The Last Will Be The First
By Lothar. Filed in Austria, Italy |
This is the motto for our ski week in the Hotel Gran Ciasa in Colfosco, Italy. The sun only rises over the mountain at 8:30, shining every morning on our bed. We rise with the sun, but on most days are still the last guests at the breakfast buffet. At 10:30, the sun finally shines on most of the ski trails, and it is not until then that we hit the slopes. It is pretty cold in the shade and the snow is hard. We have 5 days of perfect sunny weather, but no new snow. At lunch, we stop at one of the Uetias (huts). The mountain huts are more like full size restaurants. We go back to Uetia Bioch (remembering the beach chairs from our last trip 5 years ago) and after lunch, enjoy sunning in the beach chairs. Piz Arlara and La Branchia are 2 other favorite lunch stops, with good food and good views. It is only January and the days are short. By 3 PM, the sun disappears behind the mountains and we are done skiing. Usually, Gabi and I are the first guests back at the Gran Ciasa hotel and heat up in the sauna and steam room. The indoor pool is nice and warm, and we do some cross-training before dinner. The Declara family runs a first class hotel and our dinners are gourmet style 4 courses, with salad and desert buffet on top of that. Diego, our waiter, is our guide. Besides serving us food and wine, he can enlighten us about all kind of topics, from local school education to language and the Italian income tax system. Most people here speak 3 languages: German, Italian and the local “Ladinisch”. Interestingly, the school classes are in German, but we are in Italy. Although Alto Adige used to be the Austrian “South Tyrol” until WWI.
On Friday, January 20th, we have to leave our Gran Ciasa paradise. From Corvara, we drive the many curves along the Gader river back to Bruneck and then north on the Brenner Pass Autobahn. The weather in Austria has not changed from last week. After one week of sunshine in the Dolomites, we are back in Austria and drive in a snow storm!