Sestriere, Italy

In the middle of February I went on a ski trip to Italy with my friend Maggie.  We flew to Torino and took a 90 minute drive to a small town in the Italian Alps called Sestriere.  Sestriere was one of the two ski towns that hosted the main skiing events for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.  The trip was really fun and all of the Italian mountains and towns were beautiful.  

We stayed at the Shackleton Mountain Resort which was a fairly new and very large hotel in town.  It is owned and operated by David Shackleton and his wife.  They were a nice couple who were involved in all aspects of running the resort from visiting with people in the hotel dining room to arranging car transportation for guests to actually teaching ski lessons on the slopes.  They were the quintessential innkeepers at what could as easily  have been a 5-star hotel. 

We had a variety of exciting italian foods including pizza, pasta, and braised wild animals.  Everything was delicious.  We also finished each day with gelato at the base of the slopes and the best cocktails I've had anywhere in Europe so far at the Barabba.  Their extensive cocktail menu made you feel like you were on a Caribbean vacation after a long day on the slopes.

The view from our room at the Shackleton Mountain Resort

Lunch at an outdoor restaurant in the mountains near our hotel.

Flags of the world from the 2006 Olympics

Lunch on the slopes on our second day of skiing.

Just call me Picabo Street

View of Sestriere from the ski lift.

A melting igloo near the town square.

Fancy Cocktails at Barabba

A snowstorm on our last morning in Sestriere.

Until next time Au Revoir and Bon Appetit!