The one week white snow sledding trip, in contrast to last week's bloody red experience, was a blessed cooling off respite.
Assured that my mother's medical condition, after the crisis of the past week, had stabilized (as was reported in my previous Posting,) the family decision was to take
off, after all to Milan .
A scenic visit to the Italian/Swiss Alps, with our youngest daughter - Inbal and grandchild Leo, was already planned, few weeks prior the to the unexpected
sad events impacting my Mom.
Thus, we didn’t want to disappoint the daughter and grand with canceling, nor to forfeit this narrow window of opportunity, during which Inbal gained some time off, in between the job she left , and the new one, that was about to start, later in the month.
The volume of required paperwork , Corona testing, and approval passes to qualify and get on a flight , as well as to enter another country, was a true nightmare,
So many unpredictable unknowns and anxiety provoking processes, exhausted us all.
I wonder how computer illiterate and those lacking smart phone, mange getting on any flight, during these -Corona inflicted - complicated days.???
Surprisingly, the low cost Easy Jet flight from TLV, on Feb 6, was 2/3 full, and though it departed an hour late it was comfortable and well served,
Thankfully the flight was uneventful, so catching up on sleep, before arriving 4 hours later at Mapensa airport, helped us gaining back the energies, which were over-spent on bureaucracy,
It was late evening, when we landed and bused to the terminal, were Passport Control went relatively fast.
The wait inside the arrival terminal, for David to return, and pick us up with the rental car, was definitely much warmer then the freezing cold out-doors, but the wait seemed forever..
A Night spent in Malgrate
A short, less then an hour drive, away from Malpensa airport, landed us at a small town (of only ~ 5000 inhabitants) in the Lombardy region called Malgrate , situated across from Lecco, by the beautiful Lake Como
The views of the lake and the mountainous surrounding are gorgeous.
Boutique Hotel at Malrgate
Casa Sull'Albergo on lago di Como
39 03411880440
is a beautiful modern hotel in a wooded area above the lake, that also serves a great breakfast.
39 0341201123
Situated 5 minutes walk from the hotel, via a set of steps leading down to the lake.
Good food, small portion, but spectacular views of the lake and the mountains surrounding it.
Night view of the lake from the restaurant
The following morning on Feb 7th after the morning power walk by the lake,
crossing the JFK quint bridge from Malgrate to Lecco, headed us on a food stocking mission.
The Meridiana vast Shopping Mall in the center of Lecco offers a wide selection of brand stores and hyper market.
The mission to stock up on food at the Italian Bennet Super, before heading up to the Swiss mountains was successful.
However trying to find a proper winter coat in David's size, was a mission impossible...
As we flew from TLV where we mostly carry summer clothes, David was in need of a snow appropriate wear. The shrunk size of Italian men, offers a limited size selection thus eliminating Italy as a place to shop for a coat matching David's tall hunk size..
So we gave up on this errand.. in hope that a fleece and a lighter coat would warm
enough his padded muscled body.
North Tip of Lake Como
Heading up to the Snowy mountains
The drive from Lecco along the beautiful Lake Como, and through the many under the mountains' tunnels, passes via several quaint Alpine small towns on the northern arm of lake Como, which we were lucky to enjoy, thanks a sunny clear though cold weather, Then the curvy road continues into the Swiss snowy Alps, toward Sr. Moritz.
The towns on the way worth mentioning are: Colico , Sondrio -(Formerly an Ancient Roman military camp), Somagia
and most quint historic town of Chiavenna on the border with Switzerland.
Chiavenna
From Chiavenna, the landscape changed into steep climb up hill. The mountainous peaks, frozen lakes, pine trees and houses' top-roofs were all capped by heavy
white snow powder.
Maloja Pass has to be crossed as to get to St Moritz.
The curvy pass marks the divide between the Danube and Po watersheds, linking the Engadine with the Val Bregaglia, still in Switzerland and Chiavenna in Italy
Silvaplana is an Alpine trendy spot by a lake bearing the same name, just before St Moritz
It is surrounded by pristine nature which attracts hikers in the summer, as well as skiers cross-country and snowboarders in the winter.
Sledding in the snow was what attracted us to stay for 2 days in this heavenly place.
Lodging at
Nira Alphina Hotel - Silvapana
A superior 4* ski -in ski out mountain retreat, situated amongst the glassy lakes and offers spectacular views of the towering snow-capped mountains of St. Moritz.
Diner in St Moritz
Restaurant Engiadina - St Moritz
081 833 30 00
Beautiful place serving Fantastic Swiss Food
TO BE CONTINUED....