In late February and March of 2009, we took a trip to northern Italy, dividing our time about equally between the mountain resort town of Bormio and in the city of Milan. The train that we took between these two locations ran for several miles along the east side of Lake Como, and I managed to get one picture I was really pleased with:
This lake is spectacular, especially in the winter, when it is nestled below the snowy peaks of the Alps. This may have been the most scenic train ride of my life, and it was just a regular TrenItalia line that took us where we wanted to go. I think it topped some of the train rides I have taken that are marketed as scenic trains and don't really take you anywhere but the scenery. I thought this picture was pretty good for having been taken through the glass window of a moving train.
Bormio is a beautiful mountain resort town in the Alps. It is old, having its origins as a Roman town, and a main street is the Via Roma, originally a Roman road. Today, the main draws are skiing, scenery, and the hot springs located just outside town. This picture looks down on the town from the ski slopes of the Bormio ski resort.
This was my first (and so far, only) time skiing the Alps. This picture captures a piece of what is special about it. Here, I was skiing above the clouds. But with the ski area's huge vertical drop of nearly 5,900 feet, you can go and go and go without having to get on a lift, through different weather and climate zones. On this day, after riding multiple lifts to get to the top, I skied above the clouds, through the clouds, and below the clouds.
Much of the ski area is above tree line, making for spectacular, wide-open views like this. This was just above one of the many places all over the mountain where you can stop to take a break and get a bite to eat or a drink. Some are large mid-mountain lodges like the one in this picture, but others are small houses offering food and drink in a more intimate, less crowded setting. Incidentally, Italian skiers - many that ski here come from the major fashion center of Milan - are very stylish and fashion conscious. I wasn't, especially for the first couple days, because our baggage did not arrive with us when we flew into Milan, so I had to ski in the blue jeans I had been wearing on the plane. Luckily, there were shops in town where we could buy a few necessary clothes until our bags arrived.
This picture is from Oga, another ski resort not too far from Bormio. It is smaller and much less crowded - I largely had the runs to myself - but with a vertical drop of nearly 4,000 feet, still bigger top-to-bottom than the vast majority of U.S. ski resorts.
The Duomo, Milan's iconic cathedral located on the city's main Piazza.
We took a tour of the roof of the cathedral, which enables you to see its thousands of scuptures and gargoyles up close. I suspect this couple, by a clock that looks in toward one of the walkways around the roof, may have just finished sinning. ;-)
A very old and very elaborate shopping mall, also off the main Piazza, on the side of the Piazza next to the Duomo and at a right angle to it. Some very high-end shops here - remember what I said about Milan being a fashion center.
A view from the Piazza. The mall is under the arched entrance in the right of the picture. Pretty sure this was around a long time before anyone got the idea of building a shopping mall in the United States.
Of course, this has been around even longer than the mall on the Piazza. Roman ruins like this are pretty much scattered all over Italy.