Our previous entry wasn’t the happiest, and we regret to inform you that this one won’t end on the best note either…
After our day in Milan, we woke up excited for the next destination – Cervino Ski Paradise, a ski resort in the Italian and Swiss Alps. We knew there had been days of heavy snow in the mountains and sunny days were to follow. Ideal conditions for skiing! The plan was to spend one night already in the Aosta Valley, about 30 minutes from the resort, followed by two consecutive days of skiing. But before that, and after another baggage rearrangement session, we got a craving for good sushi. Since Turin actually has a pretty good offering of this type of cuisine, it was not that hard to decide where to had lunch. We chose the Gari Sushi restaurant. Being an “all you can eat” menu, we ordered dish after dish until we were sure we wouldn’t want to eat sushi for a while.
Our afternoon was spent winding through the snow-covered mountains until we reached the beautiful village of Saint-Vincent. Here, we checked into the lovely Relais du Foyer hotel and took a little stroll. Not being hungry for dinner, we were happy enough with a well-served aperitif at one of the bars. We stayed there until we felt like going back to the hotel to rest.
The next day started early as we wanted to hit the slopes as soon as possible! We made sure to have a complete breakfast at the hotel before heading to Valtournenche, where we would ski on this first day. Despite being only half an hour away, we still lost some time picking up the equipment we rented and even more waiting for a bus that never seemed to arrive… When we finally reached the ticket office, it was already past 11 am, and it no longer made sense to buy a full-day lift pass (since we would pay much less if we only went in the afternoon, from 12 pm onwards). That’s exactly what we did, paying €32 to ski for half a day in this small section of the resort. With this ticket, we couldn’t access the Cervinia area (let alone Zermatt) but only Valtournenche. However, it was more than enough for this half-day. To this price adds a €3 insurance. Yes, we paid this additional fee after having learned a lesson earlier this year (Ricardo’s brother’s girlfriend broke her wrist on the slope and had to pay for it…).
To pass the time until noon, we anticipated the après-ski and had a glass of wine and a beer. With our glasses empty, it was finally time to get on the funicular! It was a spectacular afternoon, and for that reason, we only stopped when the resort closed.
After checking into the Art Hotel Grandes Murailles for the next two nights, we went out to explore the surroundings. We were pleased to find out that the best bar and restaurant seemed to be right at the door of our hotel. We spent the rest of the day there.
If the previous day had been good, the next one still held even higher expectations! It was the day we would ski in one of the most renowned ski resorts, with incredible views of the Alps and the famous Matterhorn (the mountain whose shape is widely known, especially because of the Toblerone logo). This time, the price was a bit higher (€59) since the Cervinia section includes many more kilometers of slopes. We also made sure to pay the additional €3 for another day of insurance (thank God!). For the curious, it is also possible to access the Swiss resort of Zermatt for an additional €30. However, for us, it was more than enough to stay on this side of the Matterhorn.
There are no words to describe how nice the slopes were! We were blessed with the best sunny day of the last few weeks, and the snow couldn’t have been better either. We were so happy and excited that we only took one break to get some beers while sunbathing at one of the slope restaurants.
Time flew by, and as we descended for the last time, we were already dreaming about closing the day in après-ski with a nice meal with two or more beers, all while watching the wonderful sunset in the middle of the Alps. However, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Our end of the day would be very different from that… Ricardo would end up not being able to complete the last run. It’s true that there are no good moments for accidents but this one… caught us completely off guard, and we couldn’t help but feel that it came at the worst possible time…
After receiving a quick little assistance on the slope and being transported to first aid, Ricardo got the unfortunate diagnosis – a wrist fracture (without displacement). With the cast on, he also found out that he would have to wait at least 30 days to remove it…
It’s true that it could have been much worse. However, having the wrist immobilized for a month (and all that implies) raises some questions about the viability of continuing our sabbatical and how achievable our immediate plans are… Would it be better to suspend or end the sabbatical and return to Portugal?
Until next time (we hope)!
Ricardo and Mar