2 posts tagged “rosa alpina”
As previously alluded to, I had the pleasure of spending a weekend and change in the magical Italian Alps a few weeks ago, courtesy of a work trip to visit Hotel & Spa Rosa Alpina. Doing PR for them and spending many hours writing pithy pitches and fun press releases (this post's title was one of H's suggestions for a press release) gave me a good idea of what to expect, but actually visiting the property was a real experience. I went with one of my colleagues, arriving on Saturday morning and staying through Tuesday morning, which is definitely way too short of a trip, but we still managed to each gain several pounds over the course of those days.
Every international flight I've taken in the past four or so years has been on American, often in business or first, thanks to H's hard earned Executive Platinum status. But, alas, American doesn't fly to Venice (the closest airport to San Cassiano, where Rosa Alpina is), so we flew Delta instead. I must say, flying Delta with no status or upgrade internationally way exceeded my expectations: we had exit row seats that were surprisingly roomy if a bit noisy, next to the bathrooms where many of the passengers would congregate (I had to laugh at the announcement that due to FAA regulations, no one is allowed to congregate in groups in the aisles, they have clearly never been on a flight with Italians); we were not only fed but given menus to make our choices; and given little goodie bags with eyemasks and moisturizer and relatively decent headphones. Almost like being in first except the seats aren't as comfy and you get less free booze (they do give you a free drink with your meal). Anyway, yay Delta, you aren't awful!
We arrived in Venice relatively rested and were met by Hugo, the hotel's third-generation proprietor and all around cool guy, who drove us the two+ hours up to the mountains. Venice is so foggy at this time of year that we saw almost nothing when the plane was landing, nor when we started to drive north. I haven't seen Venice, so I guess I can't die. Once we started going up, the countryside was gorgeous. Even as a major wuss and victim of car sickness, I was okay for the drive up twisty mountain roads, a tad green in the face, but okay.
One of my friends gasped when she saw my photos, "It's like a fairy tale!" and the town and hotels are very charming.
We followed up lunch with massages at the hotel's spa (oh, the things I must do for my job!) and a rest before our next meal. While I was bordering on insanity with not enough sleep and jet lag, I managed to hold it together until quite late, on my third or fourth wind. More to come soon...
I've been knee-deep in the gossip rags, trying to spread the word about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' visit to Italy this weekend, crafting email subject lines like "Spotted: TomKat does the Dolomites." I work with Hotel Rosa Alpina in the Italian Alps, who hosted them for lunch at their mountain chalet. You can read all the details (which I provided) on HotelChatter.com, but I didn't release any photos. So I was amazed to find so many photos all over the internet, where did they come from?! I was even more astonished to pick up US Weekly today and find a two-page spread on it! How do you do it, Us Weekly?! They were just there on Saturday! I guess Italy did invent paparazzi, but I'm impressed and almost feel kind of bad for the Cruises (keyword: almost).
On a completely different note, my dear friend Eleanor in Baltimore has been supplying me with a different kind of gossip: "Crime Scene" notes from the local police blotter in the paper. This is all absolutely true, and you'd believe it without question if you knew much about Baltimore:
Her original email included:
Robbery:
Brentwood Avenue, 6700 block, October 3, 8:45pm
A man
was arrested after he robbed a convenience store of $150. He
approached an employee and said, "You told Jim I'm in here every night
and that all I do is walk around and steal." He ordered her to give up
the money in the register. She yelled, "Get it yourself" and went to
the back room, locking the door behind herself. The suspect was found a
short time later, inside a local bar with his girlfriend.
Burglary:
Pulaski Highway, 3000 block, October 8, 9am
An
80-year-old woman answered her door and found two female suspects
standing there, dressed in pink pajamas. They told her they were
conducting pest inspections in the area and needed to search the house
for rats. The woman let them in. They stayed briefly, then left. The
woman soon noticed that her house keys were missing.
Larceny from Auto:
S. Regester Street, 400 block, October 7, 7:40pm
Someone broke the window of a car and took 40 cents in change.
Then there was a lapse in her emails, as the (free) paper kept getting stolen from her doorstep.
Today's sampling:
S. Curley Street, 100 block, December 2, 11 a.m. Someone broke the
window of a car and took a Neil Diamond CD and a bingo marker.
S. Front Street, unit block, November 26, 2:15 a.m
. Someone broke the window of a car and stole clothing and a box of sex toys, value unknown.
She wonders if it was the same person, as the sex toys might necessitate a little Neil Diamond.
