Cholula

lili

Dov would probably prefer risotto with Parker's pen ink or India ink, as would I.

Michael certainly could make wicked cioppino, but he wouldn't eat it.

He was the one who figured out taking an early evening train from Venice to Treviso or Padova would let us join real Italians in the passagiatta, have a bit of wine, and an excellent dinner in mainly-meat restaurants.

(We enjoyed two Slow Food restaurants in Venice for non-group dinners but they each had only one non-fish entrees - our problem, not theirs.)

The fish in Venice must have been incredibly fresh because I never caught a whiff of the sea.

lili

Say, are we giving thought to PBG's suggestion of a ski resort near SLC for a spring meet? More intimate (getting Dov's attention - think ski-bunnies) than LAS, and surely there's a Gucci and Prada in every ski town. Even in Utah.

Cholula

I'm game for darn near anything. I'm not into skiing but am big into the apres-ski scene.
We can set up a lounge table with a view of the slopes and those that are into creature comforts can join me in watching the FT'ers carom down the slopes.
I've got a five day meeting in Sun Valley, ID next month and can do some "due diligence" there if need be.....

Hunki

Well, I am definitely into a skiing opportunity in Utah! Punki may or may not chose to ski, but since I've never done IT! in Utah, I would definitely choose this over LAS. We do LAS for tradeshows all the time.

Our son worked for a season at Deer Valley a couple of year ago and I never had the opportunity to ski with him there, so I guess this is my chance!
Now, the only problem is to find a weekend that we don't have a previous commitment for.
I think that the rates for spring would definitely be more favorable. Besides, we might be able to find a couple of condos if you don't need the hotel stays.
I'm stoked, this would be my first opportunity for big Utah powder! Well, maybe not if it's spring skiing, but big steeps anyway. Well, ok, big blue cruising runs where I can do my Stein Erickson imitations.

I better go check my show schedule to see if I have any potential conflicts.

brendamc

Sounds like you all had a wonderful - and makes me want to go back to Venice now (or at least in April or May...) Did anyone make it to Alle Testiere for me?

Dovster

Neither have I. In fact, I've had very little success with Mormon women anywhere.

Punki

It is nothing, Dorlee. I am very happy to be able to help you out and very much enjoyed your pictures, especially this one, which is one of my favorites.

monitor

Sorry about that brendamc. we were having such a good time that we blew off our reservation at Alle Testiere and stayed in the bar at Ai Mori drinking Gianni's Brunello di Montalcino.
This did not turn out to be much of a food trip. It was mostly hanging out all over Venice and schmoozing at Ai Mori. I would say that the neighborhood restaurants in Canareggio got most of our business.

dedehans

Not a typo at all......quite deliberate

Canarsie

I find it rather interesting how those FlyerTalk members who attended this meet want so much to try to replicate the feeling of this meet into other meets which they plan to attend.

I agree that the Venice Meet had quite a special feel to it...

MsEverywhere

I'm not sure I'm into skiing, either. But I can do the pre-ski scene and the apres-ski scene with the Cholulas and everyone else!

platbrownguy

And quite apropos, too .

Yay for the positive response to the Ski Meet idea - as I'm pretty flexible when it comes to weekends, you all pick when, but I'd have to lean heavily against President's Day Weekend or the weekends immediately before and after St. Paddy's Day (heavy Spring Break traffic, although this would make for an aprés ski very attractive to Dovster ).

As far as ski resorts go, the main ones are Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, and Park City. There are lots of other smaller ones, some of which have incredible snow and no crowds, but these generally have little or no lodging and few facilities and would not be conducive to a meet. Powder Mountain is a case in point.

Solitude is my personal favorite for the on-mountain terrain (great runs and no lift lines), but the ski village is very lacking in aprés hangouts, and only has very limited lodging.

Alta is a great mountain but the lifts are slow, and lines can get abysmally long when it fills up. Also, Alta does not permit snowboarding AT ALL (one of the few such remaining resorts). I ski, but I figure some folks snowboard.

Snowbird would be a great option for a meet, IMO. It has an awesome high-capacity tram and lots of fast lifts, and extremely varied terrain. I remember the Ski School being awesome for those would want private/group lessons (though I will be more than happy to give lessons to beginner/intermediate skiers). 3 day lift tickets are $50/day. There are a couple of places to stay and lots of condos are readily available, and there are several restaurants/bars.

Park City's skiing is overrated, IMO. A 3-day pass is a whopping $207, and regular rates "change daily". Food and lodging are also very spendy. As I remember, their Ski School folks seemed to have a bit of an attitude but maybe that was just bad luck when I went. However, the village is the most active and varied of all the ski resorts in Utah... lots and lots of restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. It definitely has the feel of a Vail or Aspen with the bonus of Utah snow, though it reeks of touristiness... I think the whole film festival thing has gone to their heads . Despite this, it would also be a good location for a meet, and the shopping-inclined people will find lots to keep them busy here.

Until last year I went skiing (usually with family) in Utah at least 2-3 times/year since I was 6, except for the two years I lived in Colorado when I skied Eldora or Keystone every weekend. Whistler's my favorite but it's harder to get to and our dollar is pitiful (C$1.21!) so the deal's aren't so good.

Staying in SLC itself is a viable option as Snowbird and Park City are both less than 30 miles/45 minutes from town, but it's probably best to stay on-mountain for a 3-day meet.

If anyone has any connections with regards to lodging at Park City (that's not 2 miles away from the base), that would be neat. Otherwise lodging at Snowbird is all close-by and not too unreasonable.

So somebody who's interested throw out a date, and pick Park City or Snowbird and I'll open a new thread.

Also, Park City and Snowbird are only a few miles apart as the crow flies, but at least 50 miles apart by road as they are on opposite sides of a canyon, so doing both isn't really too feasible. Alta is, however, very near to Snowbird and Alta/Snowbird combination lift ticket passes are sold at both resorts. I think there's a frequent shuttle service.

I'll post all this in the DL forum too.

platbrownguy

You and me both, Dovster. You and me both .

Canarsie

I received my compact disc today, KLC.

Thank you so much for all of the work you put into this compact disc, including the colorful label. You did an excellent job!

I am especially impressed by just how many FlyerTalk members in the group shot some great images.

It is a wonderful collection of photographs and memories.

I truly appreciate it, KLC. Thank you again.