Tiny Town Tour

As it turns out I have neglected to update in a couple of months, but not only that, I have also not written a single word about moving to the mountain.  Perfect timing for me to finally write considering I will be moving back down to the valley in the next couple of days.  In my defense I would like to state that sunny days were spent outside, snowy days didn’t always have functioning internet, and I have been updating on Facebook a little.  None of those are very good reasons for not writing, but I can’t do anything about that now.  So here we go.  I will introduce you to the small village on a mountain in the Italian Alps the way I got to know it. 

(If I mention ‘we’ and haven’t said another name then you can assume that it is me and Jess- an au pair and friend from VT.)

Snow Academy- Scuola Italiana Sci e Snowboard
At the beginning of the season a lot of days were spent here hanging out and getting my balancing act together.  The sun would set early (as most of you know this happens in the winter) so it was too cold to stay outside.  The ski school is great and even better if you intend on learning to ski- since that is what they do best!  I was prepared to teach English a couple of times but since it was the first year to have language/ski lessons not many people knew about it.  Next year I’m sure it will be full of participants. 

me in one of the ski school jackets - Jess playing on the board

Peter’s Coffee House
Hot Chocolate heaven.  Let’s start from the beginning.  Peter’s isn’t your average cafe in Italy.  It is def. more of a coffee house feeling.  Back to the hot chocolate.  Some of you may remember my descriptions of hot chocolate in Italy and how wonderful it is.  For those of you who haven’t heard… Italian hot chocolate is like warm pudding/soup but chocolate so already this is the best thing ever.  Then at Peter’s Coffee House Peter himself makes fresh whipped cream.  Although I think he may have angels in the back whipping it up for him because it is heavenly.  Yes, I know I used ‘heaven/ly’ as a description a lot in this paragraph but it is true and I don’t feel like using a thesaurus to find another word that means the same thing so deal.

The front of Peter's Coffee House - my have finished hot chocolate

Sporting Pub
Many evenings were spent here for a glass of wine or a beer.  It is fun to look back and see how we progressed from having to pay when we got our drinks and full price to the night we could pay at the bar and started getting a discount.  Jess: we’re regulars now!  There was one night in the middle where our server obviously didn’t know who we were and we had to suffer the full price for the last time.  Since that night we have only sat at the bar which happens to be nicer anyway.  Usually the Pub was a stop after a night of skiing.  I would walk down since I could ski home (and I didn’t want to wear ski boots to walk home) and Jess would walk up from the ski school and we’d meet for a drink.  The best nights were of course when others would buy them for us...  we met Paolo Meneguzzi (opening act for Ricky Martin) one Friday night while he was here to perform the next day, and the DJ from Radio 105 out of Milan took a liking to us (ok me) but that was a little awkward.  Once spring arrived we would meet at Sporting with with others for aperitivo and sit in the sun for as long as possible before going home for dinner.

birthday drink - first night at the pub with wine, beer, and pizza

The Crai
Prato Nevoso’s ‘super’ market.  This tiny little market was a walk down the one street in town, around the parking lot, and up a small hill.  We would frequent the Crai a couple of times a week.  Usually for coca cola light, wine, gummies, ritz or maybe fruit-- no, nothing italian except for the wine.  We have even gone to the Crai dressed for carnival-- for me that included wings a wig.  After Jess participated in MangiaSki (mangia = eat) -- should be BeveSki (beve = drink) since eating is the least of what takes place-- the last stop on the path was next to the market and we needed supplies for the evening soooo in her condition there was nothing to do but cheers a guy... in the Crai- champagne and all!
Jess: Cheers!  Guy: Cin! Cin! (Italian version of cheers)  Jess: No, Cheers! 
This is probably my favorite memory of the Crai.

dressed up for carnival at the Crai

Pratolandia
This could be the most hilarious place on the mountain.  Please remember that we are in Prato Nevoso so this is translated as Prato Land!  This wonderful patch of snow is for the kids... and me and Jess.  Mattia could get in b/c it was included in his ski group so we took advantage of this on several occasions.  My first trip was just me and Mattia and we jumped around in one of the big blow up balloons and of course down the dino slide.  There are sleds and all kinds of things to do-- at least to a 3 year old!  I later found out that I probably wasn’t supposed to be on the toys but honestly no one else was around so it would have just been Mattia jumping by himself and it looked like too much fun so I joined in.  Later we would go with Jess and Beatrice too (she is 1) and have a blast!

Mattia on the Dino slide

Pizza I Metri
Jess and I enjoyed afternoons in the sun being ‘townies’.  The trouble with being a townie in Italy is you must first find a place such as a bench to sit on.  There are a lack of benches in Italy; unless you are in a park or maybe piazza (although even there they are scarce) you will find it hard to come by a place to sit and enjoy life for free. We were thrilled to find a bench perfectly situated in the sun outside of a ‘pizza by the meter’ place.  We would occasionally buy a piece of focaccia and enjoy the afternoon.  One day I noticed that something had been written on our bench.  A little notice in blue permanent marker saying that the bench was reserved for clients only.  Luckily on this day I wanted to be a client but we were a little disappointed that we were no longer welcome to sit on the bench without buying some bread.  It was on this bench that we were first invited to aperitivo at Brucaliffo…..

Brucaliffo!!
One afternoon/evening as Jess and I were relaxing in the sun at Pizza I Metri some of the ski instructors were headed next door to Brucaliffo for aperitivo.  Andrea mentioned that they usually came after work and we should come.  Life got better after that.  Glass of wine and light snacks before dinner is the way to go.  Our first day was initiated by breaking a bottle of wine (that was hidden in Jess’s coat) and making a nice mess all over the floor although there is a chance they don’t know who it was.  Fede and his handle bar mustache made Brucaliffo awesome not to mention we got a discount which was fantastic as well.  On cooler days we would sit inside, then the more recent sunny days were spent outside on the couch by the front door or the patio visiting with friends.  The best days involved live music but everyday was in good company.

wall inside - couch outside - patio the last night it was open.. live music and all

Snow Fever
There may be two ‘clubs’ in Prato Nevoso but we were frequent visitors of Snow Fever.  I must say that my first trip to Snow Fever was anything but special.  So boring in fact that we left Snow Fever and went back to the Pub; probably in part because of the numerous teenagers that decided to show up that night.  Since then Snow Fever has had it’s ups and downs depending on day of course but we always made it fun.  There were days where we started the party and then I’m pretty sure Jess even shut it down another night.  The music was usually good and at times way too random but luckily it was in english so as old as the song might be we could always sing and dance along.  A few songs from the season are: Stereo Love, No Stress, In the House, and Candy on the Dance Floor.  Of course there were others but these in particular meant that no matter where we were we must get to the dance floor pronto.
    Hitchhiking was always apart of evenings out.  Living on a mountain means that when you hit the wee hours of the morning the last thing you want to do is walk up to your house.  Also living in this village means you can generally trust just about everyone and so we did.  Jess was the thumb-- I just couldn’t do it.  There were very few nights when we didn’t get a ride home and later on we even started getting rides down.  Our most proud nights were getting a ride down and then in between locations and then a ride home.  To top the 3 rides in one night was if the driver was willing to stop at Jess’s house and then again at mine… we had our regulars by the end of the season and then a few who would just stop and know.  It’s a shame you can’t do this everywhere.

me and Jess at Snow Fever - PRATOLANDIA (the guy) - dancing ski instructors

Malanotte/Verde
Malanotte is the top of the mountain.. I had no idea this place existed until one day I was riding in the car with Mattia and Nonno Nanni (his grandfather) and we went to Verde and Malanotte.  I never knew how high the mountain went past our house either and wondered if we would ever make it up there.  The view from the top is spectacular.  On the left you can see Cuneo (the bigger city around) and on the right you can see Mondovi.  On each side of Prato Nevoso there is another ski resort and both are someone visible from Malanotte.  Verde is on the opposite side of the mountain from where I am.  We drove here too but I have walked to both places a couple of times.  Verde is down my street/mountain around and up and then as the road wraps around the mountain some more you can finally get there--- the 6 man chair lift.  It isn’t really too far away but it’s long enough when large hills are involved.  On a nice spring day you couldn’t ask for better places to walk.

 mount viso - mount viso - ruins on the way to Verde - Mts. from Malanotte - Sunset from Malanotte

Jess and I are fairly certain that we are the only Americans (along with her sister who visited) to ever set foot in Prato Nevoso, but if you would like to be the next you can visit the website online. Getting here is a little difficult but the skiing is nice.... I will write more about both of these in the next post.  Enjoy!