The last time we required wearing long pants and overcoat during our 2 week vacation in Switzerland and alpine areas of Northern Italy. Diavolezza is a ski area in southeast Switzerland with St Moritz to the north and the Italian Alps to the south. Train station on the Bernina Express, from St. Moritz Switzerland to Tirano Italy, at the bottom of the mountain. Heard that you can hike up here when there is no snow on the ground, but we took a gondola along with the other 39 tourists in our Collette vacation group to the top of the mountain. Wife and I joined the rest of the group in having our Collette guide, Marion Roy, take pictures of us, with the majestic ice glacier right behind us, under blue skies. Others took in seat in the mountain top restaurant with 180 degree views of the surrounding mountains at 10,000 feet elevation. 30 minutes later, we go back down the mountain, with snow topped mountains in the background, and turquoise colored glacier ponds below us. No, I didn't ski down, even though I have downhill skied about 150 days in my life. Would have been skiing over rocks and dirt, in late July of this year during the middle of the biggest heat wave in Europe in centuries. Didn't want to end up in a hospital and mess up my vacation plans, let alone unsure whether my Kaiser Insurance would cover me! Took the gondola down, to about 6500 feet elevation. Temperatures would be in the 90s for the rest of our stay in Alpine lakes region of extreme northern Italy. Could have lightened our airline luggage by donating our long pants and overcoats to the local thrift stores! read more

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