Collini Pinzolo

Thedrive from Davos down to the Stelvio Pass was pretty good, and we stopped a few times to take it all in, and to let the engine cool down a bit, as it was working fairly hard.


We took a small road from Santa Maria, and that was really good, with some tight U bends, and magnificent views. This road took us across the Swiss/Italian border.


And then we joined the ...

... out some paddle boats which was good fun.
Everyone had a great time at the wedding, weather was brilliant. John was so hungry he even ate a flower, plate decoration and Orla tried to steal the show with her drunken antics.
On our last day in Malcesine we went to the top of a really big hill in a cable car, seen some cows and snow, played some crazy golf at a really late hour and had a few drinks with our friends, the last for a while.

... hotel's second hotel. We spent the day in the bar learning how to make cafes, cappucino's, cocktails and italian hot chocolate. They have some pretty interesting things here in Italy. Then for dinner we had a special surprise. It was a dinner at a restaurant on top of a mountain. The only way to get there is by ski lift or snow mobile! We pulled up, got out of the car and saw a snowmobile with a cart of seats attached to the back. Me and Cierra sat in the very last seat ...

... that i would get so close to the people at this hotel. The first hour of the van ride was all sniffles and tears and pretty damn depressing. From there it was a 10 hour van ride headed from south to north. The view was incredible, first seeing the sea in the south, to the amazing mountains in the north. The car ride up the mountain was TERRIFYING. 10 times worse than school!! soo scary! The hotel is really beautiful and so far the people here are ...

Aankomst in Italië en even de tijd nemen om uit te laden en naar Cavalese te rijden. Vandaag nog geen skiën. Onze verblijfplaats: http://www.kalditscherhof.it/home.html

... un check in via web tramite il quale è possibile scegliere il posto sul volo tramite mappa dell'aereo. Per il volo di ritorno i posti sono già assegnati dal voucher inviato via mail. Il volo prevede scalo a Heathrow con 2 ore per la coincidenza (sufficiente dato che sia la partenza che l'arrivo sono previste al Terminal 5. In ogni ...

... has existed for well over 2,000 years. The Ladins number around 30,000 people who live in half a dozen valleys in this area. They came under Roman rule in 15BC and became known as Ladins as their language developed from the vulgar latin of the late Roman Empire, with some later aditions. I found it possible to read and understand a bit of the language and it's fascinating hearing it spoken, which is easily done as it is often spoken in the area. I visited the Ladin ...

... we were all separated, but finally did get reunited. Back down the winding road and let GP out near their home while the 4 of us drove to Regina Mundi statue. To get there we had to go under the big mountain behind Riva. It is over 5 miles of tunnel under the longest I have ever been through. While Carol and I were enjoying the Statue and the view, Maria and Pina had my GPS and were down the hill finding the cache!! Again they were excited! We were too ...

... and then drove on further through several small towns to a church where Maria and GianPiero and Maria were married 40 years ago. We walked the grounds and spent some time in the church, then drove on to Castle Toblino, where a bishop lived many years ago, now a restaurant and bar. We were only able to peek inside the castle as there was a big wedding going on. We sat down by the lake for coffee - we had watched a demonstration of coffee ...

... mile to their home. I would guess we have walked about 2 miles today! After 7 we headed out to their house---and got lost. Not too bad though-just missed seeing the house though we had taken the correct side road. Called and she ran out and met us. They had dinner ready- fresh minestrone soup, chicken with spaghetti sauce, bread and some delicious potatoes, then some baked peaches with a chocolate on the top-very good. After dinner we a ...