My 6th and final trip to the alps from my time living in London and after my trip to NZ, I had to leave it pretty late in the season to get it done, the prospect of a winter with no snowboarding was too difficult to contemplate. We based ourselves in Courmayeur on the Italian […]
Snowboarding Season Edit 2014/15
Another fun season! 10 days, 4 countries (Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria and the East Coast of the U.S.), 200+ km boarded, 30,000m vertical drop.
Breuil-Cervinia – Snowboarding, selfies and the Matterhorn
One of the many travel-related things I wanted to do upon arriving in the Northern Hemisphere was to snowboard on all four sides of the alps. All that remained was the incredibly expensive Swiss Alps, and with the window being over the New Year period it was even more spendy than usual. So we decided to be smart and stay on the much cheaper Italian side at Brueil-Cervinia which lies on the border with Switzerland and in the shadow of the legendary Matterhorn. Armed with a shiny new GoPro, a guy with skis and advice from the Wizard we gave the place a good look.
Sardinia – Beaches, mountain roads and donkeys
Admittedly Sardinia hasn’t really been on my radar in terms of places in Europe to visit, but after looking into somewhere to go for one of the May bank holidays Sardinia seemed like a strong choice. It’s got beautiful white sand beaches and glorious seafood with the italian touch.
Snowboarding in the Italian Alps
While not as easy as heading to Mt Ruapehu for the weekend, flying to the alps for 3 days snowboarding is a pretty good option. Staying in Sauze D’Oulx (Jouveneaux to be precise) in the Italian Alps is a great spot for endless terrain, fantastic off-piste and top-notch pizza, pasta and espresso.
Saying goodbye to Italy
To say farewell to Italy, here’s a photo montage of Operation Gelato and a video of Cinque Terre.
Getting lost in Venice
It’s hard to describe Venice. It’s a maze of streets and canals, souvenir shops and restaurants… and not much else. But there’s something appealing about getting lost in a sinking city, at least for a day or two, and getting lost is something we’re pretty damn good at.
Spaghetti, Shopping and Ferraris
Bologna and Milan disappeared in a flash of fashion, ferraris and bolognese. It wasn’t the cheapest few days we’ve had, but hitting 200 kph in a Ferrari on the open road out the back of Maranello was too good a chance to pass up.
Naples and Pompeii
Undoubtedly, the best thing about Naples is that it’s the home of pizza. Aside from that, it’s just a big, dirty city. Apparently it’s in the middle of a serious rubbish collection crisis. We had our own crisis in Pompeii: rain. And lots of it.
Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast
We had three days to see Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and Capri. This part of Italy lays claim to some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole country, and we had three days. It was a full-on three days…