperature dropped and the leaves turned golden, the scenery began to change as dramatically as the language spoken on the streets and the signs on the road way. We were now near the Austrian boarder, in a land that at one time was a part of Austria before Mussolini seized control of this mountainous alpine wonderland on behalf of Italia in the 1940’s.
The Dolomites are officially a part of Italia, but for the first time I felt that I was in Germany. The language, the food, the architecture and even the clothes were distinctively Germanic.
Any thoughts of this being a five hour drive to Big Bear were completely wiped out the minute we got there as dusk was setting in. The people were warm and friendly and the scenery was nothing short of stunning. The kids loved it in the Dolomites as hiking is an enjoyable family past time for them. We took a two hour nature walk on Saturday and followed that up with a gondola ride to the crest of one of the highest summits in this mountain range. The views were the greatest I have ever seen. We were looking down on the clouds and across the skyline could see several massive glaciers! Our altitude was about 8500 feet above sea level. The kids were enamored with the numerous wild Mountain goats that we ran across over the two days in this dramatic region. In the end Anna and I decided that this was the most beautiful mountain scenery that we have ever encountered and a place that we would return to again without question. To place this into perspective, we have been blessed to spend time in the Canadian Rockies, The Andes Mountains of Peru, The Grand Tetons of Wyoming and the Remarkables of New Zealand (Where they filmed Lord of the Rings), but none of these places possessed the combination of raw mountain beauty combined with intimate access to the mountains themselves. We literally could drive right up to the base of many of the peaks that jetted up over one thousand feet above our heads.
Remember the Dolomites in your travel plans. You will be glad you did!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Notes from the Cheap Seats
We have French license plates because you need to be a resident to lease a car in Italy. This has turned out to be less than ideal. Imagine being in Italy for a year and everyone thinks that you are French! Nothing against the French, but think about the rivalry. It would be like living in Bahgdad and having an “I voted for Bush” sign on your car :>) for those that have forgotten the World Cup, it was Zidane who head butted the Italian player! Let’s just say that we stand out a little more than we want to!
Many Italians have dogs. The problem is that most don’t have yards as they live in flats in the city. The solution for soiling your animal? Diapers!!! Can you believe that they put diapers on their dogs when they go to work? I cant imagine what its like after a hard day of work, opening the door and having to…well you get the point.
Communal Tables are very common at restaurants (Being seated at the same table as total strangers). This may come as a foreign experience at first as small talk can be a bit icy at the beginning, but we have met some pretty nice people in this type of setting and have even exchanged phone numbers and dining suggestions along the way. It would be cool if they did this in Los Angeles.
If any of you decide to move to Italy but don’t know what business you want to go into, there is simply one word that comes to mind “Service”. There is no translation of this word into the Italian vernacular! Case in point is that at the time of this writing, I STILL don’t have high speed wireless internet access even though it was ordered on the 20th of August! We finally got the piano tuned in the house after waiting four weeks. We are still waiting for the return of our DVD player that was taken into the shop by Simone in early September after arriving broken in the shipment container that was shipped on the 30th of June and arrived on the 4th of September (36 days late) AND we have been waiting since the 20th of August to have eight new hinges installed for various cabinets in the kitchen! Now in all due respect to my Italian friends who say “Things are slower here and you need to show patience, this slowness of life is what makes things beautiful”, there is a point when patience has been exercised and words such as “inept, ridiculous and insanity” start to find their way past your lips. By the way, Anna is one of those Italian friends :>)
Massages in Italy – Anna asked that I write about the major differences between receiving a massage in Italy versus in the United States. There are many, so here goes!
a) In Italy EVERYONE is required to put on a pair of throw away “G-String” panties! Yes, I have had to wear them twice. Candidly, I am not thrilled with the way I look in them and it also seems to give the masseuse an excuse when turning me over to take a nice long look. I don’t dig it at all.
b) For some odd reason, the Italians have not figured out that when you get a massage, you want to be as comfortable as possible! They don’t provide you with a “Ring” to place your face into when facing down and they don’t put a towel under your feet when in the same position. Instead they make you cock your neck one way or another and simulate the position of a pigeon toed freak while lying on the table.
c) Italians seem to be against providing you with aids to make yourself smell fresh and clean! Whether it be in he showers at the Palestra or at the spa, you are required to bring you own towel, soap and shampoo. Otherwise, join the many other men and woman in Italy that have BO and leave like a sweaty pig!
d) Anna tells me that masseuses in Italy like to massage the stomach, buttocks and breasts! Either this is a female thing, or I am clearly getting the bad draw of straws, but this has yet to happen to me. I have offered many times to verify this live and in person while Anna is getting a massage from a female masseuse but to this point have been unsuccessful!
e) Italian spas are against water! I cant figure it out, but they don’t ask you if you would like tea, water or any beverage for that matter when you arrive and never offer you to drink water when you are done. I thought that not drinking water was a cardinal sin following a massage?
f) Finally, the prices are excellent (I wonder why?) and for the most part the massages have been very good!
Ciao until next time…
Many Italians have dogs. The problem is that most don’t have yards as they live in flats in the city. The solution for soiling your animal? Diapers!!! Can you believe that they put diapers on their dogs when they go to work? I cant imagine what its like after a hard day of work, opening the door and having to…well you get the point.
Communal Tables are very common at restaurants (Being seated at the same table as total strangers). This may come as a foreign experience at first as small talk can be a bit icy at the beginning, but we have met some pretty nice people in this type of setting and have even exchanged phone numbers and dining suggestions along the way. It would be cool if they did this in Los Angeles.
If any of you decide to move to Italy but don’t know what business you want to go into, there is simply one word that comes to mind “Service”. There is no translation of this word into the Italian vernacular! Case in point is that at the time of this writing, I STILL don’t have high speed wireless internet access even though it was ordered on the 20th of August! We finally got the piano tuned in the house after waiting four weeks. We are still waiting for the return of our DVD player that was taken into the shop by Simone in early September after arriving broken in the shipment container that was shipped on the 30th of June and arrived on the 4th of September (36 days late) AND we have been waiting since the 20th of August to have eight new hinges installed for various cabinets in the kitchen! Now in all due respect to my Italian friends who say “Things are slower here and you need to show patience, this slowness of life is what makes things beautiful”, there is a point when patience has been exercised and words such as “inept, ridiculous and insanity” start to find their way past your lips. By the way, Anna is one of those Italian friends :>)
Massages in Italy – Anna asked that I write about the major differences between receiving a massage in Italy versus in the United States. There are many, so here goes!
a) In Italy EVERYONE is required to put on a pair of throw away “G-String” panties! Yes, I have had to wear them twice. Candidly, I am not thrilled with the way I look in them and it also seems to give the masseuse an excuse when turning me over to take a nice long look. I don’t dig it at all.
b) For some odd reason, the Italians have not figured out that when you get a massage, you want to be as comfortable as possible! They don’t provide you with a “Ring” to place your face into when facing down and they don’t put a towel under your feet when in the same position. Instead they make you cock your neck one way or another and simulate the position of a pigeon toed freak while lying on the table.
c) Italians seem to be against providing you with aids to make yourself smell fresh and clean! Whether it be in he showers at the Palestra or at the spa, you are required to bring you own towel, soap and shampoo. Otherwise, join the many other men and woman in Italy that have BO and leave like a sweaty pig!
d) Anna tells me that masseuses in Italy like to massage the stomach, buttocks and breasts! Either this is a female thing, or I am clearly getting the bad draw of straws, but this has yet to happen to me. I have offered many times to verify this live and in person while Anna is getting a massage from a female masseuse but to this point have been unsuccessful!
e) Italian spas are against water! I cant figure it out, but they don’t ask you if you would like tea, water or any beverage for that matter when you arrive and never offer you to drink water when you are done. I thought that not drinking water was a cardinal sin following a massage?
f) Finally, the prices are excellent (I wonder why?) and for the most part the massages have been very good!
Ciao until next time…
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