Sciare (she-R-A) – To Ski

    …today was awesome…but 1^st yesterday was honestly just a day at home doing homework and laundry and such…then we went to dinner at Simone’s parents house in Torino...first of all that house is so beautiful, essentially it is a villa that has been split into what are now apartments…it has a great view of the River Po too which is phenomenal….his mom had of course spent the day cooking (Giacomo even helped after school) she made focaccia (bread) with black flour! (werid I know, but it was actually sooo good) she also made gnocchi and tagliatelle! AND shes going to teach me soon how to do it too! Im totally excited…so dinner was, of course, so much fun and absolutely delicious! (I have now been to dinner at all the family’s houses except Valentina’s J )

            …after dinner it was off to the Mountains…only about an hour’s drive to the town of Bardonecchia (one of the sites of the 2006 Olympics J there even the giant rings that flow every night at the entrance to the city…needless to say I was so excited!) Simone and Eliana have a super small flat (and I don’t say that because its small in comparison to the flat in Torino, it literally is soo tiny but perfect as just the weekend apartment for while they ski) but whats nice is since it is so small, Eli’s mom has a flat right above their’s, so  since she wasn’t here this weekend, I got to stay there J…

a nice little apartment to myself with a stellar view (but then again there is hard to not find a great view when you are in the Italian Alps)…

            …this morning we got up and of course first went off for a cappuccino (I don’t know what I am going to do at home in the US without this great coffee)….then we came back and got our stuff and headed out to the ski hill…we were able to rent gear for me and a pair of Simone’s snowpants fit so I was all set….I was a bit apprehensive since it has been about 5 or 6 years since I have skied but you cant really pass up an opportunity to ski in the Alps!....and thankfully it was actually like riding a bike, after a few runs I was back in the swing of it J…

 part of a run, but at Lookout it would have been longer than a run) and took another life up and so on…it was totally wild! Bardoneccia is ENOURMOUS! And you never got to the top of the mountain!

           …we headed up the first life and then skied down a bit to another lift that went further up the mountain…then we’d ski down a ways (like here it was only a little ways down

            …so I finally would be getting into the groove again and then I’d look up and see the view, get completely distracted, and almost loose it completely J (speaking of which, I didn’t even fall down once!)  that’s how unspeakably, and unphotographable this place was!....i think I said, “I cant believe I am skiing in the Alps!!” about a million times today! But seriously it was an incredible experience and Im soooo glad I got the opportunity and did it!

 J)…and actually it was wicked good….after Eli, Claudia, and I were done (my head could’ve kept going but my muscles and especially my ankles, were done) so Simone and Giacomo kept going and we headed down the mountain to the car….

           …at a late lunch we met up with some other friends (one of which was Claudia from my first night) for, believe it or not, hotdogs! (and no dad, they weren’t cold, actually were cooked and I wasn’t even offered a coke

            …the three of us went into “the heart of the town” as Claudia said, to get a treat that is the most classic kind of Bardonecchia…it was basically a really good doughnut filled with Nutella, cream or marmalade and it was sooo good J…

            …we met the boys at the flat and all relaxed for a bit (Giacomo watched a movie while I took a nap haha)…

            …tonight we went to dinner at another friend’s house about 20 minutes away….they live in the most fantastically perfect, small rustic flat…in one of those places you have to park and then walk a few blocks to because the streets are too small (no pictures because it was dark and snowing too hard for them to come out L ) … it was a great night of pizza and very little English haha…I still may not be able to speak very much but im definently understanding A TON! (my head definently was hurting when I got home though)…

            ….after three or four hours we were home, and off to bed, Sunday Giacomo and Simone would go ski (Giacomo has lessons on Sunday) while Eliana, Claudia and I would spend some of the day together and then just relaxing….

Ganz was enjoying his view of the snow on Bardonecchia....