June 18:

Finally the summer season has opened - sort of. That means that one of the three ski lifts near us is operating. The other two will open next week after we leave. There is one down the road about an hour - I should say up the road - where you can take a lift up to a glacier. But it doesn't open until next week either. So sad.



This lift, just a few feet from our front door, is for skiers and golfers. It takes you from our 4,000 feet up to 5,000 feet.

Actually, we realize later that you can drive up to the golf course in your car if you like.

Once we got to the end of the lift, we walked over to a restaurant named Capanna Valbione. A bar and restaurant. 








After looking around a little, we had our morning coffee and looked out on this pond and the mountains. 




With no snow at this level, we just saw golfers and tourist like ourselves.




I could have just sat there all day watching the clouds and light on the mountains change.




























A little past the pond we find the entrance to the golf course.

We start walking around the edge of the course. Its a slight grade and we follow the family that we saw at the beginning for a few holes. Everyone is pushing/pulling a golf cart, no sign of any motorized golf carts.




This sign shows the change in elevation of about 10 meters for the first hole. It gets higher as you walk to the next few holes. This isn't Florida or Holland. It looks to us like the course is actually 9 holes that you repeat to make a full 18.




There are some houses and a water fountain at the beginning of our walk.

The thing to notice here are the stones on the top of the chimney to hold down the top from being blown away. Linda found whole roofs in Mexico held down this way.





I'm not actually going to drink that water, but it is potable and we see people filling their water bottles from these fountains.  And, a German Shepard helped himself.

We forgot our selflie stick but were still able to take a self-portrait.
The path starts almost level, but then changes to a little more of a grade.

We end up at the tees for holes #4 and #13 and sit on a bench and watch two parties tee off. They are hitting their balls down into a valley at least 500 feet below. Its remarkable. I don't hang out at golf courses, but I've never seen anything like this before. This must be an exhausting course to play, especially this hole. You have to climb up a trail, hit your ball, and then walk back down into the valley to the green.

Along the way back, we have this kind of view. Pretty nice, huh?

Back at our starting point at the pond, we decide to eat lunch: a goulash for Linda and a roasted piece of beef for me. They had two different beef steaks on the menu. The other one was horse. I passed. I've had it before, but it was tough and I just don't like the idea of it.

Here is the map of the slopes around us.

The highest is 2730 meters (8900 feet).  As a reference, Pike's Peak is just over 14,000 feet. These mountains must attract a lot of skiers in the winter.

As we finish our lunch the drizzle starts. This is the way the afternoon rains start almost everyday. We take the lift back down. There is a windshield you can pull down and we use it to stay dry.












The rest of the day was spent inside and dry except for a short walk to the bank after dinner to get some money.