Dolomiti – Italy

 

 

This is a cool photo. It’s taken from the slopes of Pinzolo ski area. If you look at the snow covered meadow in the center of the photo, you’ll be looking at Cavria, which is family’s historical summer pasture and mountain retreat. It’s here that my dad spent a lot of his childhood taking care of the family’s cows and running them up to high pasture. In the last 20 years of so, he’s rebuilt the old fallen down granite building, and inspired the other extended clan members to do the same. It’s now an incredible retreat in the summer and a cool place to snow shoe up to in the winter.

 

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, that’s the view from the window of our hut in Cavria. It’s looking out on the Dolomiti di Brenta. Towards the left you can see the Groste’ which is the high area of the Madonna di Campiglio ski area which is roughly equivalent to Italy’s Aspen.

Here’s the panoramic vista. Click on the photo.

Our house is the big one on the left. It was pretty much completely fallen in after being abandoned for 40 years, when the family left and went to America. There’s a mural of bears on it because in the post war period there was purportedly a Russian “professor” who kept a bear in it for the purposes or study, but it sounds strange to me and I think the guy was probably a weirdo and circus crank. That house is incredible. It’s about 30 feet high and made of huge granite slabs. The animals lived in the stalls below and the living quarters were upstairs. Some of my dad’s favorite memories are of being up here in the summer with the extending family coming and going.

This lake is up and over the mountain from Cavria. It’s such a beautiful spot. The lake used to be stocked with trout from fly fisherman.

Another shot.

 

 

The website of Giampiero Ambrosi