Tag Archives: holidays

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

6 Jan
The last two weeks have been busy what with four – count ’em – four holidays in Italy! December 25 and 26 (Santo Stefano) we spent in Ortisei (see prior posts), then returning from vacation we had two more holidays to enjoy: New Year’s Day and Epifania.  Life is good!
New Year’s Eve we traveled to our favorite trattoria in Roma, Antica Taverna. The owner Paolo and our favorite waiter, Giovanni, took good care of us and we enjoyed a protracted dinner with too many dishes to name them all and a steady supply of good red wine. The dessert was the only item I managed to photograph, a delightful tortino al cioccolato.  It tasted 10 times better then it looks. It was THAT GOOD.  We slipped out before 23:00 in hopes of finding a cab before the whole city descended into chaos. The buses stop running at 21:00 on NYE because they can’t make it through the streets effectively. Can you imagine? Shutting down the buses because there are too many people in the streets? The Metro runs but unfortunately nowhere near our home. We can walk from Antica Taverna to home in 75-90 minutes, but it was really cold (for Roma) and walking did not seem like much fun. What luck! We found a cab at an obscure cabstand near the restaurant! Got home in time to endure 45 minutes of neighborhood revelry.  Some year we need to be brave and go down to the party in via Fori Imperiali and see the fireworks over the Colosseo. Some year.
This weekend was the start of the winter saldi (sales). We had a couple of purchases in mind and headed out into a bright if chilly Sunday along with THOUSANDS of people making their way to our destination, a major shopping street near the Vatican. We made our way by bus to transfer to the Metro at Termini. The Metro was packed like the Japanese subway on a business day. I wanted to take a picture of how crowded it was, but I couldn’t maneuver to do so packed in as I was with my arms pinned! We wondered at so many people heading out to shop! We might have bailed in the Metro station but by that time we were like cows going through chutes and there was no turning back. Moo. When we got to our stop, the hoards headed down the street toward the Vatican. It was then that we realized they were headed to Piazza San Pietro for the Pope’s angelis. Shopping was busy too, but not quite the cattle drive.
Today is Epifania, the official end to the Christmas season, also called Befana, when the witch La Befana visits the children leaving candy for the good ones and coal for the not-so-good children. Having no young children around and having spent Christmas out of Roma, we decided to have a small group of friends for a decidedly non-traditional lunch. Is Italian-Swedish a fusion cuisine? Our new friends and soon-to-be-landlords had voiced an interest in Swedish meatballs, and she wanted to make a special Neopolitan pastiera for dessert. Combined with a purè di patate casserole, Swedish pickled herring, Swedish cheese, a beet salad, and Italian salumi, it was cross-cultural event. Unfortunately as we got into entertaining we forgot to take more pictures!
So now we have to go a week-and-a-half until the next holiday, Martin Luther King’s birthday. Hope I can make it!

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The Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot

27 Dec
When Dr. Seuss wrote “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” I think he must have had Ortisei in mind. It sits in a steep valley beneath snowy peaks reminding one of the “Whos down in Whoville.” As we descended yesterday from the highest lift station we could just make out the
From up here (in a gondola) Ortisei seems like little Whoville down in the valley.
From up here (in a gondola) Ortisei seems like little Whoville down in the valley.
village far below, and imagined the Grinch careening down the steep slopes to return the Christmas treasures. Instead we saw skiers launching off the mountain and enjoying a run of several kilometers albeit on mostly artificial snow. Ortisei calls itself Il Paese di Natale, and celebrates for 25 days, right up to Epiphany on January 6. They like Christmas a lot.
We spent a lovely Christmas Day in the Alpe di Siusi (if we are Facebook Friends you have already seen a few pictures from that hike), and on Santo Stefano (Dec. 26) we followed a local alpine guide from the Catores group on a hike to the Church of San Giacomo, which turned out to be a pretty good workout of 2 ½ hours roundtrip. I am pleased to say we old timers were not the slowest ones on the uphill stretch.
Dating to the 11th century, far above Ortisei. My Swedish ancestors were still practicing Norsk Mythology at that time, I think.
Dating to the 11th century, far above Ortisei. My Swedish ancestors were still practicing Norsk Mythology at that time, I think.
Fresco on San Giacomo, 15th century! There is also a quaint cemetery with a view to "die" for.
Fresco on San Giacomo, 15th century! There is also a quaint cemetery with a view to “die” for.
We also spent part of the evening in Ortisei to see the activity during the passeggiata and the fairy tale-like village transformed by holiday lights.
The Mercatino di Natale bustles even the night after Christmas.
What some countries call Boxing Day is Santo Stefano in Italy. The crowds are festive!
There are welcome warming fires scattered about.
La piccola chiesa in Ortisei, simply adorned.
There are 4 ice trees. illuminated from within. These are placed in the rushing river that runs through Ortisei.
Luckily we are able to be active (as was the point of this trip) to compensate for the amazing food we are consuming at Hotel Albion.
We are staying at what is for us one of the nicest places we have ever stayed. I would compare it to Salishan Lodge on the Oregon Coast in terms of elegance, although the Albion has a decidedly ski-sport bent versus the golf club sophistication at Salishan.  On a normal trip we stay in B&Bs, apartments and small hotels with a goal of spending no more than EURO 100.00 per night. Usually we are successful at that budget number on an average basis, and sometimes we get breakfast included. In planning this holiday trip, a gift to ourselves in lieu of stuff, we wanted to be a little pampered and stay somewhere special and memorable. I agonized over several choices in Ortisei, and while this one is expensive, it is half the price of the high-end properties here!
Like many European resort hotels, the meals are included in a half-pension plan.  Breakfast and dinner are included and are beyond ample. Breakfast offers almost every kind of fruit, a make-your-own juice bar, several choices of breads, pastries, eggs, sausages, assorted salume from speck to cotto, mortadella and salami, yogurt, muesli, jams, a honey bar (6 options!), a dozen types of cheese, and I would venture at least that many types of butter, flavored and not. This is the Tyrol and the northern influence on cooking brings butter to the forefront. Dinners are five courses including an amazing over-the-top salad buffet and an ever-changing menu of primi and secondi. We’ve enjoyed fish, shellfish, venison, quail, veal and duck as well as beautiful vegetarian dishes. I could go on but I won’t.
The clientele are from all over, although I am certain we are the only Americans on the property and probably the only native English speakers. Christmas morning we enjoyed hearing greetings of Joyeux Noel, Fröhliche Weinachten, and Buon Natale.
There is a shuttle to take us on demand to the lifts or to the village center. There is a spa including outdoor heated pool, which we have not had time to try. The only thing missing was snow, until today (Saturday) when it started during our hike and continued for about 8 hours.
Finally snow to compliment the lights, Hotel Albion.
Steam rises from the infinity pool while snow falls.
Our table at Hotel Albion, overlooking tiny Ortisei.
We took a woodsy walk in lightly falling snow on Saturday. Finally fresh snow!
Ric said I needed to be seen in something not pink. See? I have a blue fleece too.
This is our fourth Christmas in Italy, starting with our 2011 vacation here and now three years as residents. Family and friends, we miss you very much, especially at this time of year. We have traded greetings with many of you and have kept up on Facebook , which has been fun.  We keep ourselves entertained, but truly look forward to your visits here next year and to our planned extended visit to the U.S. in August. (Here we come, Seattle, Portland, and Durango!)
Here you see the plateau we hiked on Dec 24, Rasciesa. The view is from another peak, Seceda. The little black square is the rifugio where we ate lunch. See prior post.
Until the next time I think of something to say, Auguri e Buone Feste from both of us! May you have a blessed Anno Nuovo.

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Looking for a winter wonderland

25 Dec
Remember the scene in the movie “White Christmas” where they get off the train in Vermont and there’s no snow? That’s what it was like to arrive in Ortisei two days ago. Normally Ortisei should be a hotbed of skiing, snowshoeing and sleigh rides. Apparently much of the Alpine region from Switzerland to the Italian Dolomites is like this: cold and dry.
From our room we have a fabulous view to snowy peaks, but the surrounding valley is a dry winterscape.
From our room we have a fabulous view to snowy peaks, but the surrounding valley is a dry winterscape.
We have been to Ortisei three times in the summer and despite the lack of snow we still find it charming. Up high (2100 meters or so) we did manage to find a snowy trail for our Christmas Eve hike. People are here to ski and in the high areas they do so. While having lunch at the rifugio we met a group of Americans planning to ski the Sella-Ronda on Christmas Day. Three of them were Portlanders! Click on any picture for a slide show. 

 

Buon Natale tutti! 

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Venice in winter

14 Dec
So many people plan their trips to Italy in spring, summer or fall, but we have found off-season travel to be a real benefit to living in Rome. This was our sixth trip to La Serenissima – our third in a December — and it certainly will not be our last.
Clouds in the canal.

Clouds in the canal.

There are experiences to repeat each time (we always go to Murano) and seemingly endless new ones to add, whether a museum, a neighborhood, or a restaurant.
This time we went to the Correr Museum for the first time largely because they had a special mostre “The Poetry of Light: Venetian drawings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. “  The Correr is a terrific, complex and comprehensive museum. Set in a 19th century Napoleonic-era palazzo, with a wing that dates to the 16th century and the Republic of Venezia, the buildings dominate Piazza San Marco and this time of year are seldom-frequented by tourists who are busy in the Piazza and queuing for the Basilica and Doges Palace. Surely those two edifices are worthy of attention and we have visited them multiple times, but what fun to see the Piazza from this new perspective as well. The Correr has  an amazing view over the Piazza from the south and we enjoyed watching people splashing about in the acqua alta that occurred this day.
Completing what we came to call our Museum Day, we made a repeat visit to the Guggenheim, which we had last visited in 2012. This was one of the busier places on a Sunday, mostly Italians, many educating their young children, providing a view into modern art with careful observations.  Picasso, Max Ernst, Calder and Pollock keep company with Miró, Dali and Magritte among others.  The location right on the Grand Canal could not be better. Imagine Peggy hosting a dinner party here!
Not yet Carnivale, but this little cutey has her mask.

Not yet Carnivale, but this little cutey has her mask.

Day two was our Urban Hike Day in which we wove together three walks out of my favorite Venice guide, “24 Great Walks of Venice.” This sunny and mild day we wandered in temperatures approaching 60 F (16 C), snapping photos and enjoying the almost deserted calli, bridges and canals.  You’d think in 4 hours of walking we would have covered the entire island, but we found ourselves saying “Gee, we haven’t been to Sant’Elena or out to San Giorgio Maggiore, or the Guideca.” In fact, we have not even entered the Basilica of San Marco in two years, despite 3 return visits in that time.

 

Day three dawned brilliantly sunny if chilly to start, but it made for a terrific day to visit Murano and do some shopping. I have a favorite glass artist there, Giorgio Bruno. He is a maestro and creates lovely jewelry, glassware, and decorative items. By now I have a nice collection of items as we have been there 5 times.  Giorgio and Michela invited us in for coffee and a visit before I got down to shopping. As always Cindy the dog was a love. She really took to Ric in a special way. Too bad I didn’t take a picture.
We also went in search of new restaurant experiences.  I have heard over and over that Venice is expensive and has bad food. That is not our experience at all! From a random bar near the Frari Church we had fat and tasty sandwiches. At a rustic little taverna in a sottoportego we once again had our favorite pizza in Venice.  Traipsing halfway across the city one night (which is not as far as it sounds)  we feasted on delectable baked turbot, expertly boned and served in a place bursting at the seams with locals but few tourists. As we have some go-to places after all of these visits, this trip we challenged each other to find new experiences and scored new two repeatable spots, Ai Artisti in Dorsoduro and Alla Palanca on the Guideca. Ric found a list of Venetian restaurants from the London Telegraph and our only disappointment was that some of them were closed on nights we had available. BTW, Alla Palanca is best for lunch. The chef goes home at 14:00 and there is no hot food at night. 
We have spent 24 nights in Venice since our first visit in 2010. Will we go back? You bet! We still have not climbed the Campinile in San Marco, there are several promising restaurants still on our list, and no doubt Giorgio will have some new bauble for me. Plus he promised to take us out to lunch the next time we visit!

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On the 5th day we rested

19 Feb

Day five (Monday) I had hoped to return to St. Peter’s and climb the dome, but we awoke feeling a bit lazy after 4 days of tearing about. The last two days were long ones and travel intensive. Plus we’d missed the gym all weekend, so we took a different path.

As it was a beautiful spring-like morning we headed off at 7:15AM on a journey we usually take on Saturdays. We headed down through our quartiere of Parioli to our favorite Sicilian cafè for a  quick shot of espresso, where i ragazzi were surprised to see us on a Monday, necessitating an explanation of il giorno dei presidenti, including clarification that it was not just a day for Mr. Obama, but a day to honor all U.S. presidents. 

We continued on our way, across Villa Borghese, through Piazza del Popolo, then meandered through some of the myriad alleys we seldom travel, watching our city wake up and workers prepare for the week, down to Campo dei Fiori where again some of the vendors we patronize were surprised to see us on a Monday. More explanations.

On to the gym. The embassy was quiet except for the landscaping crew doing the annual trimming of the palm trees. It was nice to have the gym to ourselves! 

Now what became the highlight of the day, and a fitting end to the Valentine’s Day weekend: we bought Ric a new wedding ring. In 1989 he lost his while snorkeling in Hawaii. What with one thing or another, we never replaced it, but have been talking about doing so. Today was the day! We visited a little jeweler (complete with a protective man-trap entry) and made a selection. If he loses this one, the next one goes through his nose. :=)

Dinner of Ric’s homemade caponata, a Skype call with my brother and SIL, and some fine Sicilian vino bianco put a cap on the day. 

Did I say lazy? We accomplished 19,000 steps according to my pedometer, more than each of the prior two days! 

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