We arrived in Breuil - Cervinia (Valle d'Aosta) on the Wednesday night and when when we woke up the next day we decided that the day would certainly be best spent in bed or on the sofa.
A few facts for those who wants to know: Cervinia is a alpine village in Italy on the border to Switzerland. In fact when we take the lift to the highest point we cross the border and we meet skiers coming up from the Swiss side. Cervinia has it's name from the mountain Cervino (see picture below) and the village is situated 2000 meter above sea level, and about one hour from the city Torino.
A few facts for those who wants to know: Cervinia is a alpine village in Italy on the border to Switzerland. In fact when we take the lift to the highest point we cross the border and we meet skiers coming up from the Swiss side. Cervinia has it's name from the mountain Cervino (see picture below) and the village is situated 2000 meter above sea level, and about one hour from the city Torino.
Friday morning after a lovely breakfast with the traditional Italian Easter breadcake (Colomba) we headed down to the ski lifts. We were both quite excited as it had been 2 years since the last time we had skis on our feet. After another 2 lifts we jumped off and Lorenzo as usual hit the hill with skill and gracefulness. With the excuse of putting on my hat and gloves I contemplated the downhill and then thought "What the heck - here I gooooooo...."After mere 20 meters something went wrong, a big ice lump made me, let say, a little unstable. While turning to the right my right ski suddenly flew off the ground, I have no idea what my left did and with a bah-boom my left buttock had hit the ground and my head had too. With grace I slid a further 20 meters and all I could think of was "Ai, ai, ai...". It was painfully painful.
A few moments later I tried to get up and while doing so a kind man stops and hands me my hat and asks me if I'm alright. While my eyes are watering, my buttocks feels like it's falling off, I'm giving him my bestest smile saying "Sure, I'm...eh... just need a moment..." Then I almost giggled, imagining what the kind guy was actually seeing: A girl crying, the hair all over the place and stuck to her face, half bent over because her head hurts and she's clutching her hip/but... It was obvious I was not OK, but what was I supposed to say (?) and what could he have done about it?!
On jelly knees I went gently down the hill to meet Lorenzo who was waiting for me. Some kissing later I felt better and we continued skiing until the early afternoon. Here are a few pictures taken in the aftermath:
Me skiing down from Plateau Rosa...
The Cervino
Our view from the apartment
Traditional house with the Cervino wrapped clouds in the background
The plan was also to go skiing on the Saturday but when we woke up we could hardly move, either of us! My bum was blue and I couldn't sit on the left side and I had clearly stretched all my neck muscles in the fall, and Lorenzo had a backpain and even asked for a painkiller. Now, for those of you who know L will now be shocked as he NEVER takes any kind of pain relievers - so we had a lovely day reading, watching TV and went for a walk in the village. Just what we needed; a lovely (slightly painful) and relaxing weekend !!
PS: If you read this - I'd love to hear about your ski-lift adventures last Saturday... giggle...
A few moments later I tried to get up and while doing so a kind man stops and hands me my hat and asks me if I'm alright. While my eyes are watering, my buttocks feels like it's falling off, I'm giving him my bestest smile saying "Sure, I'm...eh... just need a moment..." Then I almost giggled, imagining what the kind guy was actually seeing: A girl crying, the hair all over the place and stuck to her face, half bent over because her head hurts and she's clutching her hip/but... It was obvious I was not OK, but what was I supposed to say (?) and what could he have done about it?!
On jelly knees I went gently down the hill to meet Lorenzo who was waiting for me. Some kissing later I felt better and we continued skiing until the early afternoon. Here are a few pictures taken in the aftermath:
Lorenzo on Plateau Rosa ca. 2800 mt
Me skiing down from Plateau Rosa...
The Cervino
Our view from the apartment
Traditional house with the Cervino wrapped clouds in the background
EPILOGUE:
The plan was also to go skiing on the Saturday but when we woke up we could hardly move, either of us! My bum was blue and I couldn't sit on the left side and I had clearly stretched all my neck muscles in the fall, and Lorenzo had a backpain and even asked for a painkiller. Now, for those of you who know L will now be shocked as he NEVER takes any kind of pain relievers - so we had a lovely day reading, watching TV and went for a walk in the village. Just what we needed; a lovely (slightly painful) and relaxing weekend !!
PS: If you read this - I'd love to hear about your ski-lift adventures last Saturday... giggle...
14 left a note:
What? Me? What have you heard? Only a very blind and very blond girl manages to get a t-bar right in the face without even seeing it coming. Ouch.
Looove your skiing cap :)
Hi hi hi... poor you! Did someone slightly mean get on video?? Hope you didn't get hurt too much :) Hugs xxx
Oh my god! Your pictures are beautiful! What a fun weekend! I'm sure we all have a few clumsy ski stories...picture this a girl from Texas learning to ski indoors tries to hit the real slopes. It took me 3 hours to get down a Green slope! My whole group kept passing me over and over again. I met them at lunch! Ha ha. (I have improved a bit.)
Ouch! That sounds really painful. I hope you are feeling better. Your pictures are really lovely. I love your shot in your gears!
Looooovely pictures! That area is so beautiful!!!!
Too bad you had a little incident that caused so much pain though :( hope your body has recovered now.
Aww, that is beautiful! I'm so jealous (of the skiing part, not the falling part, LOL). I've been dying to go skiing all winter, but we're just so far from the mountains. So I kept telling myself I could go when I went back to the US, but there was no snow! Not even enough to go cross-country skiing! :-(
Oh no! So sorry you fell-- but am also sooooooo glad it wasn't anything serious. There are too many people out there who end up going down the slope in that emergency sled with the flashing light!
Hope you're fully recovered and are back in good form! :-)
Oh, you took me right back......to the time I fell on my face and went sailing another 20 metres down the hill up in the mountains outside of Stavanger.
Ended up with a concussion and traumatised nerves in my face, that ached like blazes for months afterwards when the bitter Norsk wind blew on me.
Sarah - I get constantly overtaken by missile kids... those 5-6 year olds who seemingly doesn't know the concept of turning :)
SimplyJen - thanks babe.
Ola - no worries, I'm back to my normal self.
Samantha - I'd love to go country cross skiing too - but the alps are so not the place for doing it!
Betsy - when I first stood up I feared I had got a concussion and for a few moments I thought those (pick and adjective: handsome/strong/tannned...) _______ men with the emergency sled would be picking me up :) lol...
It was shocking how many times we shared a lift with the first aid people and their sleds. Luckily everything went OK and I didn't need one!
ExpatKat - ai ai ai! Maybe next time we should put on Sumo wrestling suits - nicely padded, no risk! :)
I have had only one skiing experience... I hated it! But gosh, that's lovely...
Oh Astrid, that sounds like so much fun! And I know where you are speaking of. I'd love to visit here.
The photos are incredible of course! I hope to have a few great ones from the ALPS...
And - your new photo at the top, keep it. I love it, as it makes me smile large!!!
You are so adorable in your ski shot too!
I just wish we were closer while I am in Switzerland to do a quick meet up! :)
Jen - I'd love to meet up with you! But I guess it's a bit too far this time, but I'm counting on you coming back to Europe (France!) soon again ;)
And I look forward to see the photo-result of your upcoming trip to Switzerland!!
Joy Suzanne - hate skiing??! Is that possible...? Even with my clumsy adventures I'd still go back. Though Lorenzo insist on buying me a helmet now. I might not be a fashion addict but you WILL NOT see me in a helmet. I'd rather prefer ploughing slowly-slowly downhill :) lol..
I think it's all those years I spend in ballet class... it's disproportionately hard for me to keep my skis parallel. They want to each point out to the sides... you can imagine how that goes. Think Goofy in those old cartoons where he's skiing in the Alps!
Also, I don't handle cold weather well. I remember that the cold wind in my face made my nose run while I was skiing. So I was: cold, snotty, having a hard time keeping my skis straight, wearing someone else's old ugly snowsuit, and generally hating every second of it! :)
All I wanted was a hot chocolate... and a hot bath!
Ha ha ha... ok, maybe you're made for the sauna part of the alpine experience :)
Have you seen the ads for the "new" alpine resorts, with the fancy outdoor never-ending pools with a fantastic views and luxury outdoor suntanning terrasses? There's always a choice :) lol...
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