Think that you can't afford to ski in the Alps?

The village of Cortina d'Ampezzo taken along the walking path
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Traveling to Italy for the first time, and, skiing in Europe, I admit, I was quite apprehensive.  How would we communicate not knowing anymore than "grazie" and "prego"?  How would we eat?  We almost cancelled our ski trip because it was easier to ski in the US.  Our friends Mike and Karen seemed so excited at the thought of skiing in the Italian Alps and seeing a little bit of Italy; I thought we had better go through with this trip!  So, Italy here we come!

The Dolomites
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As time grew closer, I dutifully planned;  arranging the flight details, rental car pickup, hotel room, printing currency converter cheatsheets, language (Italian and German) crib sheets, outlining the route from our arrival airport (Munich) to our first nights' stay in North East Italy and then onto Cortina for the next seven days.  Actually, there wasn't much work involved at all; it was rather easy.  I used a tour company to make the hotel reservations. For air into Munich, we used our FF flyer miles with USAirways, but Mike and Karen paid for their flights We rented two cars  thru Sixt...two cars would give us flexibility to split up and go sightseeing in different directions.  (pick-up and drop-off in Munich)

How would we communicate; how would we eat?

A view going up the charlift at Tofana(one of Cortina's ski areas)
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The day we left for our trip was non-eventful.  Our flight took off on time and landed in Munich without a hitch.  I remember as we were landing in Munich, peering out the window at the neatly kept houses and yards; thinking to myself how a first-time glimpse of America must look to tourists from other countries!  I also remember seeing the military guarding the runways...that was a totally unexpected sight and a little unnerving!  My husband, seeing the look on my face told me to relax, nothing to worry about.  (he was stationed in Germany with the US Army back in the 70's and was familiar with this practice.)