Dolomites: Winter Edition

We loved the Dolomites so much when we visited them with Grandpa and Oma in October that we decided to go back to visit them in the wintertime.  Our goals were to relax, see some scenery, eat mountain food (read: speck, streudel and cheese!), and go sledding.  We accomplished all goals, despite the kids being under the weather with a stomach bug (which was subsequently caught by James and I...).

This time, we stayed in Val Anterselva, which is a small valley very near the Austrian border.  The locals pretty much all speak German all the time, but if I asked them to speak in Italian, they would...haltingly and with a strong accent!  Our hotel had a pool (bonus!) but it was ice cold (still can't figure that out!) so only the brave (Norah and Luca) went in more than once! The mountains around our hotel didn't look like Dolomites to us...they looked like typical mountains.  I was wondering if we had been duped into booking a hotel in the 'dolomites'...Oh, well. They were still beautiful!

I saw on the map that we were near a ski resort, so I figured we would just go there to sled. But, when I asked the hotel receptionist about it, she said, "No, no sledding there. Only skiing!" and looked at me strangely.  I thought our vacation was going to be a bust, but then she told me about a lake nearby that we could "walk up the mountain and sled back down."  Sounded like a plan...arduous, slightly dangerous, but probably worth it...onward!

 James and the kids on the lake, which was frozen completely over.  So, we got to walk on the ice. This made me nervous, but as everyone else was doing it, I figured we might as well take the short cut, too!

 Mountain James and Susannah in her trekking backpack

 Well, the walk up to the rifugio (where the sleds were purported to be...) was VERY long for the kids, but they all made it!  Here are Susannah and Norah soaking in the sun rays and taking in the view.

When we got up to the top, we had lunch and then we asked about the sleds, and the man asked us whether we had done anything of the sort before..."Yes, I went sledding in America," I said.  Well, truth be told, we had never sledded down a mountain path before, but it looked like fun, and we sure as heck didn't want to WALK down...so we went ahead and, promising the man we would go very slowly, make our way down the mountain. Here are James, Susannah, and Luca (in front of James), sledding down the mountain. I took Norah with me on the other sled.

 We made it down the mountain!! It was a fun and sometimes terrifying ride.  Perfect!

 Time to walk back across the lake toward our car.  Kids are TIRED!!!

 Here's how thick the ice was on the lake.

Norah and James (and Susannah) making their way across the ice.

All in all, a great first day in the Dolomites!