Italy

Italy ’98

SFO -> EWR

EWR -> MXP

MXP -> VCE

VCE -> Cortina

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Hotel Royal

breakfast

stadia

around town

Carnival

Mangia!

Tavernetta

Faloria

Refugio d' Faloria

Freccia Nel Cielo

Lagazuoi

Monte Cristallo

Socrepes

Socrepes skiing

Venezia

Another day, another mountain. This time it's Val Badia Lagazuoi. We've been told that the long Lagazuoi run is a set of slopes not to missed on any visit to Val Badia. It's supposed to be for the experienced skier.

We take a mini-bus from Armentarola to the Passo del Falzarego, where we board a gondola to the Lagazuoi, an eagle's nest high up in the rocks.

Its high, craggy peaks were the scene of fierce fighting during World War One. Pillboxes and tunnels constructed by soldiers may still be seen in the summer months, we're told. (At left you can see a poster noting "the great war in the little Laguzuoi".)

For reasons I completely can't remember we start the day by going up to some midpoint without our skis. Here's a photo of Rose coming down from that point. (Perhaps we hit two spots that day?)

And in keeping in the tradition of taking photos of my feet as they trek the planet, here are my loafers and argyles.

Here you see Liz, Emil, and a sign which reads "trail for expert skiers". We came, we skiied, and we ate.

Here are Larry, Mom, and Emil working at getting lunchtime underway. At right are some of our neighbors, sunning themselves.

One of the things I remember best is the grappa, a local white brandy. (Also known as eau-de-vie, the water of life, it's a reminder that the invention of distillation in the 17th century came in pursuit of cures for plagues like cholera.) Eau-de-vie puts the emphasis on freshness, liveliness, and capturing the intense essence of fruit, as opposed to the goals of the grape brandies, which are depth, weight, and the complexity that comes from years of interaction between spirit, oxygen, and wood. Our guide also compared eau-de-vie to vodka, the point of which is to remove all annoying flavors; the point of eau de vie is to preserve as much of the original fruit flavor as possible. Vodka is perfect for mixed drinks since it disappears entirely into any mixture, but there's no such thing as an eau-de-vie cocktail.