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[Yunxiaocuo]

Residents of the Alto Adige region of Italy will tell you that you cannot claim to be true lovers of the mountains if you have not seen the Dolomites. For while every mountain landscape is beautiful in its own way abrigos plumas mujer baratos , the Dolomites are like the precious stones of an old family ring -- they have something extra. Perhaps its their position in the heart of Europe, or it may be the pink hues of their sunsets caused by the fact that they were once coral formations that rose up from the seabed 25 million years ago. Maybe it is the host of stories and history they have played witness to, invasions and exodus, as the portal to and from Austria. The colors of the Dolomites make it akin to an enchanted garden: the fresh, verdant meadows framed by the darker greens of the woods, the pink hue of the mountains against the white of the glaciers at their peaks and the sky that resembles a cut canvas with the sharp outline of the peaks against blue sky and white cotton-candy clouds. Merano is a geographic anomaly. Predominantly German-speaking, it seems to belong to neighboring Austria, but is 70 miles inside Italy, a consequence of the redrawing of borders after World War I. Many street and shop signs are bilingual, but to Germans and Austrians, Merano is still Meran. The architecture of the region is decidedly Tyrolean, with wrought-iron balconies making way for classic wooden carved ones characteristic of the Austrian and Swiss alps, a change in shape of church bell-towers that is almost Byzantine, and food that leans towards Italy's northern neighbors rather than the traditional Italian dishes. Bisected by the Passirio River, which pours into the Adige, the city of 32,000 residents combines red-roofed arcaded buildings, historic churches and flower-embroidered parks. Dominating the riverfront promenade is the Kurbad built in 1914, which will open in September 2005, offering a full array of sulfur and radon baths, mudpacks, saunas and bathing pools. Merano, which traces its history as a settlement some 2 abrigos plumas mujer moncler ,000 years before Christ, is tucked into the intersection of four mountain valleys spilling down from lower Alpine ranges. Its protected location, about 1,000 feet above sea level and shielded from the north, east and west, has given Merano a climate mild enough to nurture vineyards as well as palm trees, oleander and fruit trees that blossom against a backdrop of snowy peaks. Merano has been famous as far back as the1500s for its "milk cures" in the spring and "grape cures" in the fall for digestive disorders. These recuperative remedies kept a constant flow of tourism until the region, especially during the 1800s when "Sisi," beloved empress of Austria, became enamored with these cures. Subsequently, Merano was ravaged by World War I and II and the tourism trade did not return until sometime in the 1960s. For me, the magic of Merano is the beauty of its historic piazza's and pedestrian areas, including its caf锟?lined river on one side and lush park on the other. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with a complicated ice-cream dessert that was almost too beautiful to eat, while listening to the sound of the river and gazing at the 360-degree view of the mountains. Later attempted to shed a few well-earned calories by walking on the opposite side in the public park. Among the many beautiful vacation accommodations is the beautiful Castello Schloss Labers situated on a hill looking down over the vineyards and up at the Alps. For a long time, the history of Schloss Labers remained shrouded in mystery. A castle built in the 11th century, it has been owned by the Stapf-Neubert family since 1885. During World War II, however, it was used by an SS Task Force to launder counterfeit British Pounds. "Operation Bernhard," as it was called, was a scheme to enrich the Third Reich and undermine the British economy by a massive counterfeiting of the Pound Sterling and ultimately exchanging fake banknotes for real ones. At that time, the owners of the castle, the Stapf-Neubert family, were forced out. They took refuge with neighbors for the duration of the operation and were not permitted access to the castle. Then abrigos plumas moncler hombre , as suddenly as they arrived, the SS Task Force disappeared in 1945. Apparently, Colonel Friedrich Schwend, the mastermind, was taken into custody by American counterintelligence and avoided prosecution by becoming an Allied informant. After one year in this role, he and his wife slipped out of Europe on false passports and settled in Lima, Peru, where he ultimately lived out his life in the open. When the Stapf-Neubert family crept back in after the Nazi exodus, they knew not what they would find. It was not surprising that on further investigation it seemed that the Germans had managed to take just about everything. In the following years, the family engaged workers to dig through some of the basement walls of the castle, wondering if they might have hidden any of the counterfeit British pounds, or anything else that might shed light on this intriguing piece of history. Ultimately, all that they were able to find were two cards from a deck of cards, determined by archeologists to have been used recreationally by German troops. The castle has been a hotel since 1885, surrounded by vineyards, and it was there that we ventured to enjoy a weekend in the Dolomiti (Dolomites). The stout front door opens to a large entrance hall with pikes and muskets on the wall and archways leading to a stone staircase with an iron balustrade. The dining-room is graced by a grand piano and classical music was wafting through the halls, along with the savory smells of dinner as we entered. Our room was "king-sized", spacious enough to swallow up the large wooden beds, tables and armoire that might once have served knights and damsels, contrasted with a modern bath. The view was breath-taking. We looked out over the chapel, which was originally utilized as a chapel, then converted.