Day 23 - February 15th 2009 In treno returning to Rome, Italy

Katie and I were picked up by Martin early this morning to head down to the bus station to grab the 9:30am bus over to the train station to get on the 10:40 treno to Venice Mestre train station. Well all that didn’t happen because apparently there is no 9:30 bus to the train station but only a 11:15am one. So this threw quite a wrench in our well laid plans (which in reality were not well laid out). We found a small albergo nearby and grabbed some scrambled eggs (uova strapazzate) for breakfast. The bus deposited us at the Calalzo train station and we bought tickets to Padova station. Arriving in Padova station we hit our first big problem. The trains heading back to Rome and Florence were almost completely full. Thankfully or not depending on how you look at it, there were tickets available but they were only first class. Here’s the best part: they weren’t guaranteed seats. Nope. Katie and I stood in the first class car for 2/3s of the trip. How about them apples. Needless to say, it was a horrible day of travel back to our respective cities. Sleep was most welcomed.

Double WOW Day 22 - February 14th 2009 Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Another great night’s rest at the venerable Hotel Villa Alpina. Katie and I packed our things and brought down our bags to store in the back room of the hotel while we went skiing that day. Jumped the bus to the base of Ra Valles/ Tofana cable tram and rode upwards into the great beyond that is the Dolomites. After a second tram lift up again we found ourselves with a most spectacular view of the surrounding mountain range and the small Cortina village below. For some reason yesterday it seemed like all we were doing was riding lifts and not doing much skiing but that changed today and we were skiing 15 minute runs down from the top. The snow had been groomed in most places but you could jet off to the sides to get a bit of deeper stuff but it was mostly heavy powder so turning in it was not easy. We met up with Sarah and her relatives at halfday and took a few good runs with all them. Then Katie and I ascended on high once more to have a bite to eat on the top of the world. Did I mention I was slack jawed with my tongue hanging out the whole time I was skiing? This place is surreal! I can’t believe people ACTUALLY live here. If I could wake up every morning with my cup o’ joe and look out the window and witness the high peaks at every angle, I would consider life pretty damn near perfect. (I have started to draft my “Chris to live in Cortina d’Ampezzo for an extended period of time” 5 year contingency plan)....We’ll see how that works out... So the St. Valentines day skiing was spectacular, then things started to go from amazing to sort of humorously interesting. After returning our skis and boots and heading over to grab a taxi up to the Hotel Argentina (the Villa Alpina only had rooms open for thursday and friday sadly.) OK first things first; the front desk man, ya know the guy who greets you and gives you your key and so on, was, excuse my french, an ASSHOLE! This guy had the lowest hanging jowls I have ever seen and man was he a troubled child or something. Gave us nothing but attitude and indignation! Katie and I agreed it must be because we are the only 20’somethings in Cortina and arn’t arriving in a Maserati with full bearskin jackets. Oh well, everybody else that worked there was nice. So this guy was humorously mean. Next up was the bus ride down from the Argentina back to town. I am very certain the driver was Satan’s personal chauffeur. He was driving this bus at 50mph down the most curvy steep road. We were sure we were on the Highway to Hell express. Thankfully, we arrived safely in town and wandered to La Furla, the pizzeria that Sarah and her relatives were eating at. The restaurant was pretty busy so we got put at the same table as a single older lady who did crosswords and ate her dinner. And for some reason everyone around us kept eyeing Katie and I. I don’t know why we are still not wearing Yankee caps and I heart NY t-shirts. After dinner we hustled over to the Olympic ice rink from 1956 olympics and watched the Cortina Squirrels battle the wolves with #45 Martin Wilde at left defense. Sarah graciously drove us back to up the Argentina for the night’s sleep.

WOW Day 21 - February 13th 2009 Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Slept in until 9:30 this morning and went out in search of rental skis with Katie. We found the Ski System rental shop which Sarah had recommended to us and the proprietor, Walter, hooked us up with some sweet planks and boots to match. We caught a couple of buses all the way to Socrepes where we took quite a few lifts up to the very top of the mountain. At this point I must pause for a moment and say that words or even pictures do not come close to justice for the magnificence in which we were present for today. WOW is all I can muster. Katie and I are sure that when our Lord Jesus returns for judgement day, his landing is going to take place somewhere on the high rise of the Dolomiti peaks we witnessed today. To continue from my side story; We snapped a couple of breathtaking photographs up on top (illustrated below) and started our descent hooking right because I wanted to head for the Cinque Torri section of the mountain. We made it to the 5 Torri and took a couple of runs through the wide open almost country-esque rolling hills of snow. We were a bit cold so we decided to pack it in and headed for the base lodge of the 5 Torri. The bus wasn’t coming for an hour so we sat down for a quick Bombardino, which is a creme/rum/cinnamon concoction. Arriving back at the hotel Katie and I soon passed out from sheer exhaustion. We wandered towards the center of town looking for a small trattoria or ristorante to replenish our growling bellies. For some very odd reason, the place was a total ghosttown. I mean not a soul to be seen anywhere. It was rather spooky to say the least so we headed back for the hotel and ate at the same place we had been the previous night, the Vienna and sampled a few of their other dishes. Sleep was blissful after the strenuous day of awe inspiring beauty and heavenly righteous skiing.