Wishes do come true in Bormio

This Christmas as we were going to be far from friends and family for the first time in many years, we wished for something very different. Our wish was for a white Christmas, staying in a cosy hotel with lots of skiing so we could work up an appetite for some delicious Italian food. We loved Bormio when we visited in summer, so we thought we'd return to this famous Italian skiing village. 

Stefano's lovely work colleague, Sylvia, comes from Bormio, so we asked her for a recommendation about where to stay. Without hesitating Sylvia suggested the beautiful traditional albergo, San Lorenzo. It is very close to the centre of town and although Sylvia hadn't stayed there, she had heard good reports about the food. 

Our plan was to work up an appetite on the slopes. Initially we were worried about this plan as there wasn't a lot of snow in the town, but there was plenty on the mountain. Great skiing every day, just as we'd wished for. 

Christmas Eve wasn't quite white, but it was memorable. 

After a delicious seven-course dinner at the hotel, we took a stroll through the streets of Bormio to find a church Sylvia had told us about, where an all-male choir sang unaccompanied. Stefano managed to quickly snap a photo at the end of Mass but we really wished that we'd been able to record the spectacular singing. 

And then, on Christmas Day it snowed!

And on Boxing Day, which is actually Sant Stefano's feast day, it snowed even more!

So much so that we wished it would stop - it was pretty hard going on the old girl's legs! 

And then on our last day, even that wish came true!

The sun shone. The snow stopped. We skied in perfect conditions and 

caught a glimpse of the competitors training for the first World Cup downhill race of the season.

The end to a wonderful week in Bormio. 

Vi vediamo ancora Bormio.