My sister and I visited the Dolomites with a family that needed nannies during a ski trip in the 80's. The parents skied in the mornings and paid for us to take ski lessons in the afternoons.

We were a couple of newbies but the Dolomites made us feel like we were in the big leagues. Even the bunny slopes were surrounded by mountains, only reachable by gondola...unforgettable.

Everyone was bilingual up there--Italian and German, and I guess they didn't see many Americans in that part of Italy. The shopkeepers would see our freckles, hear our terrible Italian, and try to help us out by switching to German. We would understand nothing, respond in Italian, and explain that we were American. Then they would get all excited and happy and welcome us to Canazei. This happened every time we ordered apple strudel, all week long. It was pretty awesome to travel to Europe at a time when so many people truly loved Americans.