Day 18 - December 27 - Gorgeous Day in Ortesei

Before I begin, I reflect a moment that this was my Father's birthday - he was born in 1906. Good Heavens - he would have been 107, and that would NOT have made him happy. He had a strange notion that one should be "shot" when one turned 60. Of course, as he aged he kept revising his target date to "70" and then "80"! Anyway, I hope he is resting peacefully and knows that we remember him with love.

We had a most WONDERFUL day today. After breakfast in the hotel, Pat and Mike went into the town to walk around while we did some computer work. We then took a taxi into the town, and walked a bit. We ran into Pat and Mike in the pedestrian street a few minutes before we were due to meet in the Hotel Genzian.

Waiting for taxi at Hotel Digon

Pat had fallen in love with the town and decided it would be a good idea if Ron moved his bench from Arosa to Ortisei.

We wandered the streets, and everywhere you looked there was beauty to admire - from the majestic mountains, to the gorgeous shops and fashionable people strolling about.

We stopped for lunch in an out-of-the-way spot (La Terazza)  which had a big sign "Pizzeria/Restaurant". Pat was in the mood for pizza. Unfortunately, the waitress announced that pizza was only available after 5 PM when the wood-fire oven was operational. Pat was not at the table when the waitress told us this, and thought we were teasing her. She ended up with lasagna and Mary with spaghetti with garlic, oil, and chilis. Ron and Mike had salads and soup.

We walked a LONG way UPHILL to the entrance for the Rasciesa funicular up the mountain. This is where one can go for toboganning - the 3.6-mile sled path even has snow-making. We decided we would just ride up and back and not bother with the sleds. We sat in the Alm at the top of the funicular. Ron sat outside, but we three were too cold and sat inside. There we chatted with a couple - she was from NY and he was from Bolzano. They had met in graduate school, and both finished their PhD's and were hoping they would eventually be able to move to Italy, but have not yet been able to find work.

Walking up-hill to Funicular

Mike on Funicular

Went back down the funicular. We have seen mountain ranges, oceans, and skylines in many countries, but this was one of the most spectacular sights. Our pictures don't do it justice!

After making our way back into the village, we stopped at a cute bar where we sat outside under heaters, draped in blankets that were folded on the seats. We were enjoying watching a constant stream of people passing by.

We took a taxi back to our hotel, and went to our rooms to freshen up, wash hair, etc. We then went to the dining room for the included evening meal. Earlier they had asked if the posted menu was "fine", and I had mentioned I didn't care for pork, and they offered me veal instead. Everyone else had the pork. We also had noodles with Parma ham and flaedli soup (consomme with strips of crepes). For dessert, Pat and Ron had a "nuss" gelato (hazelnut) and Mike and I had mousse with dark and white chocolate.

Mousse

Our hour of heading off to bed is slowly creeping up - think we made it  past 10 PM! A beautiful day in a beautiful part of the world!