On to Italy!

I have been notified that I am now "wanted" in Geneva AND Kitzbuhel for touching spears!

We met the most interesting people at our hotel! English speaking people were so rare at our hotel that we conversed with those who did. Last afternoon on the shuttle we met a couple from British Columbia, Canada, Alanna Rittich and her husband, Tim O'Hanlon. They had been skiing and mentioned that they had come to Kitzbuhel from Innsbruck. It turns out they were at Innsbruck for the Winter World Masters Games, and she competed in figure skating! In fact, Alanna had just won two gold medals in figure skating! She said she had skated as a child, but gave it up at age 13. She picked up the sport again just 13 months ago and went from that to winning two gold medals! What an accomplishment!

We had a very enjoyable dinner last evening at our hotel's Steakhouse. The Steakhouse is in a separate building which is part of the golf complex at the hotel. Who do we run into again, but Alanna and Tim. And she had her medals with her! Here are Alanna (wearing her medals) and Tim:

Here is a close-up of the medals:

They were headed to Salzburg today. We plan to keep in touch with them. They were a very interesting couple!

In conjunction with the Hahnenkamm Rennan race, the hotel had multiple Audi displays set up. This photo does not do the electric car justice. The colors were bright orange and hot pink.

This Audi, which we found in the parking garage, would perfectly match Brock in his "Green Contrail" ski suit:

We checked out of the hotel at 10:15 a.m. and had a beautiful drive that took us past Innsbruck. We made it to our next destination, Santa Cristina Val Gardena in Italy, at 1:00 p.m. We are staying at the Hotel Touring Dolomites. This is another very nice hotel; our room is spacious and we have half board (breakfast and dinner are included). Santa Cristina is a stunning village! Here's a shot of our hotel in the background:

There is lots of stunning scenery everywhere you look:

We spent some time walking around town to find some lunch, arrange a ski guide, buy our ski passes, locate the nearby lifts, and check out the hotel.

These are the views from the 5th floor roof of our hotel. There is a heated infinity pool up there that is lined with stainless steel, super cool. At night it has lights that change colors every few seconds. We love it!

At the advice of our Nashville friends Jean Mathews and Denise Boroviak, tomorrow we are skiing the Sellaronda with our guide, Melissa. The Sellaronda is a ski route that loops around the massif of the Sella mountain range of the Dolomites. It is truly one of a kind with its network of lift facilities in a setting surrounded by rocky peaks, thick forests and snow-covered landscapes. We will be starting and ending in Val Gardena. The other main stations are Corvara, Arabba, and Canazei. They are all linked together by numerous lift stations. The total distance of the loop, including lifts, is about 40 kilometers. Approximately 2 hours are spent on lifts, without taking into consideration time spent waiting in queues and stopping for breaks at the numerous huts and lodges along the way. Total ski time is around 1-1/2 hours. It will take us all day; we are meeting our guide at 9:00 a.m. and we will be with her until 4:00 p.m. This will be our introduction to Val Gardena! We are expecting a warm, sunny day for our adventure.