I have to just say, the past few months have been challenging. I spent my first Christmas by myself in a foreign country, celebrated a wedding anniversary via Skype, celebrated New Year's Eve with a bottle of Moet and Chandon (never a bad thing) verses smooching my one and only when the clock struck midnight, and felt pretty alone on numerous occasions during another one of T's absences from Italy. As cliche as the saying is, I can officially say that distance does make the heart grow fonder. I feel as though we grew closer, appreciate each other so much more, and were forced to constantly work on communicating. T and I lived in different states for two years before we tied the knot, so I thought that we had this whole living apart thing down solid. Um, no. Physical distance is so unnatural to any type of relationship, but especially a marriage! Plus, this isn't the first time I have been alone in Italy! So why was this time apart more difficult?? Although there were some challenges during this time, I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity for some distractions; to visit my family in Nashville and Atlanta and spend time with fantastic friends that scooped me up when I was feeling down. All in all, this is the way of military life, however, I think this time apart hit a little harder due to the holidays and, of course, living so far away from our families.
With all of that being said, T and I knew we needed some quality time together! As the time came closer for T to arrive back home, we started to talk about going on a little getaway. Since we already have a couple of other trips booked for the next few months, we wanted somewhere close that we could drive to verse flying, somewhere he could relax and unwind, and last but not least, somewhere we could snowboard!
And boy, did we do all of that. We found the most perfect place, the Miramonti Boutique Hotel.
Tucked away in the Italian Alps, this place was hands down the swankiest place we have ever vacationed. The views that surrounded us on the drive to the hotel were absolutely breathtaking. Hundreds and hundreds of vineyards, quaint Italian towns, and snow-capped mountains, had me so excited I could barely stand it. When we arrived at our destination (after an hour detour-thanks, brand new Garmin GPS) this was the sight we had...
The Church of St. Catherine built in 1452 is like many other churches in the area in the fact they were resurrected in original places of pagan worship. After we marveled at the church we entered into the hotel and were greeted with a "welcome" glass of processo while our bags were being taken to our room. The decor in the reception area was timeless, elegant, and felt instantly peaceful. Already, we were in love with the atmosphere of Miramonti.
After we enjoyed our drinks, we headed to our suite to relax until dinner time. On our way up to the room, all I wanted to do was check out our balcony view.
I am pretty sure I screamed with joy. Such an amazing view of the mountains! The rest of the room was fantastic as well, but that balcony was for sure my favorite part!
One of the major highlights of our trip was the fine dining Miramonti offers, The kitchen is run by a renowned chef of the South Tyrol region, Massimo Geromel, and wow, every dish we ate was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Our favorite dish was venison with raspberries, maybe chives?, and some super tasty creamy sauce. Chef Massimo would be disappointed I don't remember specifics.
And a few other pictures of our dining experience because we felt fancy every time we ate!
Our getaway happened to fall on T's birthday, and this was a perfect place to celebrate. It was decided that his birthday would be our total relaxation day; massages, spa, and saunas. Ahh, I'm feeling relaxed just thinking about it! The entire day was perfect up until dinner...
For T's birthday dinner, we dined at the 360 degree panorama restaurant. With only 30 seats, it was intimate and romantic, perfect for a celebratory dinner. Too bad these two pictures and the first course is all we made it through...
During all our relaxation of the day, I didn't find the time to eat lunch. Thirty minutes before dinner, we we given a private mini lesson by the owner of Miramonti, Klauss, on the do's and dont's of Italian cafe. We learned how to properly make espressos, cappuccinos, and a couple other signature Italian drinks. Because there were only three of us. T, myself, and Klauss, someone had to drink all of that coffee. I ended up drinking at least 4 servings of espresso, leaving my stomach feeling a little woozy after not eating since breakfast. After our lesson, we took our seats at this beautiful restaurant, and 10 minutes after ordering our meal, I had to excuse myself back to the room because I was sick. I was crying tears of embarrassment to our waiter, and he reassured me in the kindest manner it was not problem and he would have our four course meal sent to our room. Still, I was totally mortified. So, my husband ate his remaining three courses on the couch while I laid beside him and snacked on bread.
In his words, " I got to sit on a couch drinking beer and had four courses brought to me throughout the night. That's every man's dream." So there you have it, y'all. He had a great birthday.
The next morning, I woke up feeling great and ready to go play in the snow! We headed to Merano 2000 to snowboard! It was my first time ever trying any type of snow sport except building snowmen. We did an hour of private lessons from a man who spoke maybe three words of English, and somehow, I made it down the hill with a few falls here and there! After spending the day on the black diamond slopes (the bunny hills) we were exhausted! Both of us are ready to go back for round two.
Modeling my birthday present, neon green snow pants. Everyone saw me coming in those babies.
Miramonti Boutique Hotel gave us the ultimate getaway. We are already planning our next trip to stay in the 007 suite, named because some parts of the James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loves Me," were filmed at the hotel! We will be watching the movie very soon to see if we can spot the scenes shot at this remarkable place!
Check out their website if you're planning your next getaway soon!
This was a trip we will never forget. I still am humbled when I think about how many places I have been able to experience with my husband. Livng overseas has been such a blessing that I will forever be thankful for.
Until Next Time,
Always
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