traveldiary.stracke.us

On Saturday, February 23rd, we stay in the Mercure Hotel München Airport in Aufkirchen. This is the most laid-back and quiet Airport Hotel, we have ever stayed in. There is no road traffic to speak of and no airplanes can be heard or spotted in the sky, but it will take only 20 minutes to get to the Munich Airport the next morning.
We meet Ditta and Uwe and spend a nice afternoon and evening together. Dinner is traditional Bavarian in the “Erdinger Weissbräu”,
brewery of “The World’s Most Famous Weissbier”. Their website teaches you, how to correctly pour the beer into the appropriate glass.
Erdinger wheat beers are brewed using their own water, which has been there since the last Ice Age and is being pumped up from the rock bed 157 meters under the surface. Beers are still being brewed in accordance with the Bavarian Purity Law from 1516, probably the oldest food law in the world.
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We are skiing with the Dolomiti Superski ticket: 450 lifts and 1200 km of trails, all for 42 Euros per day!
We cover only a fraction of this huge ski arena. The Cherz lift next to our hotel is usually our starting point; from here we cruise on mostly intermediate trails, wandering through open bowls or “schussing” down tree-lined alleys. I am counting 20 (Yes, this is no error:twenty!) mountain-top “Rifugios” and “Ütias” within a 10 mile radius, inviting us to eat,drink and rest in their beach chairs. Our favorites for the view and food are Ütia Bioch, Ütia Piz Arlara, Ütia Pralongia and Bec De Roces. No wonder that we can not ski every trail. Our furthest point on skis is the Passo Pordoi area, and from there we have a great 6 km run to Arabba. No ice, no moguls, just high speed cruising. Gabi is usually right behind me, and we never have to use our emergency meeting points. The mountains and the days are flying by.

This was our week, skiing in Corvara and Alta Badia. We skied 5 days in a row, enjoying packed powder and one sunny day after another. The mountain vistas are breath-taking: white snow, with the lifts and trails running right up to the vertical gray rock walls, and a deep blue sky above us every single day.
A typical day begins with breakfast around 9 AM, on the ski trail next to the Hotel Boe by 9:30 or 10 AM. This is our ski day on Tuesday :
Passo Campolongo – chairlift Costoratta – 2.5 km downhill run to Corvara – Borest chair to Colfosco – Sodlisia chair – Plans and Frara gondolas to Grande Cir – chairlifts Val Setus and Passo Gardena – 5 km downhill run to Colfosco. This is so great, we ski this round twice (good for the quads)! We continue into a side valley, “Edelweiss-tal” or Stella Alpina: Colfosco gondola – Forcelles chair (x2) – Stella Alpina lift – Col Pradat gondola straight up the rock face to Ütia Col Pradat for a quick lunch on the mountain-top terrace. Beers or red wines are being enjoyed by the European skiers around us, without any concern for the ability to ski the next downhill run, sometimes along rock ledges without any fences between you and the abyss.
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On Saturday, February 16, we have lunch in Rosenheim, and continue to drive on the Inntal-Autobahn. We have views of the impressive, snow-covered Karwendel mountains to our right, on our way to Innsbruck, Austria. Under blue skies, we cross the Alps at the Brenner Pass, passing the now defunct buildings of the former passport control between Austria and Italy. We arrive in Corvara, Italy, only 3 1/2 hours after leaving Rosenheim, and have our first Cappucino al fresco, soaking up the last sun rays before dusk.
Our Hotel Boe is located on the Passo Campolongo, and we move into a top floor corner room, our wrap-around balcony facing South, with views of the mountains and the ski trail just below our window.It could not have been any better!
Sunday is a day of rest. We have a late breakfast and explore the small village of Arabba. In the afternoon, it is strenuous reading in the beach chairs, under blue skies, working on our tan. Before dinner, we relax in the hotel’s sauna, steam bath(Turkish Sauna) and whirlpool. We enjoy Prosecco, followed by a nice dinner. We meet Inga, our waitress for this week ( we have half-board, with dinner in our hotel). Inga is very polite, saying “prego” with every move. I will christen her “Prego-Inga”.

Our President’s Week vacation has finally begun and we are stuck on the ground at Albany International Airport (and not for the first time!).
United Airlines flight UA7950 was scheduled to leave the gate at 2:20 PM, but we are not moving. Finally the pilot comes on the PA, explaining FAA rules. Our plane’s wings have to be de-iced prior to departure, because the official weather forecast for Albany indicates snow showers. I am sitting next to the wing of our Embraer jet and the sunrays are reflected by our completely dry wings. So much for the weather forecast!
We are sitting there for the next 60 minutes, because the de-icing truck will not start. It is sunny the whole time. We finally take off at 3:20 PM and can see Sherwood Forest below us, on our way to IAD.
At Washington-Dulles, we arrive as the last passengers at the gate and are one of the first to board our 777, which takes us in 7 ½ hours across the Big Pond to Munich, Germany.
In the morning of February 16th, we are greeted by a deep red sunrise above the Main river valley. Smooth landing at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport and a short time later we are driving our Fiat Punto toward the Alps. We are ready to begin our ski vacation in the Dolomites!