Livigno, Italy in the Italian Alps

Nate & Kyle love snowboarding now, this is Nate getting some air

Kyle fullfilling his need for speed

Maria & Judy in Front of Giglio's in Lucca, Italy(Maria's mom's Maiden name).
Okay, Okay, Okay Lucca is very cool. We stayed with our good friends the Croziers and had an amazing time and hopefully they're still friends after we invaded their home. They are spending 6 months in Lucca with kids enrolled in school and the whole bit...really an exciting and challenging thing to immerse yourself completely in a different country and culture like that. We'll be back in Lucca with our own place from15 March till 5 April. But since we just got out of the “taxi” from Tirano I’ve got to share this. So we’re trying to figure out how to get from Lucca which is in the Tuscan region (central W. Coast) of Italy up North through Milan (all trains seem to go thru Milan) and then past Lake Como into Italian Alps to our final destination of Livigno. Of course trains don’t go all the way to Livigno (and as I’ll explain later cars shouldn’t either) so I thought I’d just rent a car at the nearest train stop to Livigno which happened to be the last stop - Tirano. Well, it seems that most of those towns are too small for the major car rental agencies and after hours checking the options online of bus to train to car, train to car to bus, train to donkey, scooter to train to mule… no luck. Then I find an online car rental service that books me an Audi A4 for 6 days – I don’t even know if we’ll need a car in Livigno – and I figure I’m set. Well, the rental company emails me back a couple times asking where we’re going to stay which I don’t know cuz I don’t know where we’ll be yet so I haven’t made accommodations for that one night we need prior to the start of our 3 week booking in Livigno. Of course the car company says at the last minute “Oh, sorry, we don’t have a car available” which I can deal with even though they charged me $25. So I call a taxi in Livigno and ask if they’ll make the 1 hour 50 mile drive from Tirano, the last train stop, to Livigno. No problema says Armando the driver over the phone. Well we are in the middle of the Italian Alps, the roads wind so tightly it’s unbelievable. In fact, I can’t even believe they cut roads into the sides of these mountains. The trip starts out fine, fairly flat, lots of loooonnnggg tunnels under huge peaks. Well Armando must have somewhere to be that evening cuz we are SCREAMING down the road (granted, to this point in Italy we’ve been on trains, buses and cruiser bikes so I’m sure some of the speed shock was due to that fact). I mean this guy is passing people on these tiny Italian roads which in my opinion look like they are only made for one car not two. Then, as we gain altitude the road gets some moisture, some snow and we’re still going so #@$*in fast I can’t believe it. Well Maria and Nate are getting a little car sick cuz we’re going around corners that seem like corkscrews and climbing so fast it's making our heads spin. Then we reach the top of the pass and head down. I was laughing so hard only because when I’m scared @#*$less I tend to laugh but I keep holding on to the thought that this guy is 43 years old and has lived in Livigno his whole life (so far) and I’m sure he wants to live so we should be fine. But then it happened. He’s driving us in a VW van that’s a 5 speed and this thing can really go. But as we are passing another 2 cars and a semi truck down a steep alpine road he grabs his cell phone to call someone. That’s right, one hand shifting, one hand on the cell phone, knee on the steering wheel and looking down at his phone with his 43 year old eyes trying to make sure he’s got the right number as the slush from the tires of the semi truck we’re passing is smothering the front windshield…who is this guy. Well, obviously we made it to the little two street Alpine Valley town of Livigno and as people are pleasantly strolling down the side of the narrow street we come screaming through like a teenage grease monkey in a hopped up ’72 Pontiac Thunderbird. We parked in front of our quaint little hotel as we unloaded with Armando (very nice, expressive guy by the way) talking on the cell in one hand and throwing our bags out of the back with the other.

Nate & Kyle overlooking Livigno Valley from one of the runs.

Skiing has been great and this really is a quaint little town with a wonderfully diverse and well kept ski mountain (actually there are 2). We finally let the boys try snowboarding and they love it and we've probably lost them as skiiers for life.
Ciao