vacation – Page 15 – Destination NOW

Bike, Sweat, Drink…(with apologies to Elizabeth Gilbert)

The fantasy has ended. Sigh. Although I am now back in the good ol USA, my body still appears to be on Italy time, because I am awakening at a god awful hour. And when I wake up, at least for the first few seconds, I think I’m back in the villa. Fortunately, the bathrooms both in the villa and my bedroom at home are in the same direction, and by the time I arrive at my destination I’ve got it all figured out. (No bidet in the USA).

Anyway, my blogging, one again, has lagged way behind my travels. Here’s the thing. Blogging on an i-pad, especially when you have sporadic wi-fi connectivity, is not what one would describe as fun. At least not when the “one” in the preceding sentence happens to be me. Indeed, it began to resemble work. And at this stage of my life, if it ain’t fun, I’m not doing it. I think that might become one of the pillars of my current philosophy of life. Does that make me a Hedonist? I’ve been called worse.

But let’s get to that bike trip. Here’s a map of the ground we covered.

We started in Parrina, staying at the Antica Fattoria for three nights, then moved to Magliano, where we stayed at another Fattoria (Farm). The longest ride, according to the literature, was 35 miles, with options if a shorter ride was desired. And, for one of the days, there was no biking at all–just a ferry ride To Giglio Island. This was an “easy/moderate” ride. No sweat. Or so I thought.

On our first day of serious cycling, we headed to Talamone, a medieval fortress village on the coast, small enough not to make it to the map above, so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that it is north of La Parrina. The scenery along the way made you almost forget how hot it was. (We, unfortunately, were there during record breaking high temperatures.)

It took tremendous self control to keep from stopping for a photo every 100 feet or so. It is easy to understand how Frances Meyes fell in love with the area.

Here’s what we saw as we rolled down the “rolling hill” that we had just strained our way up.

Yep, that’s a fortress all right. And those of you that know me well have probably guessed that I’d be planning to get up close and personal with that fortress real soon. But first a stop at the renown beach. At least, that’s how our guides described it.

What looks like school lockers are actually the changing rooms. And they ARE about the size of school lockers, only slightly taller. To add to the fun, only ONE is available for public use, so we all got to share. Fortunately not at the same time.

The water was crystal clear, which was a good thing, because those big rocks that you see peeking out of the water had a bunch of little rock friends under the surface.

Next on the day’s agenda was a picnic lunch. As usual, our group chose to take the more adventurous route to our destination, which just happened to be the way to the fortress.

Not only did we get to stretch our leg muscles, but we also got an even better view of the beach, which I am only too happy to share with all of you.

The picnic lunch was wonderful.

Angelo was a bit surprised when 16 female heads turned in his direction for a moment of silence, followed by peals of laughter. He quickly learned that “sanitary napkins” was NOT the correct term for “wipes”.

We ended the day with a visit to the farm’s store, where we had a wine and cheese tasting event. Most of the products in the store come from the farm. It was unfortunate that we were there so early in the trip. Had we not had weeks more of travel time, I would have certainly purchased oil, vinegar, cheese and wine.

We ended this perfect day with the biscotti cooking lesson and an amazing dinner on the terrace.

Last look at Orvieto

There’s something about towers that I find irresistible. And Orvieto’s was no exception, so Diane and I decided late in the day was the perfect time to climb it. Seen from this angle, it didn’t look all that high.

Inside had a bit of a different feel to it.

The view was well worth every one of those 250 steps.

I would have had to hang off the side to get a better shot of the front of the Duomo, but this gives you an idea of the size of that building.

We knew Torre del Moro was a clock tower, but we were not prepared for how loud the bell sounded when it is only a few feet away. By the way, it doesn’t only BOINNNNG on the hour. That sucker was sounding off every 15 minutes. We didn’t linger more than a half an hour–two ear drum piercing tolls were enough for us!

And now for some random memories of Orvieto:
Sally and I found a little wine shop that gave us a private wine tasting. After trying three local reds and four whites, we decided that this label was our favorite. Although, after all that wine, she could have poured us rat pee and we would have thought it was quite refreshing. (we don’t taste and spit…we are far too ladylike for that. Besides, why waste good wine?)

We managed to catch a couple of weddings on Saturday, and my favorite shot was this one. Bad news, little girls. If you think the sandals are uncomfortable, wait till you graduate to big girl shoes–platform stilettos.

Sister, let’s get these shoes off. My doggies are KILLING me!

Wild boar is considered quite the delicacy here in Tuscany. And yes, I DID try cingale, twice. Even after I saw this guy’s head outside of the restaurant.

Saturday night a group from Michigan State performed a trumpet concerto in one of the squares, so we sat in a little cafe, drank wine and enjoyed the music. Sally figured that since she lives in Florida and they were from Michigan, these guys were practically neighbors she should introduce herself, so she did.

The courtyard of Hotel Duomo was our favorite gathering spot for our evening wine, cheese and fruit party.

Everywhere we looked we saw something beautiful.

The city expanded beyond its walls and at the base of the hill.

Next post–the actual bike trip.

Orvieto’s Museums…and Dinner

Orvieto’s museums are small and are clustered around the Duomo. Friday afternoon was the perfect time to wander through all four. We quickly learned that weekdays are relatively quiet in Orvieto, but that changes on Saturday. Seems that even hilltop towns also have their weekend warriors.

The C. Faina museum is a three story palace facing the Duomo. In addition to the Etruscan vases and a stone coffin, it has a room chock full of ancient coins, with the modern convenience of trays that move when you press a button. If my cute boy had been by my side, I know he absolutely would have spent a fair amount of time in this room.

Ancient coin collection at Museo C. Faina

I have been more than slightly spoiled by NYC museums, so have already seen similar artifacts. What fascinated ME was the actual building itself. I wish I were more skilled at holding the camera correctly so that I could have better captured this ceiling. (I know Photoshop can work wonders but, as we say here in Italy “Io sono pigro”. Or that’s I would say if I knew how to speak Italian). But enough about my shortcomings, back to the museum tour.

One of many beautiful ceilings in C. Faina

Next stop, the Palazzi Papali which has been recycled into an archaeological museum. The nuns never mentioned that the popes owned quite a bit of real estate outside of the Vatican. Or if the dear sisters did, it was on one of the many days that I wasn’t listening, so finding Papal Palaces scattered throughout Europe has been a revelation to me.
This museum contained all the usual jewelry and vases, plus everything you needed to conduct your standard rape, pillage and plunder. But once again, I was completely entranced by the building. While I sat in a corner of the room, in the chair reserved for the guard who was out on the patio flirting with a sweet young thing, I was thinking deep thoughts. Let me share a couple of them:
“Man, I’m sure glad I was born in the 20th century”!
“Some of my friends have better houses than your standard 15th century Pope.”

THe Duomo Museum only had frescoes, either copies or originals, I guess they had to be one or the other since most museums don’t intentionally display fakes, but I really didn’t care one way or the other. 10 minutes later I was out the door.

The Emilio Greco Museum was my very favorite. His ability to make a few ink marks on paper into something beautiful kept me mesmerized for quite some time.

The museum was only one room. The beautiful sculptures we plopped amid a whole lot of stuff: a piano, chairs, a spiral staircase. Still, the drawings and sculptures made you forget the cluttered space around them.

Emilio also designed the Duomo’s huge green doors. Let me tell you, those doors have a whole lot of entwined bodies on them.

And since we are now back at the Duomo, here’s the story about how a little hilltop town got such a grand cathedral.
Back in the late 1400’s, one of the priests couldn’t quite wrap his head around the host literally being the body of Christ, until one day, while saying Mass, the host started to bleed. Fortunately, they didn’t have paper towels back then, so he quickly grabbed a linen cloth to tidy up. As mentioned earlier, popes were frequent visitors, and the Vicar of Rome just happened to be in town that weekend. He quickly decided that the cloth was “church worthy” and that a new cathedral would be ideal as a display case. And so the bloody cloth remains, up to this very day, in the little side chapel on the left of the main altar. No photos are allowed, but if the truth be told, I really wasn’t able to see the cloth anyway. I just had faith that it was there.

On to the next topic: Dinners in Orvieto are a magnificent thing, and the one we had at Restaurante Ancora was particularly grand. Diane and I discovered it while stumbling around town, looking for a bathroom. It looked interesting and Trip Advisor enlightened us further as to the merits of this particular establishment. We wisely allowed Carlo, the owner, to choose for us and it was fabulous. Delicious pizza bread, an amazing eggplant appetizer, a lasagna, a ravioli, veal with a delicious sauce, vegetables and dessert, plus wine–all for less than 35 Euros per person. Wow. What a way to end the evening.

Beautiful Orvieto

I had never heard of Orvieto prior to my VBT trip. What a charming little town! Founded by the Etruscans, it sits atop a pile of volcanic rock. It is a very walkable town, with enough to see and do to keep us all quite happy and occupied for several days.

P1030151 — Orvieto-one mile long and a half a mile wide

The VBT pre-trip package included a guided walking tour. Manuela explained that Orvieto’s three main squares corresponded to the three important functions: religion, commerce and government. We are standing in the “commerce” square. Deserted on a Friday morning, but bustling on Saturday, which is market day.

P1030013 — Manuela in the Piazza del Popolo

Sally and I had wandered the streets the day we arrived, but what a difference it made having our guide. (Or maybe being jet lagged had something to do with it.)

The market was a major disappointment, more like a low-end flea market. For example, they sold what my Grandma called “house” dresses. I thought that style died with her, decades ago.

Fortunately the little streets were lined with delightful shops loaded with crafts, ceramics, unique clothing, wine, cheese. You too can own one of these tee shirts if you have 125 Euros you don’t know what to do with!

The Government square wasn’t all that interesting, except for the tower that dates back to the 1000’s.

We said goodbye to Manuela after our visit to Orvieto’s main attraction, the Duomo.

P1030017 — The Duomo, as seen from one of the side streets

It was surprising to see such a grand church in a rather small town. There is quite a story behind it. Any guesses? I’ll tell all in the next post.

Star of David pattern on pavement in front of Duomo

P1030020 — Detail from Duomo facade. Are these the damned?

By now, you’ve probably seen quite enough of the church, so off we go to the next attraction, Orvieto’s underground tour, the perfect place to hang out during the hottest part of the day. The Uniticket brochure describes Orvieto as the city of a thousand caves. That is likely true, however most of the caves are below people’s houses, and are not open to the public. They make the ideal wine cellar, staying at a uniform temperature.

The tour consisted of a couple of caves that have been linked together by some rather narrow passages. I am more than slightly claustrophobic, so when I saw the tiny, winding staircases carved in the rock, I had to take a deep breath and remind myself that I had passed through a birth canal once, I could do it again.

The caves functioned as bomb shelters during World War II, and in ancient times they were used as pigeon houses (pigeons were considered food in this area), for olive oil pressing and for storage. Because the volcanic rock is relatively soft, the Etruscans were able to dig down to the water table, so the caves were the source of their water. And no, I have no idea who the cute little girl was; she just made the photo more interesting.

The “other” caves, Pozzo Della Cava were discovered in the 1500’s when Pope Clement VII
decided to hang out in Orvieto while Rome was being sacked. He determined the city needed a reliable source of water so it could withstand sieges, so he had the Etruscan well enlarged, and in the process, the workers uncovered burial chambers and artifacts.

More to see, but it will have to wait till the next post.

Living the Dream in Lucca

I’ll never be rich (at least not in monetary terms) or famous, but for the next two weeks, I’ll be living as if I were.

Our villa in Lucca is exquisite. Because of bed type and bathroom preferences among the other villa mates, I ended up with this fantastic room. I’m so glad Sandy is joining me here on July 4th, to share this amazing experience with me. Get ready, everyone–once little sister arrives, the blog will likely become much more exciting (or maybe not, so it can keep its PG rating.)

Check out that terrace, right outside our room.

I’m quite proud of myself. I actually figured out how to use the shower on my own. Usually Mike does all the hard stuff. This shower has knobs galore to control overhead, side and hand sprays. The door reminds me of Star Trek, except it has a seat, so you can be comfy while being beamed up?

Ours is the only shared bathroom, (with the “twin bed” room) but there is also a bathroom on the first floor. The three other bedrooms (two on the third floor) have their own, equally magnificent bathrooms. So, five bedrooms in total, and five baths.

There is also a large, shady terrace on the first floor.

Old friends, new friends

Yesterday we said goodbye to our wonderful VBT companions. As with our last VBT trip, we were fortunate to travel with a delightful group, who made a great trip even more enjoyable.

As you can see from the photo, we were quite thrilled with our biscotti success. Best part was we got to keep both our glorious creations AND the aprons.

And now for the close ups. Deb, Bud and Ruth

Mike and I travel with our dear friend, Augusta frequently enough for him to be dubbed “the man who travels with two wives”. Well, on this trip, Eric and Dean could have been known as the men who traveled with THREE wives!
Becky,Nisa, Debbie and Dale

Nina, Nancy, Barbara and Eric

We didn’t want David to feel bad about traveling with only one woman, so we created an honorary harem, just for him.
Diane, Becky, David, Janet and Beth

During the early part of the trip, Susan rode with us but then moved on up to pedal with the REAL bikers.
Susan, Beth, Sally and Shelley

Our terrific tour guides kept us entertained, well fed and safe.

Here are two versions of our farewell shot:one with Nina running to join the group, and the other with Nina in place.

I love this shot of Sally and Becky.

After the fond farewells, Sally, Karen, Diane and I made our way to Lucca. We briefly stopped in the city before making our way to our home for the next two weeks. Diane and Karen were in Lucca ten years ago. They are clearly delighted to be back!

Goodbye Orvieto, hello Tuscany

Orvieto was wonderful; its wi-fi connection was not. So we will save the narrative and photos for that leg of our journey until uploading is not so arduous.

Those on the tour that were not doing the Orvieto pretrip arrived on Saturday night. Becky, who came from California, arrived minus her luggage. She and the thunder storms hit the east coast around the same time, so her journey was by far the most exciting, although Bud and Ruth also had a story to tell about their flight from Philadelphia. Seasoned travelers all, they took their adventures in stride. I, on the other hand, was quite glad to have been spared the experience.

We stopped on our way out of Orvieto for a photo-op.

Lunch was in the little fortress town of Pitigliano, and offered yet another departure photo-op.

Next stop, our beautiful 4 star resort, Antica Fattoria La Parrina. This “farm” produces its own wine, cheese, yogurt, vegetables, oil, balsamic vinegar, organic pasta, jams and sauces which we would soon be sampling.

We were greeted by Astrid, who served us wine and cheese while our luggage was being deposited in our rooms. I’m not normally a white wine fan, but their’s is delicious. So is their red, so I drank both.

Check out my gorgeous room.

I’m a little mystified by the table and chairs in the bathroom. Am I supposed to invite my two best friends in for tea while I take a bubble bath?

We met our team leaders, Franco and Angelo for a safety briefing. After they finished telling us about the fast moving traffic, I looked at Beth to see if she was as terrified as I was. When they said fast moving traffic, I visualized NYC, but fortunately their definition of traffic is quite different from ours.

There are 20 of us bikers, and as with our last VBT trip, it didn’t take long for us to feel like we had been friends for years. Getting lost is a particularly bonding experience. Plus the wine helps.

We had a short introductory ride to get used to our bikes. Well, short for some, longer for those that are directionally challenged. Can you guess which group I fit in?

Dinner was a typical Italian event that lasted for hours with glorious food, lots of wine, great company. This could be habit forming!

Today’s ride took us through the Tuscan countryside. This is postcard worthy scenery.

Those hills are beautiful, but they are a bit of a challenge for some of us.

Tuscany by the Sea with VBT

Us “biker chicks” are off for another VBT adventure, this time in Italy. Yep, five of last year’s group will soon be mounting up. We’ll be minus Marilyn this time, which is a disappointment, because when she’s along, the fun quotient increases. I hope she’ll be keeping up with us electronically.

My least favorite part of traveling is the overnight plane ride. Although I’ve packed my “comfort” items: Noise cancelling headset, iPod, sleeping pill, I still don’t make a smooth transition across time zones.

My flight leaves at 5 PM today, arriving in Rome at 7 AM. Orvieto, the starting point for our trip is a 2 hour ride away. Fortunately, all I have to do is get my luggage, get through customs and find the VBT rep who will transport me to our hotel. That’s probably all I’ll be able to handle. Did I mention that I’m not good at crossing time zones?

We have a few days in Orvieto to get acclimated and see the sights before we climb on our bikes. We will be riding to places that I had never heard of before signing on for the trip, so click on the blue print for the Map of the Tuscany Bike Tour if you want to know where we’ll be going, because odds are I’ll have forgotten the names by the time we get home. So, don’t even bother asking. (I”m taking to you, Sue).

We will finish the VBT portion of our adventure on June 30th, and will then head north for two weeks in Lucca. I’ll be flying home on July 15th.

Why all of the details? Well, I just got off the phone with my mother who accused me of not telling her that I’m leaving today. Of course, I had told her multiple times, but her response was that she can’t keep track of my travels.

Additionally, I’ve learned to anticipate internet complications. On my last trip, I fell far behind in my blog, confusing friends and family who thought that because my blog was still out west,so was I. So. Onward and upward.

“There’s no place like home” Dorothy Gale

Okay, so you may have figured out that I am moving faster than my blog. In fact, I arrived home on Wednesday, June 6th, at midnight. While on the road, I was having internet issue, it is true. What is also true is that I was having so bloody much fun, I didn’t have a lot of time or energy to mess with my iPad. Blogging on the road just isn’t easy–so I must say that I’m totally impressed by my fellow bloggers that do it so well. (Marion, you know who I’m talking about.)

Guess who got a window seat for the ride home? Of course, I had a window seat on the way there too. The view was spectacular for most of the Albuquerque to Denver flight. I won’t bore you with the many other photos that I took of the terrain. I found it fascinating, but realize that not everyone else would be as easily entertained as I am.

It kept getting better and better. I scored an upgrade for the Denver to Newark segment. Oh, I’m so going to miss my “elite” status when it goes away next year. Without all those business trips to get me points, I’ll be back in steerage with the rest of the regular folks. (On balance, I’d say it’s the better deal–free time vs elite status–no contest.)

First class also was a window seat, but I was quite busy during this segment. Ruby slippers didn’t get me home, but some ruby colored liquid sure made that yellow brick road roll along more smoothly. (Can you tell The Wizard of Oz is an all time favorite of mine?) It was just as well, because we were heading into darkness. Sure did look pretty with all the lights, though. By the time I took this shot of Newark at night, the photo wasn’t the only thing that was fuzzy and out of focus!

For anyone wondering what happened between the road trip and the plane trip, the rest of the blog is for you.

Once we hit Albuquerque, our road trip was finished. The one hour drive to Santa Fe was nothing after the 2,000+ miles we had logged during the prior 8 days.

Our last “on the road” breakfast at the Nativo Hotel was truly memorable because brought me back to my post college days. Back then, I was working for Harper & Row, covering parts of the Midwest as a “college traveler”, which meant I spent my days talking to professors about textbooks. In the late 70’s there weren’t many women in sales, especially in jobs requiring overnight travel, so I was frequently the only woman eating breakfast in a crowded hotel restaurant. How weird that it was happening again, almost 35 years later, but with a few major differences. Back then, the men were in the 30-50 age range, wearing business suits, and felt it was their right (and duty) to stare at any unaccompanied female, which, I can assure you, felt quite uncomfortable. One of the greatest advantages to getting older is that no one ogles me any more, so that wasn’t the difference. It was the men’s ages and attire . They looked like escapees from the nearest nursing home. Except few nursing homes have a 30 to 1 male to female ratio. More the other way around. This place was a little old lady’s dream…sort of.

Here’s the reality. The night before I happened to catch a couple of the guys out of their civvies, in their full regalia, waist ropes, cowls and all.

Yup, we had managed to stumble into a hotel hosting a conference for Friars (or were they brothers? I forget the correct terminology.) It sure made for a quiet, peaceful stay!

But I digressed. Back to the trip. We couldn’t get into Greg’s apartment until 4PM, so we decided to make the most of our time in Albuquerque, by visiting the Botanical Garden and Aquarium.

I just couldn’t get enough of those blooming cacti. (I just knew two years of Latin would be put to use one of these days ).

I wish the bee had been more cooperative, but she refused to pose for me. Just when I thought she was perfectly framed, she moved faster than my shutter finger. Oh well. I was surprised to find so many water lilies in a desert botanical garden.

If I could only choose one, which shot would be preferable-the close up or wider angle? I’m trying to be more discriminating in my shots, so would appreciate opinions — and I know there are lots of great photographers among my fellow bloggers. I’ve seen the magic you create. Plus I never tried out poll daddy before and am curious to see how it works.

The garden was not without wildlife. These fish were almost domesticated, gathering at the pond’s edge when they sensed a human was nearby. They came close to leaping out of the water to get food, and their size attested to their success.

More wildlife. Mom was close by, but I cropped her out.

As the late, great Harry Truman once said “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the garden and visit the aquarium”, or something to that effect. So we did.

I wasn’t sure my Panasonic Lumix would be able to capture the jellyfish, given the low light, but hey, with digital, it doesn’t cost anything to give it a try. So I did.

I loved the colors of this creature.

It ain’t snorkeling, but it almost as thrilling, wandering among the tanks of tropical fish.

For the next couple of days, Greg and I hung out together, enjoying Santa Fe and his really cool apartment until I met up with my dear friend, Shirley. How lucky that Greg got an internship in New Mexico, close to one of my favorite people to visit. Not only did I experience 10 memorable days with my son, but I also got a mini vacation with a great pal. Her husband was out-of-town, so staying at her gorgeous home was like having a girl’s weekend at a five-star resort, with a very talented and creative activity director. Two of the visit’s highlights were the Petroglyph National Monument and Ojo Caliente Spa.

The park ranger suggested that we experience the more difficult trail. She said “you girls will have no problem making that climb.” I don’t know what tickled us more–her confidence in our athletic abilities (that assessment proved to be accurate), or calling us “girls” (which clearly was not).

There are hundreds of these in the hills surrounding Albuquerque. Here are a couple that I particularly liked.

The view alone was worth the climb.

Can you stand another poll? What do you think–which shot is better?

“Us girl’s”, successfully recruited a fellow hiker to take our photo. I think he was more skilled with a camera than my Oklahoma friend, Charles, don’t you?

Next day was the Ojo Caliente Spa. Who knew that sitting in a pool of arsenic was supposed to be good for your digestion? If that particular pool doesn’t grab you, not to worry. You can also go to the iron pool, the mud bath pool, the soda pool or a few others that we didn’t sample.

The surroundings were lovely, the treatments were heavenly. I could quite easily become addicted to the spa life. Only my lack of funds (plus other priorities) keeps me from a life of facials, mud baths and massages. But it sure was a great finale for an amazing trip.

A couple more photos of New Mexico, taken from a moving car. Why don’t all highways look like this? Let’s hear it for the artists that make all our lives more beautiful!

Only 11 days till the next adventure–bike trip in Italy. Thanks for visiting, and please come along for the ride through Tuscany!

New Mexico

One would think that we would be tired of Route 66 by now. One would be wrong. Although we are indeed museumed-out, we still are enjoying the roadside attractions. Our last eatery experience was such fun, we were game to try another.

We did love the exterior of La Cita, but it became the restaurant not chosen. Robert Frost undoubtedly could have squeezed a poem out of these two restaurants diverging on a highway, but not being a poet, I’ll just say that we ate at Del’s, based on Trip Advisor reviews.

The food was very good, and the service was as friendly as Trip Advisor reported. Our waitress sure did want us to try the sopapillas. She offered to make them “to go”, but given that my jeans were already groaning from all that barbecue, I decided to pass. My only regret on this trip was that we stopped at a Comfort Suite in Amarillo instead of driving until we reached Blue Swallow motel in Tumcumcari, New Mexico.

Sure, we got Texas shaped waffles at the Comfort, but look at what we missed.

True to their word, the owners encouraged inspection. One room was kept open to allow you to peek inside, so of course I did.

One bed would not have worked for this trip, but they did have other rooms with two beds. I would have liked to experience the 100% refrigerated air!

I could just picture us sitting outside in these chairs, bottles of beer in our hands, watching the cars roar by on the “mother road”.

Most rooms had garages alongside, for the guests that just couldn’t bear to be separated from their wheels. This would have been the perfect place to stay during that hailstorm.

The best part were the murals inside the garages. Of course, each garage was different.

I sure did love that place. Maybe next trip…

We got a little lost trying to find the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, but the detour provided our first glimpse of desert blooms.

This would be our last night in a hotel, so we opted for the Nativo Lodge in Albuquerque. We got a great rate, a comfortable room, and beautiful Southwestern decor.

We arrived just in time to quickly check in, then head for Sandia Peak.

We rode the tram to the top, which brought us to 10,300 feet above sea level. What a panoramic view! I can’t imagine skiing down such a steep slope.

Dinner at High Finance Restaurant was quite wonderful, and we finished just in time to catch a spectacular sunset.

It was about 55 degrees at the top, so we didn’t linger. I was able to get a couple more shots on the way down.

A great way to end our last travel day. The next will be Santa Fe and Greg’s apartment.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: