Val Gardena

As promised here is an account of the family's vacation in Val Gardena.

Val Gardena is a famous ski resort in the north of Italy in a part known as Alto Adige or Sud Tirol, about one hour away from Bolzano, the region's main city. This region of Italy is autonomous. Three languages are spoken there - German, Italian and a local dialect known as Ladin (not to be confused with the Ladino spoken by Jews of Sefaradi origin). The region was originally part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and annexed to Italy after WWI. It became autonomous after WWII. There's a lot of history to read about regarding this region, but this account will concentrate on our vacation there....

I first heard of this place from one of my workers who is an avid skier. In the winter, it is an extremely popular ski resort in which international ski tournaments are held regularly. The area, which is part of the Dolomites is lovely also in the summer offering beautiful cable car rides and wonderful trails to follow in the mountains. Even though we came during the busiest summer vacation week (the week of Ferragosto) up on the mountains there's enough room for everyone and we were lucky to have good weather practically the whole time.

We rented an apartment in St. Cristina, one of three villages in the valley. The three villages are packed with apartments and hotels. The biggest and most crowded village is Ortisei. St. Cristina and Selva are smaller and pleasanter. Our apartment was a bit off the beaten track and we had to hike up and down every time we wanted to go anywhere (I remember this also from my trip to the Pyrenees - you wonder how the people living in these villages in the mountain survive hiking up and down every day from their houses to the supermarket, etc.). But it was clean, well equipped and very pleasant, right on the mountain side. On the left you can see the view from the window....

My nephews had this little room which they loved and in which they played around until supper was ready. Very cosy little room. See below a picture of them with me just before dinner one evening:

Every day we chose a different mountain to go up - usually by cable car and then we walked around and finally down, back to the villages in the valley.



The walks were beautiful (if a bit strenuous), everything is green, quiet and beautiful. The mountains are magnificent. But then I'm a mountains' freak.... I remember when we were living in the Netherlands (I was 7 at the time) I really missed the mountains in (very) flat Holland. The summer of that year we went for a week in Switzerland and I was thrilled to see mountains again - things haven't changed much since, I always feel a bit disappointed in flat places and really get excited when there are mountains around. Here are some pictures of these lovely mountains (by the way, all the pictures in this post were taken either by my father or my brother):



Up on the mountains there are many pleasant refuges - houses with restaurants and places to sleep so if you're hiking or skiing there you've got a place to rest and have something to eat. Here are two pictures from these places:



The left picture is the riddle of the day - what's this???

So, if you're looking for a lovely place for your next vacation - this place would be a great choice, both in winter (if you ski) and in summer (if you like mountains and hiking).

and now, it's back to everyday life. The Milanese are returning from their vacations and are slowly returning back to the city. I will leave you with two additional pictures of me - on a swing in St. Cristina and the other from today - taken near the Duomo by some friends who came to visit from Rome: