Dreamy Dolomites in Winter, and best skiing

No much snow this year but enough to ski, and to appreciate how beautiful my Dolomite Mountains are! Paesaggi da favola! 

And of course the best ski ever! Below the record of my best day on the slopes, from Val di Fassa to Val Gardena.

After 23+ km I deserved a bombardino (probably about 2000 calories!)

More scenic shots:

Look at this frozen waterfall, dreamy!

We stayed at the Hotel Pareda in Canazei, which has a beautiful pool and wellness centre, lovely staff, comfortable rooms, and where every evening we filled our bellies well.

In Val Gardena I even found a restaurant (at the Hotel Valpudra) with lots of Vegan options, like this delicious homemade rye pasta with seitan ragout with marjoran and cress fragrance. I licked the plate clean! 

And the bread was great too! I love the local pan dur, hard crispy bread with fennel seeds.

Bye bye to a lovely week in the mountains, I hope you get more snow!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

MoMA, a must visit in New York

Did you ever seen the book entitled 1001 Paintings you must see before you die ? Well, if you are on an art bucket list you can tick off quite a few 'must see' just by visiting MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) in NY. 

 Barnett Newman
 The Wild - 1950 (with my kids)

This was an amazing experience for all the family, and as a bonus there was this brilliant exhibition on too (where we could not take photos, sorry!).  And here, not in any particular order, a few of my favorites.

Roy Lichtenstein
Drowning Girl - 1963

Roy Lichtenstein
Girl with Ball - 1961

Andy Warhol
Gold Marilyn Monroe - 1962

Jasper Johns
  Flag - 1954-56

Frida Kahlo
Fulang-Chang and I - 1937

Pablo Picasso
Interior with a Girl Drawing - 1935

Piet Mondrian
Trafalgar Square - 1939-43

Claude Monet
Agapanthus - 1914-26

Alberto Giacometti
Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object) - 1934 (cast c. 1954-55)

Salvador Dalí
The Persistence of Memory - 1931

Max Ernst
Lunar Asparagus - 1935 (cast 1972)

Amedeo Modigliani
Reclining Nude - c. 1919

Giorgio Morandi
Still Life - 1916

Henry Matisse
Dance (I) - 1909

Henri Rousseau
The Sleeping Gypsy - 1897

Vincent van Gogh
The Starry Night - 1889

Vincent van Gogh
The Olive Trees - 1889

Paul Gauguin
The Seed of the Areoi - 1892

Georges-Pierre Seurat
Port-en-Bessin, Entrance in the Harbor - 1888

Gustav Klimt
Hope, II - 1907-08

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

First photos from New York

This is my second visit to New York, the first one was over 20 years ago! In fact I still have a photo of me with the Twin Towers in the background, so visiting to the World Trade Centre Site was quite an experience.

The 9/11 Memorial remembers the victims' birthdays by placing a white rose on their names. There are almost 3,000 names, and the victims of the 1993 World Trade Centre Bombing are also remembered here.

It was a cold and cloudy day.

We had a sunny day too (albeit still cold!) perfect to visit the Empire State Building, and the view was great!

Other highlights were the big Xmas tree and skaters at the Rockefeller Centre...

shopping in Saks Fifth Avenue,

visiting the Central Station,

… and discovering my own coffee brand!

I also liked the Xmas decorations in NY, much more subtle that the ones in Los Angeles. 

On the third day it snowed! This is the view from our window, we stayed in a wonderful place in the heart of Manhattan, a convent turned into a guest house, The Leo House. Highly recommended.

The skyscrapers are great, but there are also a lot of lovely 'shorter' buildings around, I liked this cute 'attic' on the right, with the green roof, next to MOMA (which is so good to deserves a post by itself, later on).

Arantxa was feeling at home, I am sure that she would like to live in NY!

This is all for now, I'll talk about the food another time!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©