Mountain life coming to an end

Today marked my final day in the mountains of Italy. Tomorrow morning I get on the bus, then another bus, then a train to get back to Milan for the final few days of my Olympic journey.

The mountains have been both amazing and amazingly frustrating. First and foremost, this area has to be the most beautiful place I have ever been. With the previous three Winter Olympics that I have been a part of, I never really felt like it was winter, even though the mountains outside Sochi, PyeongChang and Beijing provided snow. There is no question that there is snow here, particularly at the venues, which are some of the most historic places in World Cup action, as biathlon in Antholz and alpine in Cortina are regular occurrences. 

But as for the amazingly frustrating, I am obviously referring to the transportation and the long distances between venues. Riding five hours on a bus for a cross-country race is a bit much, but so is riding two hours to cover an alpine race or a curling match. But at least those buses showed up, unlike some of the buses that just never arrived. In all my previous Winter Olympics, it was about an hour to an hour and a half to get from the indoor venues to the mountains. And once you were in the mountains, you could usually get around fairly easily to different venues. That certainly was not the case here. If you were in Cortina, you could easily get to the women's alpine, sliding or curling venues, but getting anywhere else was the challenge. Biathlon was more than an hour away, the cross-country and ski jumping venues were about three hours away. Milan was a few train rides away. And Livigno and Bormio where they were doing freestyle events and men's alpine, respectively, were on the other side of the country.

Did I know this coming in? Yes. In hindsight, I probably would've applied for a hotel in Cortina rather than the Antholz cluster and then traveled to biathlon the three times I needed to be there rather than travel to Cortina when I didn't have to be at biathlon. But, that's in the past. 

That all being said, Valle di Casies, where my hotel was located, just a few miles from the Austrian border, was heaven. Cross-country trails roll all along the valley, as Sud Tirol is known for its incredible cross-country skiing. Looking out my hotel window at night, I can see the groomers moving along the valley. The snow we got on Thursday only made everything look even more beautiful. Like I have said numerous times, I could live here and be happy. As long as I didn't have to rely on Olympic transportation.

Finally, I have to send a shoutout to my hotel here in the mountains, Hotel Gasthof Hofmann. The owners are very friendly and kind, the views are amazing and the food is absolutely delicious. They serve dinner every night and since I've been here, I've eaten numerous foods that I traditionally don't eat simply because I know it will be good coming from their kitchen. The hotel just feels like a place you'd call home. If you happen to find yourself in Valle di Casies, look them up. 

Now, it's on to Milan.


Staying at Hotel Gasthof Hofmann was an absolute delight.

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