Skiing 101

These pics are a few weeks old ... just never got them on the blog, only on Facebook, but the grandparents don't have FB pages, so here they shall be posted for posterity. I'm happy to learn that I can get my blog printed as a book when we are finished with our time here in Italy, so you blog-watchers will have to put up with my endless family photos as I digitally "scrapbook" our way through this tour. ;o)

Here we are, at Piancavallo, 20 minutes up the mountain above our house, teaching Andrew and Sara how to ski. They've taken to it quite well, so we now have all of our own ski gear and ski passes for the whole season. Both kids have now tackled red runs (which are medium level, like blue in the states) and mom is now the slowest skier in the family!

Verona

For the MLK holiday we went with our good friends, the Belangers, to the fair city of Verona. It was an easy drive, just 2 hours away. The highlight was the ancient Roman Arena, built in 30 AD, where countless shows and games were played to an audience of 30,000. Today it hosts opera performances in the summer. The acoustics are amazing. Andrew is a bit of a history buff and was all over this -- after the family shot below is Emperor Andrew directing a gladiator fight, and then playing the role of a beast coming out of the chute for a fight.




Here's the view looking out from the top of the arena. Our luck -- a chocolate market going on in the square!!


Here's a helpful gladiator attacking Andrew outside the arena...


Another draw for people to Verona is Romeo and Juliet. Well, they never existed here or anywhere, and Shakespeare never visited here, BUT, Verona has cleverly used the tragic story to bring in tourists! Here is "Juliet's balcony" and also a statue of her. I snapped this pic quickly in between the many people waiting in line to rub the breast of the statue. That's right -- it's supposed to give you luck in love. That's why her right breast is so shiny! Jeesh!



Ashtyn and Sara are standing in front of the "graffiti" wall next to Juliet's residence. People from all over the world have left love messages here to request the help of Juliet. Jeesh again! I guess I'm not a hopeless romantic!


Here's Carol and I, enjoying some Veronese wine at a sidewalk cafe. And below that is all of us at dinner.



In the afternoon we all enjoyed a stop for gelato and chocolate crepes! Here's Andrew anxiously awaiting his fresh hot crepe.


The obligatory cute kid shots...




Scott and Bryan had princesses to carry...


I love how they "decorate" capuccinos in Europe!


Here is the beautifully painted altar area of the 12th century duomo cathedral...


Views from around town...







It was a great trip to a beautiful city with wonderful friends!

Epiphany Bonfires

To celebrate Epiphany, on January 6th, (the day the Magi visited the baby Jesus) the Italians hold huge bonfire parties all over the place. There were bonfires all over every town and the fires themselves were the largest we've ever seen. The one we went to was wood and branches piled about 30 feet high and at least that big in diameter. They served free spiced wine and holiday cakes. The really strange part about the tradition is that they burn a fake witch at the top of every fire. It's the same witch that brings the kids sweet treats ... not really sure why we burn her, but it's not my tradition! ;o) We went with friends and met up with some more...



The kids loved it, but it was sure hot up close! We kept backing up...



Me, Angela and Carol


It was smokey and smelly for days -- everywhere. It was a fun time though!

Salzburg in Winter

It seems like a long time since I posted to this blog! With our trip to the states and Christmas festivities, we didn't have any major Europe trips in the last month. But, for our 15th anniversary last week we did take a quick trip over to Salzburg Austria. It was cold, and white, and foggy, but still beautiful. My only regret is not being able to get my big mountain scenery shots again, like with our trip to Garmisch, due to the fog. Just imagine beautiful snowy mountains behind all of my cityscape shots here. We'd love to go again when the weather is warm! We were so impressed by all the native Salzburgs ... they all speak perfect German, English, and Italian. It was easy to feel at home!


High on top of the cliffs (behind my family in the above photo) is the Salzburg Fortress ... about a 1000 years old. We rode a funicular (alpine train) to the top, and this was the view (below).


Here's a closer view of the fortress, from below in St.Peter's cemetary...


The kids just had to sit on the strange wooden unicorn ...


We had a great little family-run hotel. Fraulein Marianne and her parents own the place and they were so nice and served us up the most wunderbar breakfast we've had in Europe. We'll certainly stay here again.



Salzburg's favorite son is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and his image is EVERYWHERE around old town. Here's a Mozart souvenir shop, and his statue in the Mozartplatz square. His birth home and later family residence are still there. We also saw many sights from the filming of the 1965 musical, The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews. The real Von Trapps were really from here. The film is one of my favorites, so it was fun to see the same places from the movie. We didn't go to any of the movie sights that were outside of town ... maybe next time.



The original Salzburg Cathedral was built in 774, but it was rebuilt in 1628 after a fire. Mozart was baptized in this church and he was organist here for 2 years. Here's a picture of the inside, and the outside at night. In front of the church is a common Salzburg winter sight ... that is the way they protect their old fountains in winter, by covering them up with glass pyramids. All the fountains in town were covered this way. There were lots of VERY old churches in town, and we enjoyed going in as many as we could.



Here's the main old town shopping street. Notice the medieval-looking iron McDonald's sign on the right. There's a Mickey D's everywhere! But, I must say, this one was a welcome relief for a quick snack for the kids and a few minutes to warm us all up! Below that is a sign we all thought was funny ..."schmuck" actually means jewelry.



We had a fantastic traditional dinner at the Gasthaus Wilder Mann. We all enjoyed the schnitzel and Bryan and I downed some great Austrian beer and toasted to our anniversary. It couldn't have been better!



One of the squares had a giant chess set, where some old geezers were playing. Andrew thought this was cool...


I, as always, enjoyed some shopping...


Here's old town Salzburg at night from across the river. What a great trip!