Ortisei, Italy & the Italian Alps

In Milan we picked up our gem of a rental car.  Its an a little Opel hatchback that struggles with just about everything.  But for $20 per day it’s tough to complain, and the AC works great!  We left Milan and headed up North to the Dolomites (part of the Italian Alps) on recommendation from Dad and Cindy.  We stayed in the beautiful ski resort town of Ortisei, which while technically in Italy has a very Austrian feel.  This meant real beer (!) and hearty food.  I think I had venison for dinner three of our four nights.  And pilsners (Trumer!), and hefes (Ayinger!), and dopplebocks (More Ayinger!). And the mountains were pretty OK too.

Ortisei being a big Ski town in the winter means that the mountains are super accessible with lifts and gondolas.  This makes it a very popular destination for mountain bikers and hikers.  However, we were pleasantly surprised at how few people we actually ran into on the trails, aside from one in particular that was being used in a downhill mountain bike race.  Its pretty hectic getting buzzed by some professional cyclists going about 30 miles per hour on a dirt trail.  

Samantha and I both agreed that it was reminiscent of being in Vail, other than the people speaking German.  It was really great to be in the mountains again, and we are definitely going to make a point to spend some more time in the alps.  The photos speak for themselves!  (Clearly Samantha was having loads of fun with the jumping pics!)  After our stay here, we drove back south, through Milan, to the town of Manarola in the Cinque Terra.  Post coming soon!