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Published: January 6th 2007
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Mike and The Galluzzi's
Daniel is in the middle and Fancesco is on the right More Ski School and Italian Ping-Pong
Ski School: Part Deux Yesterday we woke up with plans to attend another day of ski school. Kel was a little trepidatious about more skiing due to the fact that her legs were very tired but she decided that it couldn’t hurt to try. Thus, after breakfast we rested with plans of returning to Reith for our 1:30 lesson.
With lunch in our bellies we headed back to the Reith ski school and hoped that we would be able to get Aloise for lessons again. Luckily his previously scheduled lesson was canceled again so he was free and therefore could give us the two hour lesson that we were looking forward to.
Aloise met us on the slopes and proceeded to get us warmed up with a few exercises which were rather complicated but effective. While warming us up we found out that he was not only an instructor, but the instructors’ instructor which was why the other ski instructors had laughed at him so much when he and Kel fell off the T-lift the day before. Thankfully he was still very jolly about the whole thing
and made Kel feel accepted instead of embarrassed.
After our warm ups we headed up the hill (approximately 800 meters high) and started our day’s lessons. Today’s goal was to move past the snow plow and possibly learn to slide to a stop as well. Kel was a little tired from the day before so she only participated every other run down the hill.
We both learned a ton and ended the day way ahead of where we started. Aloise was very pleased with our progress and said that we had accomplished skills usually reserved for 5 days of lessons. By the end of the day I could ride to the bottom of the hill and slide perfectly to a stop, which was something that I had really wanted to learn.
After our lessons I took a few runs on my own which were mostly successful. At one point I got ahead of myself (literally) and tried the steep section of the course only to fall and roll to a stop a couple of times before I made it to the bottom of the hill. By time the course closed I was exhausted and Kel was ready
to head home.
The rest of the evening was very dull due to us both being exhausted. After dinner we ended up in bed by 9:30 and were asleep by 11pm. We are a very exciting group of travelers!!
A day of recuperation and more Italian fun Today we had originally planned to ski but decided against it due to pains and aches from the day before. Therefore we returned our skis after breakfast and killed the day by being lazy, reading books and playing games around the resort.
After lunch we played a little bit of curling but tired of it rather quickly. The temperature had been rising over the last few days so the ice on the curling courses was turning to slush making sliding the pucks very difficult. Kel turned out to be very good at it as she is at every game that involves accuracy over power.
From curling we headed back to the Ping-Pong table. After a game or two, our Italian friends from earlier in our stay showed up again but this time I was ready. I played Daniel (the father) fist and beat him 21 to 16. Then I played his daughter’s boyfriend (Francesco) and was handily destroyed 21 to 12. Daniel played Francesco and won and then played me again which ended with him beating me as well.
Despite the fact that none of us spoke the same language we were all having a great time. Daniel played Kel and went a little easy on her but had a great time either way. After he played Kel, Daniel left and I played Francesco again but was pretty tired by this point. Francesco beat me without even trying which was no surprise to anyone.
It turns out that Daniel had left to go to his room to get something to show us. He and his family run a small guest house in Tuscany that is located in an old castle. He wanted us to see the brochure and a magazine article written about it in the Italian magazine La Bella Vita. After giving us his information we parted ways with the idea of meeting up after dinner when his wife would be present, as she spoke some English which would allow us to actually have a conversation.
More Italian Fun After a fabulous dinner we met up with the whole Galluzzi clan: Daniel, Anna (Mom), Carlotta (the daughter) and Francesco (the boyfriend). We went and sat in the lounge around a big table and Anna talked to us about their guest house. It really appears to be a beautiful place, think Under the Tuscan Sun. Anna and Daniel run Casa Pozzuolo as a second job which means they are very busy people. As usual they were a little intrigued about the fact that we were going to be traveling for a year.
We told them we would love to come stay with them but would have to make plans later because we are still not really sure about what we will be doing upon our return to Europe in May. Daniel promised us that they would make us a special meal if we came to Tuscany - Anna seems to be a fabulous cook. An offer like this is hard to turn down so we shall see…
As we concluded our conversation, Daniel brought out cards and asked us if we knew how to play Rummy, which of course we do. The Italians seem to play a slightly different variety of Rummy that involves 14 cards and some weird rules about when you can and cannot put your cards on the table. After a few hiccups we got the hang of it and were able to play the game.
Kel did pretty well but I did miserably due to some unfortunate hands that I was dealt. As seems to be the case in all games, Francesco beat the pants off of everyone. We caught on very quickly to what seems to be a family tradition of exasperatingly declaring, “Frannnccessccoooo!!!, “every time he did so well. The Galluzzi’s seemed to find it funny every time we’d say it.
Despite getting creamed again by Francesco it was all a lot of fun. If we can we will definitely go to see the Galluzzi’s when we got through Italy. If you’d like to check out their guest house check the following internet address: www.casalepozzuolo.it
Hope you are all having as much fun as we are!! Talk to you soon!!
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JennyInJamaica
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Agriturismo!
Ahhhh the Casa is an agriturismo place! In case you don't already know this (you probably do), Italy has renovated farmhouses that are registered with the government. When a family has their place registered as an agriturismo, they must serve food grown on the farm, so you get a family-feel place and truly fresh, local food. Yum!