I hear those sleigh bells jing-a-ling

What a super day we've had (and it's still pre apres ski time!).
C and I walked to the little town of Ortisei, which took the best part of 3 hours (including a hot chocolate stop). The footpath was great and runs along the track of the old railway line which was dismantled about 50 years ago. The railway was built by Russian prisoners in 1915/16 to carry supplies to the front line up in the mountains.
When we reached Ortisei we took a cable car up to the top, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch, outside in the glorious sunshine. We had been told there may be some horses up there, and we found a chap with a pair of horses and what he called a sleigh, but C called a cart. There were sleigh bells jingling at any rate. Anyway, we had a truly memorable ride on the "sleigh" through the forest and then out onto the snow, for about an hour, all tucked up nicely under a red tartan blanket. The driver had a little dog called Lumpy who was 13 years old, but ran alongside us for the entire route. We even crossed a couple of pistes and the driver waited for skiers to pass before off we went again, and every time we stopped, Lumpy barked at the horses as though telling them what to do.
This is the return journey on the sleigh. C climbed up with the driver for the return route. He said that one of the horses was "making noises". Well, it was a romantic sleigh ride till he told me that. Luckily I didn't know till we were back on the bus and heading back to the little town that we are staying in. 
A really super day, and lots of happy memories.