Mazzo di Valtellina

The most fabulous breakfast spread in the very contemporary restaurant of the hotel! All in all a very enjoyable and comfortable stay at the Steiner! Already you could feel the heat at 9:30 as we rolled out for the day's journey.

We meandered south for a bit in between vineyards and orchards (skinny trees, row after row, closely planted) before hitting the next valley over and traverse more northward. The whole area is very productive with acres on acres of cultivation.

We noticed a few Medieval ruins that dotted various hillsides. The ruin that really stood out was an old castle on a rocky jut in Ossana, Castel San Michele o Castello di Ossana.
https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castello_di_San…

It was a very noticeable difference between South Tirol and Lombardy provinces. For one, the building style was very much what you'd expect to see in Italy. Many of the buildings in the more rural and mountain villages were between three and five stories of rough unfinished rock exteriors, and the only colour was the painted shutters and flower pots. The other difference was the lack of a police-state feel with confusing speed zone signage, and radar enforced speed zones.

As we moved more north towards Switzerland in Lombardia, you could see the Swiss-German influences of the alpine villages once again. The resort town of Livigno, where we arranged to stay for the night, had a very energetic and open feel to it; it was busy enough, but not chaotic or too crowded. Quite a mixture of mostly older historic buildings, with the newer ones blending in. The hotel conjoined two older buildings with a blended modern contemporary look mixed with the rock and wood of the old. Our room was tiny, and situated in the attic of an older wooden building; very cozy, and a bit nostalgic for J as it reminded him of the old ranch house back home.

After taking a moment to rest and decompress, we decided to go for a walk down the main street and see what culinary delights were available. A had his heart set on pasta, and found La Mirage, near the end of the street. The food was delicious, but again, a very heavy on the salt... We also enjoyed a good helping (1L) of the house white wine with dinner 🍷 https://maccarivini.it/it/prodotto/3591/

Our day's Tour:
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/t-ydEhPkIJJ3Read more