We Made It Back... After a Fantastic Time

After some weather delays in Newark (after a smooth and easy flight from Milano) we touched down in Cleveland last night at 9 p.m. It was a super trip -- feeling like 4 vacations rolled into 1: Roma/Florence/Pisa touring with great art...the Torino Olympics; a great international event...skiing and touring in Aosta, France and Switzerland...and lastly, visiting friends / fat Tuesday in Venice. Special thanks to the Bedendo's, Martine at the St. Georges Hotel in St. Jean de Maurianne and Marla & Fabrizio (Bella Biata). A quick plug: Don't miss the Paraolympics starting March 9th -- In 2002 it was covered by A&E, oddly enough. The ice sledge hockey is more exciting to watch than regular hockey! To wrap it up....way to go, Italy!!
Steve

Posted by Keith on behalf of Steve

Heading Home

Hi everyone. I know its been a while, but time and access to the internet have been difficult to find.

We're at an airport hotel in Milan, ready to fly home at 10:00 AM local time tomorrow, Thursday March 2.

After France, we headed back into Italy to the Aosta region. There, Steve and I skied a half day at La Thuile. It seemed like a nice area, but it was hard to tell since we were in clouds and fog the entire afternoon. Visibility was minimal. Still, we managed to have fun.

The next day, we crossed thru the St. Bernard Pass into Switzerland and skied at Verbier. The conditions were good and the area impressive.

Meanwhile, Beth and Carlynn went to the nearby town of Sion where it was carnival time. They had a great time watching the parade with crazy floats and costumes (including witches and cowboys and Indians), as well as tons of confetti.

The next day, we drove to the town of Tasch, Switzerland where we boarded a train for a short ride to Zermatt. Zermatt is a spectacular alpine resort town, which doesn't allow any cars. Transportation is via train, electric buses or electric taxis.

Of course Steve and I skied. The four of us took a train up the mountain. Beth and Carlynn did some hiking while Steve and I skied 16,000 feet of vertical in a half day (the knee is doing great). The Matterhorn is almost constantly in view as we ski in its shadow. I've skied some amazing places, but the views of the alps from Zermatt make skiing secondary. Its merely a way to enjoy the incredible vistas.

Finally, we spent the last two nights with Steve and Carlynn's friends, Adriano and Pisana Bedendo, who live about an hour from Venice. The Bedendos are wonderful people who treated us like family. Yesterday, Adriano took us via train to Venice. Coincidentally, it was the final day of Carnival! Words can't describe the beauty of the city and the views as we took a water taxi through the Grand Canal. The elaborate costumes made it a surreal experience.

In the morning we head home, blown away by Italy, France, Switzerland and the Olympics. We look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Best regards,

Keith

Photos by Keith transferred from video: The Matterhorn as seen from the slopes of Zermatt; Gondola in Venice, person in costume celebrating Carnival in Venice.

Chain Of Fools

Until my friend, Hans, asked about the weather via email, I had completely forgotten to tell you about the day we left Italy for France.

You may recall that our B&B, Bella Baita, was situated on top of a mountain at about 3,000 feet. When we left on Sunday, it snowed like crazy in the upper elevations. After going down a ways, we soon realized that our front wheel drive Peugeot 807 Mini Van could not handle the switchbacks and would never make it down the mountain without sliding off the road.

I called the innkeeper, Fabrizio, who while picking up guests and running errands wouldn't be able to get to us for nearly two hours. When he finally reached us in his little Fiat Panda 4 x 4, he took me down to buy tire chains (at 120 Euros, quite expensive).

It took a considerable amount of time for Steve and I to attach them on the front wheels while fumbling around in the cold. Finally secured, Steve guided us down the mountain safely. We then had a horrendous drive to France. While crossing the border through the Frejus Tunnel, Steve was clocked via camera by the French authorities going 79 km/h in a 70 zone. They are very strict as a tragic fire occurred in the tunnel about 6 months ago. They slapped us for a 45 Euro fine.

While I am quite happy with the Peugeot 807, I would highly recommend that anyone driving in Europe in February rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

Later!

Keith

Bonjour From France

Hi Everyone! We are now in the town of Saint Jean de Maurienne, located in a beautiful mountain valley. We are in a nice quaint hotel called St. Georges which offers free high speed wireless internet (Woo hoo!!)

The French Alps
Yesterday, Steve and I skied at Val Thorens, which as part of Les 3 Vallees, makes up the world's largest ski area. The views of the French Alps were incredible, as were the snow conditions. All in all it was an awesome day of skiing. (View photo of Steve on the slopes of Val Thorens)

Today, we are taking the early part of the day off to catch up on laundry and email (Oooh! Exciting blog!)

More Olympics
Prior to leaving Italy, we went to Men's Snowboard Cross (see Snowboard Cross photo below) and Women's Hockey, both of which were extremely exciting to watch. Tonight we will commute into Italy for the evening to see the Women's Bobsled competition at Cesana (pronounced Che sana). Coming up this week we have Snowboard Super G and Women's Freestyle Aerials.

Coming Up...
Friday we leave France for Switzerland where Steve and I plan to
ski at Verbier.

But for now, Au Revoir!

Ciao From Italia!

Greetings everyone. I’m sitting in the family room at our B&B, Bella Baita in Val Chisone, part way between Torino (Turin) and the mountain areas. Italy excels in everything I love: coffee, food, wine and chocolate, so even if I didn’t do anything here, I would’ve been content.

The internet is dial up with slow connections. I have had to share the computer with other guests so, today (Saturday February 18) is the first “day off” I have had since arriving, and I thought I would put up the first post to the blog.

Roma

We landed in Rome on February 9. Our hotel was formally an ancient Roman theater http://www.hotelteatrodipompeo.it/. While our stay in Rome was brief, we were able to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the Coliseum.

Steve had fun driving our Peugeot 807 Mini Van through the narrow ancient streets of the city. Luckily our coverage is zero deductible. I hope to return to Rome when we have more time to spend there.

Firenze

On February 10 we headed north to Firenze (Florence), stopping on the way in the mountain top village of Oravieto. Florence is an absolutely beautiful city in the Tuscany region. We visited the Academia where we viewed Michael Angelo’s spectacular statue of David. Afterwards we visited the Uffizi museum, with its amazing collection of classical paintings and sculpture.

Piemonte

After two nights in Florence, we headed up to the Piemonte (Piedmont) region for the Olympics. On the way, we stopped in Pisa. Steve, Carlynn and I climbed the 600 plus steps to the top of the leaning tower. The view was spectacular. The climb was a good workout and helped to prepare my post surgical leg for skiing.

On February 12, we arrived at our current destination. The B&B, http://www.bellabaita.com/ is on top of a mountain at about 3,300 feet elevation, overlooking the beautiful valley below.

Yesterday (2/17/06) Steve and I went skiing at a small nearby area called Pralli. The ski center is not large compared to Colorado stand
ards, but had nice long runs of about 2,000 vertical feet and 2 to 3 miles in distance. The rental skis had dull edges, and the conditions were icy, making it a tough first attempt at skiing post knee surgery. I rested between each run and the leg held up fine. I’m looking forward to skiing France next week, hopefully with better conditions and sharper edges.

The XX Winter Olympic Games; Torino 2006

Here are the events we have gone to so far:

2/13/06 Women’s 15k Individual Biathlon;

2/14/06 Men’s Alpine Combined (Downhill & Slalom);

2/15/06 Men’s Nordic Combined (Jumping & 5 km team cross country) (2^nd round of jumping and cross country were cancelled due to wind conditions;

2/16/06 Men’s snowboard cross;

Curling – Men’s/Woman’s Round Robin;

2/17/06 Women’s Hockey (Germany vs. Italy).

Today, Steve and Carlynn are at the Men’s Super G (I’m glancing at it live on TV as I type). Coming up this week we have Women’s Freestyle; Snowboard Super G and Women’s Bobsled. For results, go to http://www.torino2006.com/.

Ciao for now!

Keith

(Photos by Beth: Tower of Pisa; Keith with beer at Alpine Combined; Curling. Photo by Steve: Keith & Beth at Trevi Fountain, Rome)