Travelog for: Shooga

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

We were getting a bit bored of being stuck in town by the weather , so today we convinced smaug to take us to the mountains even if it was freezing cold . We walked for some time at the bottom of a nice and snow covered little valley .




Even the map seemed to be a bit frozen .



Eventually we reached a nice viewpoint . From there it looked like the sun was trying to show up, but the wind was turning my nose in a block of ice, so I quickly went back in smaug’s pack and stayed safely in there until we made it back to the car .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Great news, I’m going on holiday ! smaug and sammino have been very cagey when I enquired about our destination , so I guess I’ll find out when we get there .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Guess what, I am in Italy ! And it’s just like being still in Canada, there’s snow everywhere .



As soon as we arrived sammino introduced us o some of the local residents...a group of fairly imposing fellas, but they seem very friendly .



Anyway, now I urgently need some sleep , so I’ll explore around tomorrow.

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

We didn’t have much time to explore around as today we went skiing . First, of course, we got a proper sugar-loaded breakfast .



Later we drove to Selva di Valgardena where we started a round trip that took us over 4 passes and into 4 different valleys . We had some lovely views of the small valleys carving their way into the Sella Group .



From one of the gondolas that we used during the day we could see the Saslong Group...



...and the mountains lining Val di Fassa.



As we reached Passo Pordoi we had an even better view of the Saslong...



...and on the opposite side we could see as far as the Tofane Group, looming over Cortina d’Ampezzo .



All the way we had the imposing walls of the Sella Group looking down at us.



Later we reached Passo di Campolongo, where we entered Val Badia.




Eventually we reached the last pass of the day, Passo Gardena. From here the view opened on to the west...



...and eventually we saw the other side of our friend Saslong .



And from here it was all downhill back to Selva, what a day !

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

A few more guests arrived here today: Orpheus, Landroval and Sigfrido have come home to spend the holidays with us .



And they even brought along some delicious TV-made sweets , so we spent the evening chatting and, mostly, eating .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Today we went for a short hike on a mountain just next to Trento . After trudging along a narrow and shadowed trail we reached a nice ridge from where we had a great view of the valley both north...



...and south.



Some passage along the trail looks a bit scary , but fun too .



Eventually we reached the top, from where the view to the north opened up a bit more.



And we could see the whole Trento just below us .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Tonight there was a lot of action going on under the Christmas tree, but our attention was mostly focused on how to open the pandoro .



It was a bit of work ...



...but we eventually managed to get our well deserved slice . Merry Christmas !!

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Today is our last day in Italy so we went for a short walk on the side of the valley next to town . The path was a bit steep so we occasionally stopped to get some rest.



Eventually, just before the sun started setting, we reached a nice spot from where we could see the mountains to the north...



...and east of town .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Today, in the wee hour of the morning sammino waked us all up and said it was time for travelling again so we said goodbye to all our friends here in Italy .



Eventually it was really time to leave and sammino showed up with what was supposed to be the bus to the airport .



It seemed a bit undersized, but somehow we all managed to "comfortably" cram ourselves on it, it could be a long trip to the airport .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

I’m back on native German soil ! Well, only for a stop on the way to Canada . The stop is actually a bit of a long one, so smaug told us to watch the planes and behave like well mannered TVs .



Actually watching planes turned out to be freaking boring, so we decided to spend the time in a slightly more entertaining fashion by sampling some local delicacies .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

I’m back in Canada ! We arrived just before midnight in time to celebrate the new year . Actually we were so tired after the trip, that we quickly took advantage of what we picked up at the duty free and went straight to bed .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Happy New Year!!

This morning we were so jet-lagged that we were up very early in the morning , so smaug decided to take us for a quick trip to the mountains . It was a bit dark when we started walking, but soon we saw that the day was going to be gorgeous .



And our destination was already basking in the early morning sun.



Eventually we reached the summit where, with not a single cloud in the sky, the view was great . We could see the prairies almost all the way to Calgary...



...and the Rockies on the other side .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Today we all gathered together to say goodbye and wish a safe trip to Chino who is travelling south to the US .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Today it was unusually warm, so, after spending weeks stuck at home tending smaug’s ankle , we convinced him to put on some very stiff boots and try to take us out for an easy walk. The weather was quite cloudy, but the sun was kind enough to suddenly show up when we reached a nice viewpoint .



Later we spent some time under this imposing ridge...



...and had to cross the stream down in this large valley . For some reason, during the crossing over the half broken ice, smaug used adjectives that I don’t feel comfortable repeating in my blog .



Eventually we reached the back side of Prairie Mt and we knew that we made it almost all the way back to the car .

Hi Mum, hi Dad,

Today we all gathered together to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Landroval who is travelling to his next host .