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When does it get cold? A family winter trip to Italy trip report.

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When does it get cold? A family winter trip to Italy trip report.

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Old Sep 27th, 2007, 07:02 PM
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Old Sep 28th, 2007, 05:02 AM
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Thanks for your great JBR
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Old Oct 2nd, 2007, 10:12 AM
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Such a fabulous read! I am truly enjoying reliving your vacation. I have travelled extensively and Florence may be one of my favorite cities in the world! I am taking my boyfriend to Italy over Christmas and New Year's this year (we did Munich, Zweisel and Prague last year). I have actually never been to Venice before and would love to know a little more about your time there... any recomendations on sites, places to stay, restaurants, etc?
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Old Oct 2nd, 2007, 05:54 PM
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Thanks to those who have read this report. Glad it seems to be of some use.

Shormk2 regarding Venice we stayed in a B&B called B&B Al Teatro. It has 3 rooms - 2 with double beds and one which could take up to 5 people in it. The owners are lovely and live in the other part of the appartment (but do not get in your way other than being available to give great advice on restaurants and sights to see). The main reason for choosing this place for us was its proximity to La Fenice as we were seeing an opera. The other couple who were also staying there were doing the same and stayed there each time they went to Venice (which I believe was often). I f you have a chance, seeing the opera is a wonderful experience. We also visited the Doges Palace and did the Secret Itineries tour - definitely worth it, took a gondola ride (fun and for 6 people was not really too expensive); had Bellini's at Harry's Bar; visited St Marks church, visited the Peggy Guggenheim museam as we like modern art, the kids also enjoyed this. The rest of the time we just wandered and soaked in the atmosphere. We had 2 and 1/2 days and could have stayed much longer. DH and I are definitely going back some day. When we were there in January we had one very fine day and one quite gre foggy day. The grey foggy day was magical if a little chilly.

Let me know if you want to know any more.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2007, 06:52 AM
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Thanks so much for providing some specifics! That is enough info to get started- if I have any more questions I may ask! Thanks again!
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Old Oct 6th, 2007, 09:13 PM
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Wow! What a great trip! Thanks for sharing the details. I have really enjoyed reading it!

dina
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Old Oct 13th, 2007, 01:32 AM
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did i miss the skiing part of your trip??

i was really looking forward to reading that!!
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Old Oct 14th, 2007, 06:01 PM
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Sprung!! No Dina you did not miss it. I ran out of puff and no one seemed interested in the skiing part. However I would be happy to write it up for you. Watch out over the next couple of days.

Thanks for keeping me honest.
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Old Oct 14th, 2007, 06:29 PM
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great. i'm looking forward to it, and I think others would, too, as there's not a lot on this board about skiing in Italy!!

thanks!
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Old Oct 22nd, 2007, 12:36 AM
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Okay Dina here it is - my ski trip.

The ski trip was the original reason for planning our trip. Being from down under we normally ski in July and July 2006 had been a particularly poor ski season (even for Australia). So we came back from our annual ski trip feeling a little ripped off. We needed to see more of the white stuff and soon.

The kids in particular were really looking forward to the week’s skiing. In planning the ski trip I had made a fairly easy and quick decision on where to go. Many years ago I had skied in Cortina and I remembered how beautiful the Dolomites were and was keen to go there with my family. A few clicks through Google and I found Dolomites Ski Tours, an Australian company. They base themselves in Campitello di Fassa, one of the points on the Sella Ronda. I was keen to ski in that area and the set up looked good, but I searched further. However I kept coming back to them for two reasons.
1. They offered a 2 day ski safari around the Sella Ronda which in the brochure sounded just fantastic.
2. After a couple of weeks in Italy I thought the kids might appreciate the dulcet tones of Australian accents.

I was right on both counts.

So we awoke early and excited on Saturday 6th January ready to head for the Dolomites. Although I made an easy decision about where to base ourselves for skiing, I had agonised over our itinerary in trying to work out how we would get there and from where would we travel. I had investigated car, train and bus options. I had wondered about staying beforehand in Venice, Milan and Verona. In the end I decided that we should do one big travel day and travel from Florence. I booked train tickets that would have us leaving Florence at 8.15am and arrive at the ski resort by about 4.30pm. Perfect timing to check in, hire ski gear, buy lift passes etc.

Well the best laid plans of mice and men… the only train we had any trouble with in our whole trip was that 8.15am from Florence-Bologna. It was about 40 minutes late, and that meant we would miss our connection in Bologna which would mean we would miss our bus in Trento which meant we would arrive not at 4.30pm but at 6.30pm. So we had an extra 2 hours sitting in Bologna train station and arrived at the ski fields in the dark and after the ski hire shop and lift pass booths were closed. When we arrived we were met by the Australian tour organisers. They were very helpful and it was quite nice to hear the “G’day mate’ along with instructions as to which pub everyone would drink at each evening.

We stayed in an apartment in Campitello (Kamelroy). These are named “family style”. They were quite large but not glamorous. However our first impressions of the whole village were just magical and our apartment had a great view of the mountains. We were happy. We had dinner that evening in the restaurant in the apartment block, which was fine.

We set of for our first day skiing a little apprehensively. We had to get our boots and skis and the lift passes but all went pretty smoothly, the skis were fine, the boots were a little uncomfortable (we had been warned about this but lugging 5 sets of boots around for the rest of the trip would have been a pain so we put up with them). We were impressed with the electronic lift passes that you never had to get out and show. So up we went up the Col Rodello (the main cable car). We had been warned how easy it was to get lost on the mountain and end up in the wrong village at the end of the day (not that this would necessarily have dire consequences other than the price of an expensive taxi ride). Needless to say we did not go too far afield on that first day.

That evening we met up with the Australian group (which turned out to be more than 100 strong) in the bar. We were to make some good friends. By the time we left there we did not feel like cooking and we had not yet been to the supermarket so we ate out again (so much for the advantage of an apartment where we could save money by cooking our own meals).

The following day we headed to Arabba where there are the best black runs in the area. We had a very pleasant day skiing. By now though DH and I realised that we are actually getting old (!). We spent the day following our 16 year old son don the mountain – and he does not stop. We were exhausted by the end of the day but happy. We had hardly stood in a lift queue all day. We finally went to the supermarket and had a home cooked meal of chicken schnitzel (okay that was pre-prepared) and pasta (for a change).

The following day we headed in the other direction around the Sella Ronda to Selva/Gardena. There were more people around but it was still pretty good. There is a world cup downhill run here which we had fun trying (but I did a few more turns than the racers do). Lunch that day was at Ciampinoi – our favourite on snow dining spot. Great views and very nice food. DH cooked dinner that night!!!!!
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Old Oct 22nd, 2007, 12:36 AM
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The following day was the highlight of the week – maybe even of our whole trip. The main reason for booking with the tour company was that they provide a 2 day safari. It sounded so good in the brochure that I had to book. When I booked Mario (the manager and chief guide) was keen for us to book when we did as he had another family going an he thought we might all get on. They had 4 children (boy 17, girl 15, girl 14 and boy 9) to match our girl 19, boy 16 an boy 13. Mario brought his 9 year old daughter along. Ad din another guide (Sweeper) and we had our group. Turned out Mario is a good judge of how to match groups because everyone got on really well and the kids had a great time (always important).

We started the safari by goin gup to the top of Arabba but instead of going back down as we had done earlier in the week we skied over to the bottom of the Marmolada ( a glacier). We did not ski that (but that would come another day.) In this area battles during World War 1 were fought. The most number of deaths occurred from an avalanche in 1916.
At the bottom of the Marmolada we headed further down through a gorge of frozen waterfalls where ice climbers were doing their thing. We skied into a village (Sotto Gudda) and had morning tea. We walked through the village to the bus and caught the bus to Alleghe. Here is a beautiful lake that was formed from an earthquake and falling rocks damned the river and buried the original town in the 17th century. We caught the cable car up to Citavetta ski area. We had lunch in the sun here enjoying the view and a few grappa’s after lunch.

We skied down the other side and waited for another bus. This was a little scary as it went up a particularly windy mountain with the driver either talking on the phone or looking like he might fall asleep. Needless to say we were glad when we got out and only had to catch a chair lift up the final part of the mountain. Here we skied into the Cinque Torri area (one of the areas in Cortina). This apparently was the inspiration for Tolkein when he wrote Lord of the Rings. We had skied here for an hour or so.

Our next bus took us to the base of the cable car up to Lagazuoi where we were staying that night. Mario was very keen that we arrive in time to see the sunset. The cable car up is interesting in that you can see some small tunnels in the cliffs. These were built during WW1. I can’t imaging building them and stayin gin them much less fighting with guns in them.

The lodge at Lagazuoi is in one of the most magnificent areas I have ever been in. It feels like you are on top of the world. Next to you is the cliff where they smashed the helicopter in Cliffhanger. Way below are the roads and then further down the river. And there are red granite mountains and snow everywhere. The accommodation was surprisingly nice. We had a three course meal for dinner – very nice. We took a lot of photos both at sunset and sunrise.

The next morning after breakfast we skied down the other side of the mountain. We were the first people on the mountain. At one stage I lost contact with the rest of the group and I found myself skiing down through the cliffs in the silence of the morning by myself – magnificent.

At the bottom we waited for our horse drawn rope tow (yes really) to take us along the iced up river bed for a few kilometres. Then we skied into Alta Baldia ski area. This has a world cup slalom course which we skied (although I confess I could have done it better). We then skied on to the Corvara ski area and had lunch in a hotel in the village. This was delicious. We finally skied the last part of the Sella Ronday takin gabout 5 lifts in a row to arrive back at Ciampinoi before our final ski back to Campitello. We were sad the safari ended but we had a nice night with the other couple from the safari and the friends we had made on the first night. The older kids went out to bars and nightclubs. Our 16 year old son was pretty pleased with himself because he was allowed into bars and could even order alcohol if he wanted. They came home by midnight perfectly sober.

The next two days we skied with our friends. We had one great day where we kiied into Selva, down to San Christina, then caught the train and cable car up to the start of the longest run in the area (10.5 kms). We skied down it too quickly – it was beautiful and I would have liked to have taken our time. Still the top was not all that pleasant as a near gale force (slight exaggeration but it was strong) wind was blowing all the snow off the top of the mountain creating an ice bowl at the top. Luckily being Australian we are used to skiing on ice on rock quite a lot but it put us off having another ski down the 10.5 km run. So instead we headed back to Ciampinoi for a late lunch. Skiing back down was fun since the crowds, warm weather and soft snow had created a huge steep mogul patch which was the only way down. No one looked pretty. Having made it back to Campitello early we decided to ski on to the next village and finish the day in Canazei. This is a very pretty ski into the valley. – and an easy bus ride back (although a bit of a hike through the town carrying skis). We gave up on using the kitchen facilities in the apartment and had dinner out again. It was our last night after all.

We had to pack up and clean the apartment but we had decided we would ski all day, catch the evening bus down the mountain and stay in Trento for the evening. We decided to ski the Marmolada. We headed off past Arabba and down into the valley. Trouble was there was a huge ice bowl on he way down. My daughter was following my crazy 16 year old son and forgot to look at the bumps and hang on. She flew into the air and landed on her face. It could have been bad but there was just a bit of blood and bruising. Needless to say she did not feel like skiing straight away. So I waited with her in a restaurant while everyone else skied the Marmolada. And yes they had to tell me it was the best skiing of the week at the top. Oh well – we will have to go back. We caught the last lift down the mountain and waited in the bar for the bus after returning the skis. The bus took us back to Trento and arrived there at 9pm.

Trento looked a little different in the dark and we got a bit lost lookin for the hotel. This was the place I really needed my beginners Italian. I must have paid attention in the lessons because I managed to communicate with a local and get directions.

We only stayed in Trento over night at the Hotel America. It was a nice hotel and Trento is a nice little town.

We caught the train on to Venice for the last part of our holiday.
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Old Oct 22nd, 2007, 02:19 AM
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hi, aussie,

just came across your great report researching our easter trip to Venice. it is always so interesting to see places again through other peoples' eyes.

a question for veniceworld [if you will excuse me high-jacking your thread] i think we have decided on an apartment near the rialto, so as to be near all the action, and as we arrive after 8pm, will probably get a water-taxi from the airport to the apartment. How easy is it to find the water-taxi dock at the airport?

regards, ann
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Old Oct 24th, 2007, 05:36 AM
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thanks, aussie.

can't wait to read it tonight. i've been so busy!!
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Old Oct 24th, 2007, 06:22 PM
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Wow, Aussie. That sounds like an amazing ski trip.

So different from skiing in California. How neat to be able to ski from village to village. I am definitely going to look into this, and also into your safari company. that sounded really fun and like quite an adventure.

It sounds like you all are advanced skiiers, though (with your mention of black runs). Are there plenty of runs for intermediate skiiers? Was the safari mostly advanced?

Also, we do not like skiing on ice. Was there a lot of ice, or just in a few sporadic areas?

Lastly, how much were rentals and lift tickets per day?

thanks again for sharing this great report!!

dina
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Old Oct 24th, 2007, 06:57 PM
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Hi Dina,

Most of the skiing is on blue runs. In fact Arraba is the only area that has a concentration of black runs. The safari was more beautiful scenery than hard skiing. You had to be intermediate at least , but remember we had a nine year old skiing and whilst he was okay he wasn't really advanced. The main thing about the safari is that the group needs to be bale to move along quickly if needs be because there are a couple of bus connections etc to get. However where there is a real need to hurry the skiing is quite easy. They give you plenty of time in the harder parts.

I do think that the ice situation might have been due to the unusually warm winter that they had in Italy last winter and therefore a lack of really good snow. I don't like skiing on ice either (does anyone?). The ice was only in a few patches here and there. Our friends who had been before found no ice the last time they were there.

I am so sorry I cannot find anything recording the price we paid for hiring gear and lift tickets. I do remember thinking that the lift tickets were cheaper per day than in Australia I think we paid about 800euro for the 7 day pass for 4 adults and 1 child (under 14). The ski gear was about 600 euro to hire. (But don't shoot me if I am wrong on this).

I really recommend skiing in the Dolomites. You have to do it!
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Old Oct 24th, 2007, 07:47 PM
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oh, that sounds cheaper than CA skiing as well.

forgot to ask about snowboarding! Did you seen any snowboarders? I wonder if that's an American phenomenon. Both of our teens switched to snowboards a few years ago.
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Old Oct 25th, 2007, 03:06 AM
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bookmarking for weekend reading.
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Old Oct 25th, 2007, 06:11 PM
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Dina,

Actually we noticed a distinct lack of snowboarders. I guess because you mostly tour around which is not so good for snowbaording. But snow boarders could easily board there. There is very little pushing and climbing. Italians like to ski downhill and take lifts every where else.
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Old Oct 25th, 2007, 06:58 PM
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Wow - what an amazing trip. I cant believe how much you did - papal audience, christmas mass at st peter's, swim in amalfi, skiing in dolomites, statue of david, opera at la fenice, galleria borghese, dodge's secret itinerary etc. etc! I am supremely jealous!
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Old Oct 25th, 2007, 07:10 PM
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Thanks cookies. We do like to be active on our holidays!
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