On the Piste....again

Once a year I get on the layers for a jolly jaunt in the mountains.....

This year the destination was the Italian Alps. I had not been to Italy since the fated school ski trip in 1974 (where my poor brother broke his leg)

we were stunned by the stark beauty and empty (and I mean empty) slopes.

We named this one the Christmas Cake run as the trees just looked like they had been plonked into the snow as if they were cake decorations.

We stopped here for lunch most days, the guys who ran it were lovely and friendly. we broke the ice (as it were) on the first day when we watched three of them trying to wrestle a hot dog into a bread roll..... it had us all in hysterics and the laughter was contagious to say the least!

This was a quirky gutter pipe on the restaurant - it reminded me of something created by
 Firmin and Postgate....

One evening was spent at a tasting evening at the local butchers. It was very entertaining, and we sampled some delicious Italian food ....(sorry Si, I know you cannot look at Salami after being in an Italian hospital for a week!)

and drink.......................

Who lives in a house like this? I wish I did! Place on the edge of a gentle blue run......... with breathtaking views.

and then of course we had ski school every day! We met some great people, and had a lot of laughs. There were falls.... shrieks....swearing & sick. If you guys read this I won't say who did what!

So, what is this all about then?

Here they are, let me introduce you to the annual "torture boots"..... We just got home from a lovely holiday in Austria, but on that first day in the basement boot room you really do wonder why on earth you are cramming your poor feet into these glamorous things....... and then to attach them to long pieces of fibre glass in order to hurtle down icy slopes at ridiculous speed..... why?

it has to be worth it for the view from the top.......


..or stopping at a charming mountain restaurant for a delicious cup of hot chocolate......( isn't that a wonderful shade of green on those shutters).


.. in order to ski further to enjoy more views......these trees were absolutely amazing....



Then back at the hotel one can admire the fantastic old painted furniture (how I would have liked to have smuggled this one home!)



Another fab view on another day. I do have dozens more piccies from the holiday, but I won't bore you all too much. We met some really lovely people, and some not so great ones (throwing furniture out of your hotel room at midnight is NOT the way to behave on holiday) ... there was also a ski instructor with an attitude problem. I endured 3 days of ski school with him, then played hooky for the rest of the week!
It is good to get away, but coming home is wonderful.... apart from the amount of washing that you have to face!