December 22 - 31, 2014 Winter Holidays in the Dolomites at Molveno and Andalo
December 22, Monday
And we are off to winter wonderland. All packed up on Monday, Luigi came by and picked me up and my bags, then we headed over to pick up Ale and then on to Teresa's to get all their things packed up. Luigi likes to drive at night when there is less traffic on the roads, however, he didn't get much rest the evening before, so grew a bit tired about the time this picture was taken the next morning. We stopped at a fuel station along the way. Us three women bailed out of the car to run the the restroom. When we returned to the car, his head was back and he was fast asleep. We were hoping he would sleep for at least an hour, we were happy to let him, however, when we opened the door he awoke. We had been on the road about 9+ hours by this time. I actually slept a fair bit, off and on. Teresa and Ale only a couple hours or so.
December 23
And we arrived! A nice hot shower, a light lunch, then a good few hours rest in our beds. We felt
December 24
time stamp on these photos, we usually made it outside by noon :) We were on vacation!!!
go to the top of Paganella where they were skiing, but not this first day. We wandered around Molveno, purchased a few things (wrapping paper etc.) then back to the hotel to do some wrapping. Also bought a few groceries, had a caffe, bite of lunch. What a wonderful relaxing day!
That evening, we dressed for Christmas Eve dinner and ate at the Hotel. They had a great dinning room and menu. Ale and her dad Luigi.
Teresa, Luigi, Ale and me
Ale, Luigi, me and Teresa
So fun to watch children be excited when opening their gifts.
Ale is such a sweetie.
December 25
Christmas day heading up the the mountain.
So glad Teresa is smiling and feeling good. Earlier in the month, she had a gall bladder attack, then I don't know what happened with me, but for one whole day and night, I couldn't swallow anything, even water (was very weird!), but it finally cleared on it's own. Then on Wed. afternoon, Luigi was at the gym exercising and had complete amnesia for about 5 hours. Scared Teresa! Anyway, we all got over our issues before we left and had a great holiday in the Alps!
Great place to take pictures!
The skiers, Luigi and Ale
And here they come. Most of the snow had been made. Still waiting for it to snow and make for better skiing.
Loved the view from up here! Molveno lake off down below
All that skiing gave Ale a good appetite.
Taking a break and soaking up the sun at the top!
and the race is on ☺Here they come, there they go. Ale and Luigi
Round and round. Ski down, lift up
Glider. Everyone was interested in watching this
Headed back to the Hotel for Christmas dinner. Before dinner, we skyped with my daughter in the US. Was nice to meet and greet everyone.
December 26
Next day, Teresa and I took a long walk along the lake. Still no fresh snow, but a beautiful day
for a walk and some wonderful photos.
Such a beautiful lake, such a wonderful area. Too bad real estate is so expensive here!
I took a crock pot so we ate a few meals in the girls room. Teresa was always worried they would smell the wonderful food cooking and make us either stop or leave. No one seemed to mind.... anyway we never heard anything about it.
December 27
Sunrise on the mountain top. Still now new snow.
More photo's of the lake, taken from the top of the hill on the road to Andalo, overlooking Molveno.
And then it snowed! We were all very happy about it, given our current location and circumstances. ☺☺
And could he ever eat!!! Now that is a big piece of meat and he ate it all!!!
December 28
On Sunday morning we had a little church service, then around 1 o'clock took a drive over to Merano. Little over an hours drive. Beautiful drive.
After we arrived in Merano, we had a great time wandering through the shops. Had a great bowl of hot soup, roasted chestnuts, coffee. They did a bit of shopping, but I was content to just look.
Lots of little Christmas shops set up to wander through, and food booths.
oh, and take pictures. They call me their Japanese friend.
me
Me, I was loving the architecture and landscape!
Luigi found a new friend
Roasted chestnuts
And then we had to leave. Headed back to Molveno.
December 29
The folks who owned the hotel where we were staying had 7 year old twins. They were so cute and friendly. They hung out with us a lot. Teresa and I sat at this table most of the afternoon playing games, and the twins sat at the table across from us. They are calm and soft spoken. Lovely girls.
Dinner in the hotel was always a many course affair. I am amazed at how reasonably priced they were. We ended up eating several of our meals here.
The meal was a hit!
Playing charades. Was a little challenging, since the clues were in English, however, they all speak very good English and with the translator, was easy enough to figure out.
Ale loves to play games, so spent most evenings playing card games with her and Teresa. Luigi doesn't like to play games, so he didn't join us very often. Two nights we spent watching Ale's new movies, Despicable Me. Luigi also went to bed in the middle of that second movie ☺
December 30
Another beautiful day in Molveno. Luigi and Ale got up early and were heading to the ski slope with the car this day, as they wanted to come back before noon, as Walter and Hans were to meet us for lunch. However, when they got part way up the hill, it died. The first thought was that it was frozen diesel, but in the end turned out to be the fuel pump and that was not a cheap repair.
Anyway, after the car was in the shop, we all took a walk around the other side of the lake this time.
Our Hotel
and lobby
and view to the right off the balcony
Lunch was a wonderful affair at what became our favorite restaurant. Ale, Teresa, Luigi, Hans, Walter and me.
After so much food, was time to take another walk, back around the other side of the lake this time.
Walter, Luigi, Hansruedi. After we returned to the Hotel, we had a bible study with them. Just continued with Luke. We had started reading a chapter every evening when we first arrived, so just continued that. Was nice to have these boys there for our study! Great way to finish the day.
December 31
Next day back on the ski slope. Luigi did a few runs down the hill by himself. He used to be a pro skier in his younger years, so he was really having a great time skiing and spending time with his daughter skiing.
While he went off skiing solo, Ale and I took a long lunch break to have a few hands of UNO. She loves playing this game. During these 10 days, we spent several hours doing this :) Also Teresa and I had another game we played a lot, called Hand and Foot.
The views were spectacular!
A second lodge, at the first lift. I never did stop and go in, kept thinking I would, but never did.
New Years Eve. All dressed up and no where to go... hee hee. Actually, we quite enjoyed staying in the hotel and having our dinner. They did up a great feast ! Didn't have to be out with all the drunk drivers, and was in walking distance of our rooms ☺ What an affair it turned out to be! Course after course..started at 8pm and we had food continually served to us for four straight hours!! It finally ended at midnight! Luigi almost fell asleep at the table... dozed off once at least.
Ah, Teresa, my friend. We had great days together. She is so easy to talk with.
Ale and the twins
Started with h'orderves
Then first course, actually looks like more horderves
Course 1
Course 2
Course 3
Course 4
Course 5
Course 6
Course 7
After dessert, then it turned midnight, and the real celebrating began!! Everyone was given a glass of champagne and started toasting and kissing complete strangers.... that's when I made a break for it. I was very, very happy to have my room so close ☺ I said Happy New Year to the four of us and to the three people at the table next to us who I had been visiting with (no kisses) and then made a hasty exit. That was enough for me. Miscioscia's must have woke up and got a second wind after midnight, because they didn't come to their rooms for another hour and half or two. I guess you have to be Italian to enjoy this, although I know several Italians who don't enjoy it either. AnnaMaria has a saying when anyone tries to give her the cheek kiss... CYK (consider yourself kissed) and backs away . It only feeds the human in us, and I have to agree. Anyway, aside from that and actually just being very tired, I had a great New Years Eve.
After I got to my room, I watched over the balcony at the fireworks, then had a nice quiet hour to prepare for bed and make a final decision of whether to leave the next morning or the following day. Decided to sleep on it and when I arose next morning, I knew it was time to continue on down the road to visit my other friends. Got up early to say my goodbyes to Luigi and Ale before they headed to the ski hill, then packed up my things and had a leisurely breakfast.
About noon, Teresa then drove me to the train station in Mezzocorona. She was a little nervous driving down the mountain with slick roads, but she did fine. Arrived at the station and waited twenty minutes for the train to arrive.... rest of this story will be in my next blog update..Jan 2015
New Years Day just after noon, said my goodbyes to the very nice owners of the Hotel. Lovely family! Sent them a copy of these pictures. They were very happy about that ☺ He is a world Paragliding champion.
Luca Donini paragliding world champion in 2001 and European in 2006, lives in Molveno and flies between the peaks of the Dolomites, experiencing spectacular emotions difficult to tell.
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo a Tutti !!
Since I posted so many of these pictures previously on Facebook, and many nice comments were made there, I will copy and post those here also, for those who do not have facebook.
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