Requiem per un Saturno - Dec 5, 2013

If you have been following my posts of our year in Italy, at some point you probably realized that on many of the adventures Angie and I have shared we were accompanied by a partner; a third party, an enabler who faithfully played a thankless role in helping provide us the most amazing year imaginable:

Today we a said goodbye to the Saturn.  An Italian salvage yard seems hardly a suitable ending for so faithful a companion, but the harsh realities of Italian bureaucracy made it virtually impossible to give the car away.  And in the end, it was done in by defective windshield wipers.  The activation switch inside the steering column had broken, preventing the wipers from turning on.  Getting parts special ordered from the U.S. would have been very expensive; finding an Italian mechanic willing to try to fix it, impossible. 

It had never been our intention to ship back to the States a 15 year old vehicle with 146,000 miles on it, but we had hoped that we might find some church or someone who needed a car we could donate it to.  It didn’t work out that way.  It cannot be overstated the role the Saturn played in the life Angie and I made here in Italy.  It took us everywhere.  It took our family and friends who came to visit us from the U.S., everywhere.  It took new friends we made here in Italy, everywhere.  We crisscrossed all over Tuscany and northern Italy, including Venice, Lake Como, Cortina and the Cinque Terre.  We drove across Switzerland, into France, up the Alsace Wine Route, and we crossed the Italian Alps six times.  And in 14,000 miles of driving in Europe the Saturn always started right up, and it always safely brought us home. 

As I closed the driver’s door for the last time, I was acutely aware I was closing the door on a life others can only imagine; indeed, a life only those with imagination can imagine.  
I will not miss the Saturn; I will not miss the way it rattled and clattered, nor the way the radio screeched, nor its harsh ride on rough Italian roads, nor the fact that only one window worked. 
I will miss everything the Saturn represented.

An Italian Thanksgiving

Sorry for the late posting on this, but Angie and I have been busy packing up for our long journey home to the States on Saturday. 

As you can well imagine Italy does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but those of us who are U.S. ex-Pats still do.  When we cannot be home for the holidays we try to reach out to other ex-Pats to share our holidays with.  

Angie and I are very privileged to have made wonderful friends during our time here, and Angie set about organizing a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for those who could come.  

We wound up with a pretty big group in our apartment, 11 of us in all.  Among our number we counted one Britt (Pat) and two Italians (Donatella and Andrea).  

Despite the difficulty in finding some of the regular Thanksgiving staples in Italy, we had everything; turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, roasted carrots, mash potatoes and gravy.  We also had non-traditional dishes including melanzane parmigiana (eggplant parmesan) and kale salad. 

Primi Piatti (first courses) was crostini con funghi e formaggio (sautéed mushrooms with melted cheese on small toasted breads) and traditional crostini and schiacciata.  To maintain the authentic flavor of the breads, I toasted them over an open wood fire in Andrea’s giant BBQ grill.  All the breads were served with copious amounts of olio d’oliva – the fresh, one day old, “first press” olive oil from Andrea and Donatella’s olive orchard that we had harvested that week.  Once everyone got a taste of that oil, the Primi Piatti just disappeared…. 

Somewhere along the way our guests were able to find a superb pecan pie and pumpkin pie.

As the sun set through the open kitchen window it illuminated the olive trees with a silvery glow, once again reminding me of all that Angie and I have had to be thankful for.

A special thanks to our good friend Joss who joined us for Thanksgiving 

and who took at least half of the pictures featured here.

Under the Matterhorn - Nov 28, 2013

On Tuesday the 19^th I left for my final opportunity to ski the Italian Alps before our move back to the States on December 7^th.  I suppose I could regale you with the horrors I encountered using the Italian train system Trenitalia, but it’s off topic and in the end just proved to be a distraction. Let’s just say that it took 5 trains, 2 buses, a subway, and 11 hours to return to that place where I could again ski under the Matterhorn.  

Cervinia hadn’t been my first choice for my final run at the Italian Alps; having previously skied there in March I had hoped to explore the western edge of the Dolomiti near Bolzano. Unfortunately, the snow has been late to the Alps this year and the slopes around Bolzano were dry

and barren.  The “big” Alps of northwestern Italy have a reputation for early snow; I guessed that the town of Cervinia, close to the eastern border of France and adjacent to the southwest border of Switzerland, would be my best bet for skiing before Thanksgiving.  
I guessed right. 

They had been getting occasional snow squalls for a couple of weeks, enough to open a small part of the mountain.  Then the day before I traveled they got a foot of snow, and were slammed with another foot the day I arrived.  It snowed steadily most of the time that I was there.  Game on.

On Wednesday I grabbed my rental skis and poles and trudged the 15 minutes up to the Plan Maison tram.  The lower Cretaz lift, like the lower part of the mountain, was still not open for operations yet, but the snow was good from mid-mountain starting point at Plan Maison to the summit at Plateau Rosa, and that was what made the trip worth it.  

The visibility was limited due to the continual snowfall, and due to patches of fog at the higher altitudes; still the snow was fresh, dry, and fast. I kept riding the series of linked chairs up from mid-mountain, getting off wherever visibility seemed best before charging back down.  By afternoon I skied myself into a state of exhaustion, or rather, oxygen deprivation.   Plan Maison starts at 8,300 feet above sea level and goes up from there, up to 11,300 feet at Plateau Rosa.  Because of my asthma I normally plan my ski runs to end below 7,500 feet, so I can re-oxygenize on the way back up, however, because the lower half of the mountain was not open yet due to the early season, that was not an option here.

By the afternoon my head was hammering, I was nauseous and well into the onset of altitude sickness, so I boarded the tram for the ride back down to town where at 6,600 feet the air actually had some oxygen in it.  That night I had an excellent steak at Jour et Nuit (Day and Night) before returning to the Hotel Mignon for a good night’s sleep. 

Thursday morning it was still snowing hard when I caught the tram back up the mountain.  The snow was dry and fluffy, but the heavy snowfall was mixed with fog and the visibility had dropped from limited to almost zero.  Click the link to see the video on snow fall:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LIr_rr83LE  It was slow going, certainly well off my normal pace, but it simply made for a different kind of adventure.  At noon I rode the tram back down to town to catch my breath and take an extended lunch before heading back up to finish out the day.

My original plans had been to ski a few hours Friday morning before catching the afternoon bus to the train station, but given the complete chaos of the Trenitalia clown rodeo, I figured it was a safer bet to leave first thing in the morning and catch an earliest available train.  Sadly, I was right; it took almost as long and almost as many trains to get to get home as it did to get to Cervinia.  It cost me a morning of skiing, but at least I didn’t get kicked off a train at a closed, abandoned train station in the middle of the night.  My return to Cervinia had been different than I had anticipated, but I was grateful for a final opportunity to ski the Alps once more before leaving Italy.

Southern Spain - Nov 25, 2013

On Tuesday the Nov 12^th Angie and I caught the Ryan Air flight from Pisa to visit our friend Nancy who had just moved to Almunecar Spain.  

We met Nancy earlier this year when both she and we were living in Florence, and she graciously invited us to come be her first house guests in new apartment overlooking the Mediterranean coast.

Our Ryan Air flight required us landing in Seville, picking up a rental car and driving 3+ hours to Almunecar.  Finding her apartment in the dark proved to be a bit of an adventure, but it was well worth it to see her again!  And the next morning our wake-up call of the sun rising over the Mediterranean Sea was awe inspiring!

Nov-13 Our first day we elected for an excursion to the Cueva de Nerja, the Caves of Nerja.  This labyrinth of beautiful cave chambers is well organized and routed, and is truly amazing to behold.  Unfortunately the pictures simply don’t do justice to how remarkable this place is.

Later in the afternoon we took a drive up the coast exploring new sights that ended at the lighthouse.

That evening we went to an excellent, inexpensive restaurant that featured Flamenco dancing.  

The next day we drove the hour up over the Sierra Nevada mountain range in southern Spain and into the city of Granada. There are just SO many fascinating sights to see in the historic old city of Granada, but today our focus was the ancient Moorish palace of the Alhambra. 

 Originally built in the mid-11th century, Alhambra was taken over and rebuilt into an elaborate royal palace by Sultan Yusaf in 1333.  It represents the pinnacle of ruling power and authority that the Islamic Moors exerted over the northern African continent and in southern Europe, particularly Spain, during this time.

Nov 15 – Our return to Granada gave us opportunity to explore the city center, take in the flavor of the town, and most importantly see the Catedral de Granada, the stupendous cathedral of Granada.

The foundation of this indescribable

church was laid in 1518; it was completed 181 years later.

It was great to see Nancy again, and although our visit was brief we have already discussed the three of us getting together again the next time she is Stateside from all her world traveling.  

It was also great so see what a wonderful, new corner of the world she has found for herself.  Almunecar’s palate is the beautiful country side that surrounds it.  But the truth is the sun doesn't always shine in Almunecar; 

sometimes it’s only double rainbows. 

Road Trip to Switzerland - Oct 16-18, 2013

Wednesday Oct-16

This morning we said our goodbyes to Lake Como and the lovely lakeside Hotel Vapore, and pointed the Saturn north towards Switzerland. 
Our search for the old authentic Swiss village of Soglio took us well off the beaten path but was worth it. Soglio’s charm is undeniable but I wonder if it is sufficient to save the village; as of five years ago the downwardly spiraling 

population had fallen to 167 residents, 54% over the age of 50.  Fortunately, the local hiking in the beautiful surrounding countryside is a major attraction; it is enough of a draw for Soglio to have its own tourist information center, and the magnificent vistas are sufficient to keep the couple of hotels and restaurants fairly busy throughout the hiking season. 

Thursday morning we checked out of Hotel Stua Granda and started up the Panoramico trail.

The Panoramico climbs well above the 3,600 foot altitude of the town of Soglio then levels off at about mid-mountain, making for an easy to moderate hike.  Since we were driving on to St. Moritz later in the day we only went a couple of hours east on the trail before turning around and heading back.  Regardless of direction, the Panoramico is aptly named.  It is also lined with old abandoned houses, sheds, and huts that add to its character, however; 

even though not especially challenging, its narrow goat paths require you pay attention.  A single misstep can cause you to fall into a ravine.

After lunch we departed for St. Moritz, an dizzying 1 hour drive that coiled higher and higher on narrow, switchback mountain roads until summiting the pass that let us down to one of Switzerland’s glitziest cities.  At our checkin at Hotel Languard we were welcomed by our gracious hostess Franca, a very accommodating room, and this view from our windows:

That evening we dined at the Hotel Steffani; Angie had fresh lake trout and I had Wiener Schnitzel (breaded veal cutlets), both were excellent.  
Friday Oct-18 Amidst the glamor and glitz of designer stores and diamond boutiques, the lavish hotels and restaurants, you can sometimes lose sight of the rugged country in which St. Moritz is nestled. At nearly 5,800 feet it sits higher than the mile high city of Denver Colorado,

it is ensconced in spectacular alpine peaks, and it is connected to other towns and cities by the remarkable Bernina Express known locally as “The Red Train”.  I say remarkable not just because it operates with the precision and style of all things Swiss, but for the astoundingly beautiful mountains it traverses, from Davos all the way down to and across the border to Tirano Italy. 

So we took a day off from hiking the Alps to take a train ride through them.  We caught the Bernina Express in St. Moritz and headed south to the Swiss town of Poschiavo (POS-key-AH-vo).

The ride took us through some of the most stunning scenery imaginable, certainly the most beautiful I’ve ever witnessed from a train.  And yes, as we started to ascend the alpine peaks we began to encounter snow.

Finally our journey took us up to the high mountain pass of Ospizio Bernina, for which the Express is named.  From there it carried us down to Poschiavo.

Poschiavo is the largest Swiss town on the Bernina rail line south of St. Moritz – a rather relative term since the town is small enough to be easily walkable.  We were impressed with the quaintness of its hotels and restaurants, and the town’s proximity to the Bernina. 

Over lunch we hypothesized how Poschiavo just might make a great base camp for “someone” planning an extended hiking expedition across southern Switzerland.  We caught our return train back to St. Moritz, and relaxed a bit before having dinner and spending our final night in the Alps.  

On Saturday, after a week long adventure across northern Italy and southeastern Switzerland, it was time to go home.  As the Saturn faithfully transported us the 7 hours back across the Alps and on south to Tuscany, Angie and I were already talking about the possibility of a return to this beautiful, rugged land of mountains for another, longer hiking adventure.  In 2015.  Stay tuned……

Road Trip to Lake Como, Italy - Oct 13-15, 2013

Sunday morning we loaded up the Saturn and embarked on a long awaited visit to Lake Como in northern Italy.  We had talked about it several times and had even driven past the lake on our trip to Alsace France (see “Road Trip to Alsace” blog post dated 5/12/13).  

Additionally, we would use our stay at the lake as a springboard to continue on into Switzerland, visiting the old traditional village of Soglio overnight before spending our last two days in St. Moritz.  It was a little over 4 hours  driving to reach the city limits of Como, located at the south end of the lake, but we pressed on up along the eastern shore to the small town of  Torno.  

I chose the town of Torno because it’s much smaller than the city of Como, and remains true to its authentic northern Italian culture without Como’s overblown commercialism.  It literally sits on the water’s edge and has close proximity to good hiking trails.  That, and the fact that this was the view from our balcony at the Hotel Vapore!

After check in we caught the ferry boat under heavily overcast skies for the 25 minute ride back to Como.  Once disembarked we took in the sights along the waterfront before stopping for dinner; afterwards we took the ferry back and walked around a bit of Torno in the dark before turning in at our hotel. 

Monday Oct-14 - After breakfast we walked up to the highway and caught the trailhead up to Monte Piatto.  Although technically marked as a “trail”, it begins as a series of stone and rocky steps that spiral up the steep mountain, easily more than 2000 of them interspersed with stretches of gravel trails that comprise the long climb up to Monte Piatto.  

The cloudy skies were cool and perfect for hiking, and the higher up the mountain we went the more beautiful the overlooks of Lake Como became. When we finally reached the summit we found the village of Monte Piatto.  At first we wondered how on earth these people managed to travel up here (and how did they run out for a 6 pack of birra?)  

As we continued on we realized the path leveled off a bit and became a double-wide trail made from chiseled and fitted rocks – a road of sorts.  It was a narrow, twisting path that was steep in some places (with treacherous, unprotected drop-offs too), but just enough for the narrowest of tiny Italian cars to make it through for the hardy highland souls brave enough to make the drive.  

We continued on to another, larger mountain village called Piazzago and from there started the long, steep decent to Torno, concluding our challenging, 4 ½ hour hike a short distance from the street to the hotel.  We dropped our hiking gear off in our room and headed back down to the outside veranda at the water’s edge of Lake Como for some refreshment.  

That night we had dinner at Hotel Vapore's fine restaurant.  Angie had Lavaret, a fresh water fish caught right from Lake Como, I had the filet made with a green peppercorn sauce that is very popular in northern Italy.  Both were outstanding, as was the service.

Tuesday Oct-15 - This morning we caught the ferry to the city of Como then walked over to the funicular (cable driven train) for the steep ride up the mountain to Brunate.  From there we took the long hike (surprisingly a lot of it up hill) back to Torno.  It was a great hike – the weather was actually a bit sunny, but with the cool temps the trekking under the canopy of the forest was very agreeable.  

It turned out to be a fairly strenuous trek; 5 hours of solid hiking with some of the descent on steep, slippery, muddy paths scarcely a foot wide with steep drop offs.  It certainly tested our trail craft! Eventually we passed through Monte Piatto on the way down, which led us to a safer, better maintained trail. It was a great hike but it was also a welcome relief when our hotel and its little harbor of small boats hove into view!

That night it was early to dinner and early to bed for a good night’s sleep.  We would need it; the next day we were leaving for Switzerland. 

This adventure continues with the next post, entitled “Road Trip to Switzerland”, and will be published in a few days.