• Alps, Italy.

A week ago, we left behind blue skies and warm highs in Minnesota.

Although our exit was strategically timed to trade in snow for a lingering fall, the new continent refused to cooperate. We chose train travel between Paris and Bologna to absorb the beauty of the mountains. Instead, we saw more of the “storm of the century” that has been burying roads, villages, and people. Our heavenly train ride became a hellish confrontation with Mother Nature, as this shot through the window suggests.