Vacation's End: Skiing with the Family in Cortina D'Ampezzo

After the wet and rainy Venice, the family headed north to the Dolomites, an Italian mountain chain that is part of the Alps.  Specifically, we spent the last days of the trip skiing (snowboarding for me) in Cortina D'Ampezzo, a 3-hour train ride and 1-hour bus ride north of Venice.



My Mom and Dad with beautiful Dolomite peaks behind them.





My brother as we descended down the slopes through the clouds.


Sunny skiing can be found above the clouds.


Family picture shot!  I had a blast traveling with them around Italy.  As I type this, they are flying back to the U.S., Cody to Los Angeles and my parents back to Wisconsin.  Last night I said my goodbyes at the Venezia Mestre train station and caught a night train to Ljubljana, Slovenia, arriving at around 2 a.m.  My first gig of the tour is tonight in Ljubljana, and many more gigs and adventures to follow for the next few weeks as I make my way around Europe.  Stay tuned...

Slovenia Road Trip - Pt. 2

Depending on how familiar you are with my music, you may know the song, "The Isonzo Waltz". It is about a series of battles fought during World War I between the Italians and the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the Isonzo River. Well the Isonzo lies mostly in modern-day Slovenia, and is called the Socha in Slovene. The Socha is a beautiful blue river, and it starts up in the Julian Alps that you can see in the background.

The Alps at sunset. Some serious WWI battles were fought up at the top of those peaks, with trenches cut into ice, snow and rock. Crazy to imagine such warfare.

This is a mausoleum in Kobarid filled with the remains of 7,000 Italian soldiers from the Isonzo Front. It was built by Mussolini in the 1930's when this was Italian territory, and those M arches are a standard architectural design of his time period. Mussolini had a massive ego, but then again, all dictators do. Kobarid is Caporetto in Italian, and you might recognize that name if you've read Hemingway's Farewell To Arms. Hemingway actually worked as a Red Cross ambulance driver in Caporetto during WWI, and based the book on his experiences here. He was present at the Battle of Kobarid, when the German-aided Austrians pushed the Italians out of the mountains and re-took the city. Caporetto is Italy's "Alamo".

The Socha River winds its way south through the valley and past the quiet town of Kobarid.

The Julian Alps in all their majesty.

Slovenia Roadtrip - Pt. 1

So far my trip had mainly consisted of seeing capital city after capital city, which had been an amazing time. However, I was really wanting to leave the city behind for awhile and hit up those beautiful Alps I had seen from Ljubljana. I rented a car for two days and so began my Slovene road trip...Cruising up the highway towards those wonderful mountains. Most people here drive like assholes, I'm sorry to say. If you hop in the left lane for a second to pass one slow-moving vehicle they will be on your ass immediately, riding your bumper and honking. The speed limit here was like 100 kph, but everyone in the left lane was going like 140 or more.

Lake Bled. This was my original destination because I had heard things. When I got there it simply wasn't far enough away from civilization for me, it was too much like Door County in Wisconsin or another touristy area. I only spent about 15 mins. here and then headed deeper into the mountains to get lost.

This was my ride: a Renault Megane. When I said I needed an automatic they almost laughed at me. Damn European drivers and their manuals, or damn me and my lifetime of driving automatics.

Much better, I left the cities behind and hiked up to a waterfall above Lake Bohinj, seen down the valley. These are called the Julian Alps, after Julius Caesar, and everything here is pretty close to the border of Italy.

The waterfall and I. Took this one using a timer and placing the camera on the railing, so it isn't the best frame for showing the falls, but look at that deep green water!

Ljubljana - Pt. 2

A view of Ljubljana from the castle.

The Julian Alps of Slovenia. The next day I rented a car and drove up into them, but you'll see that in the next post...

Enjoying a nice day by the river in downtown Ljubljana.

Some REALLY creepy installation art in Metelkova, another squatter's locale.

My second and last gig in Ljubljana, at a club called Jalla Jalla in Metelkova. I was seriously singing through a karaoke mic, and my guitar was plugged into a huge electric guitar amplifier. It was fun as hell.