Tales of my travels

Food, glorious food

/ rugbymother / 2 Comments

Skipping breakfast year day morning was a very wise choice!

At the time, it was prompted mostly by being too idle to get out of bed to start my day with the cycle boys (and, if I am honest, being on a bit of a roll with Candycrush).  But 12 hours later, faced with a simple but delicious 5 courses of yummy goodness, there was a great deal of post-rationalisation going on.

A bit of fresh, fragrant mush melon wrapped generously in wafer thin ham to start, home made pasta shells with the lightest touch of bolognase sauce, lamb chops top cooked to perfection (even though our maitre’d was a little anxious about serving lamb to kiwis), a skerrick of Gorgonzola with honey and fat walnuts….   All topped off with a silky smooth tiramisu…. Heavenly!  And all this part of our half-board room rate at what has turned out to be the most perfect cycling hotel ever.

Not only is there a car park for the rental cars (by no means a given in this part of the world), but also a secure bike room, with cleaning bay and plenty of racking to store the precious two wheelers.  Best of all (at least from my perspective) is the fact that you get a mesh laundry bag each day for your sports gear which is taken away at 6pm and returned freshly laundered the next day, all part of the service.  Yay, no more smelly hotel rooms, bathrooms draped with dripping cycle gear, having been stomped clean in the shower with the help of the hotel shampoo!  This is all so very civilised!

And let me hasten to add, not costing us an arm and a leg either.  Just a lovely, family run establishment, with warm and friendly hosts who understand the value of attracting groups of crazy-mad cyclists, and seem to enjoy meeting their special needs.  Ten stars for Hotel Larice Bianco, I say!

On the cycling front, yesterday was Mortirole – by all accounts a truly brutal climb.  Perhaps a little optimistic the day after Stelvio?  Peter still recovering from his pleurisy, and Don pretty exhausted after a hard riding week, called it quits part way up the mountain – though probably both with a bigger ride under their belts than they get on an average Auckland day.   Gary and Alistair (Don’s son, who has joined us for part of the trip), slogged it out to the top, then down the other side, where they had a rather alarming unplanned excursion through an unlit 1.5km tunnel with cars whizzing in both directions at breakneck speeds.

if cyclists are crazy, Italian drivers even more so!  More about the tunnels and the drivers another time.

Some very tired people last night.  Mind you, didn’t stop us having a very robust conversation over dinner about the state of NZ politics, and the fat German.  I have to say, I wish I could have Gary’s faith in the electorate doing the right thing!

I have to say, following the commentaries online from a place where it’s easier to see the wider world view, I am losing the will to vote!  Anything you think I should see before Election Day, please feel free to pass on!

Until then, I will continue to enjoy my little bubble away from the world, filled with mountain air, daily helpings of gelato, five course dinners, enough (but not too much) sultry red wine – Nebbiolo in this part of the world, and some good long walks to make it all okay!

My morning walk

My morning walk

Not a bad place for a Sunday morning stroll

Not a bad place for a Sunday morning stroll

 

 

To wait, or not to wait? That is the question.

/ rugbymother / 1 Comment

Cyclists are funny creatures!

Saturday morning dawned here in Bormio, after a night of heavy rain.  Not just any Saturday – this is the ONE DAY all year when Stelvio is closed to motor traffic, reserved specifically for cyclists (and, apparently runners too).  A 21km climb of nearly 2000 feet – a 2 1/2 hour ride for the likes of Don and Gary, both just coming off their high of competing at worlds (where Gary came 2nd in his age group, and Don put in a creditable 18th place in his first ever outing there).

But is Stelvio in the rain with no cars better or worse than Stelvio in the sunshine with cars?  Peter says the latter – channelling past woes of his worst day riding ever, some 10 years ago when he nearly froze to death on the downward return in wet clothes in freezing temps.

Six different weather forecast sites gave six different views of the weather – none of them perfect.  In the end, having waited for Don to assemble his bike, they finally set off around 9am, with a supply of dry clothes wrapped in plastic bags in Gary’s backpack – he at 75 being deemed the fittest of the crew, and most able to deal with the extra weight!  Peter did offer to take the pack….

Setting off for Stelvio

Setting off for Stelvio

image

Long story short…  3/4 of the way up, Peter stopped to tighten up a loose saddle, the others having got well ahead of him, was struck by a fit of coughing, and decided it was sensible to turn around and head for home.  But, the big worry… What if the others were waiting for him at the top?

Lunch interspersed with “I just hope they’re not waiting” uttered more than a few times.  A text to Don was apparently by no means reliable, given that Don hardly ever looks at his phone, or may not even have it with him – now doesn’t that sound familiar?

Much relief to find three tired and happy cyclists back at the hotel sometime later – of course they didn’t wait; in fact it seems they separated as well, and Gary, dry clothes for all still in his backpack, headed back down without any of them!  Sensible man…

I, meanwhile, had a peaceful morning wandering in town, resisting the amazing aromas of Nutella crepes wafting down the alleyways.  Having finally tracked down a shop that sells postcards – I swear the only one in town – I discovered why they are so scarce when I bought the stamps.  At 2.50 euro, nearly NZ$5 postage  per card, it has to be the most expensive form of communication in the world on a cost per word basis!  Hope the kids appreciate the cards!

So with Peter snoring gently beside me – afternoon naps being very much the done thing here, in anticipation of another 5 course dinner, I will leave you with the view from our balcony, and get back to my book and my knitting.  Aaaah, holidays…

image

The other side of the world

/ rugbymother / Leave a comment

It’s stating the obvious to say that New Zealand is a long long way from everywhere – but every time we load up Peter’s bicycle and head for the hills (this time the Dolomites in Italy – some quite high hills), I get a renewed sense of distance, the benefits and the costs of geographic isolation.

From a New Zealand mired in political debate and increasingly nasty politics-that I suspect will all have faded away by the time we return – 36 hours of mind-numbing travel brought us to this lovely little village on the shores of Lake Como, where the biggest care in the world seems to be ensuring you sweep your front entrance at dusk – as we saw several people out on the road doing as we ambled up and down.

A few red wines, local, of course, and far too much yummy food set us up for an 8 hour sleep despite the jet lag and time difference!

The view from my bed

The view from my bed

image

Peter perusing the wine list

Peter perusing the wine list

If I wasn’t such a sceptic, I’d say the 1Above ‘inflight hydration drink’ made the difference – it’s one of the startups that we didn’t invest in – but we buy their product anyway, now that it’s available as a
 pack of soluble tablets – the promise of “fly well, arrive ready” seems to have worked this time – or maybe it was just the lovely dinner with the fabulous view.

Today we head further into the mountains to ‘base’ in Bormio for the next week, where we will meet up with Gary and Don, hopefully basking in the glory of great results from their foray to the world age group cycling champs (both competing in the 75-79 year age group!).  I might even hire a bike!

From Italy, ciao for now.