Simon in Fiera del Primiero

In 1998 I decided that family Christmases were too DULL, too PAINFUL and generally speaking a BLOODY BAD THING !!

When Page "&" Moy's "Christmas Holidays" brochure dropped on my mat, I saw the chance to combine my love of moutains with my need for a "Christmassy Christmas".  I booked to go to a European mountain region which I did not know; The Dolomites.  We stayed at the community of Fiera del Primiero which is a collection of six hamlets

In the far north of Italy, close to the Austrian border lie the magnificent bare mountain rocks of the Dolomites, so unique in form that the only thing they resemble is The Dolomites.  Much of this area belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1919 and even today there is a wonderful conjoining of Austrian and Italian cultures.

On this Christmas trip, I made my first visit to Bolzano (and went again in Sept 2000, and then at Christmas 2001 and October 2003). 

We also visited Bassano del Grappa, famous for its Grappa wine, for a very old wooden bridge over the River Alto Adige, and quite picturesque in its own way too.  The town of Marostica was also the subject of an excursion and this is famous for the 500 year old Chess game played to settle the marriage of the princess; every two years the gane is re-enacted with 500 human players and horses dressed in authentic costumes.  We also visited the market town of Feltre and spent Christmas day on the snow covered mountain at at St Martino.

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Christmas Day 1998 on 
St. Martino

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