Posts Tagged ‘mountains’
Hiking the Celano Canyon in Abruzzo, Italy
Earlier this summer, during a particularly steamy Roman week, I found myself daydreaming constantly about a weekend escape to Abruzzo. I often get out for weekend to the town of Ovindoli, about 1 1/2 hour drive from Rome. Since the town at 1400 meters from sea level it is much, much cooler than Rome ……
Read MorePicturesque Pau – tucked away in France’s Pyrénées
On a very long drive last summer from Rome to France’s Pays basque, along the Atlantic coast, we decided to make some tourist stops. One of those stops was in Pau, a charming town nestled in the Pyrénées. Pau is the capital of the region of Béarn and offers a lot to see for visitors.…
Read MoreEscaping the city on the ski slopes of Abruzzo
My kids had a week of school vacation in February and they wanted to go skiing, and I was happy to exchange the office for the ski slopes for one glorious week. There’s something special about escaping the city to take temporary residence in the mountains. Our mountain escape of Ovindoli, in the region of…
Read MoreReading and writing inspiration on the slopes
When this post goes out, I will be at the end of a week on the slopes. Skiing holidays are always regenerating. I love to be out in the mountains, breathing fresh air, and exercising each day. And at the end of the day when I’m physically exhausted, I love to curl up with a …
Read MoreRinging in the New Year on the slopes of Abruzzo
I generally don’t travel far during the holidays. While I’m almost always up for travel, the super-busy Christmas holidays is a time I’d rather not deal with hectic airports or packed trains and highways. I tend to stick close to Rome, generally making short trips to nearby towns and cities. It’s also a great time…
Read MoreCrunching through the leaves on my mountain bike in Abruzzo
I’ve written about it before, but it’s always a pleasure for me when I can make a weekend escape out to the mountains in Abruzzo. With my busy work schedule and my kids’ insane sports programs, this luxury is becoming rarer and rarer. With my older son off at a tennis tournament in Germany, my…
Read MoreSpring/summer mountain biking in Abruzzo
It’s been far too long since I’ve managed to get out to my little mountain escape from the city, in Ovindoli, Abruzzo. I’ve been dying for a weekend escape mountain biking on this picturesque high plain in the Apennine mountains. I wrote about my last biking trip out here in the autumn. Although I never…
Read MoreA slice of heaven: mountains and a book
Just thinking back to my last weekend. After many of months of kids’ exams, kids’ sports competitions and my own work keeping me away from my preferred weekend getaway in the Apennine mountains of central Italy, I finally (!!!) managed to escape the city. The weekend was short, but enjoyable. Here I am out-of-frame in…
Read MoreAlpine art-deco splendor in Ortisei, Italy
I’ve already written about my fantastic skiing holiday to the Dolomites, in northern Italy’s Trentino-Alto Adige province, this past winter, and the town in the Val Gardena where we made our base, Selva di Val Gardena. But the ‘historic’ town – always feels funny to use that term in Italy unless a town spans back…
Read MoreSella ronda – a 42 km ski loop in the Dolomites
Ever since I returned from my ski holiday I’ve been waxing poetic about these beautiful mountains in northern Italy. I’ve already written about skiing in the Dolomites and the base we loved in Selva di Val Gardena. This week I’m going to write about a trail – the Sella ronda, that will get you to many…
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