The Alps

Brendan and I ventured off to see Milan and ski in the Alps (and watch the Superbowl) for the weekend.

This is a little video I made of the trip.  I had been having some trouble with the program and exporting it for a while so two of the clips for some reason don't play and appear as images instead.  Just use your imagination and picture the dogs running and a pan of a mountain landscape. :)

If you don't understand something in the video I probably describe it in the post.  For example, I spin in a circle on an imprint of a bull in the spot where his balls go because it's a good luck thing.  I don't know why... but I did it anyways. haha  Enjoy!

View from Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

The Matterhorn in the middle with Mont Blanc to the left of it.

Valtournenche, Italy

Another view from Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.

I stole these awesome panoramas from Brendan and thought I'd add them... I was on video duty on the mountain since we knew our batteries wouldn't last all day if we both took photos haha.

The Trip
Milan 

Brendan and I started our day at 4am on Saturday.  We caught a bus to Luton (London) to fly to Malpensa (Milan) and then took another bus before arriving in Milan.  We began our walk through a wonderful snow coated park filled with dogs, dogs, and more dogs (and some dog owners I suppose).  The park was followed by store windows in the streets of the "golden quadrilateral" filled with Gucci purses, Armani clothes, and Versace shoes.  Some windows even advertised children's clothing.  Who buys their kids designer clothing?

Our initial (and brief) awe for the city ended upon our arrival at the Duomo.  An intricately designed, beautiful white marble facade depicts hundreds of people around the whole exterior of the cathedral with a lively, expansive square in front.  We gazed up at the wonderful architecture for, perhaps, three minutes before a group of men in the square attempted to force us to take bracelets from Africa from them ("for free").  If you actually take one, they will then demand a donation from you.  Another gentleman tried to give Brendan birdseed but when he refused the man put it on his backpack.  Their insistence was enough for us to want to keep walking.

After the Duomo we strolled down the road to the fortress where one of these men who was probably between 6'6" and 6'10" was there as well trying to give me a bracelet.  I kept walking and said no thank you.  He kept jabbing at my left arm trying to hand it to me and I kept nudging him away saying "ok.. ok... OK!"  On the third one I meant to swipe his hand away with my right hand but forgot I was wielding my camera and accidentally camera whipped his hand.  I think it probably really hurt his hand but he left me alone.  We left the fortress and continued on our tour.

We meandered through the streets in the general direction of the Last Supper (secretly Brendan was actually following signs for McDonalds) before we ended up in the ticket office where we had no reservations and thus did not get to see the painting.  Even further down the road we found the Market next to the only two canals in Milan.  The canals were frozen and rather dirty and the Market seemed to sell cheaper (knock off I presume) versions of the store windows.  After walking past a really old arch (that's all I know about it), we went to McDonalds as it was the cheapest food we could find.  I was unaware that the menu had begun serving "Miami Fries", "The Arizona Dream", and "The Chicago Supreme".  Silly Italians.

After McDonald's we strolled past the university but didn't see much and eventually back to the Duomo to go inside.  The inside was equally as impressive as the outside with large pillars resembling the size of an elephant's leg (if the elephant were a dinosaur).  It had paintings all up and down the aisles and incredibly intricate stained glass windows with even more people depicted (where did the designer come up with all these people?  Every person in the Bible must have been represented).  Afterwards, we took the metro to our bus stop for the Alps!

The Alps

Once the sun set all you could see of each little town we passed were constellations of street lights laid over hills and valleys.  After about three hours and two bus rides Brendan and I were in Valtournenche, Italy!  Albeit, stranded about a mile or so from our hotel but none the less surrounded by towering mountains of trees, snow, and darkness.  We found ourselves in the town center quite a ways up the mountain from the hotel (the bus driver was supposed to stop in front of it but instead took us a bit too far).  We walked around looking for a public bus or any info we could find but everything was closed.

I saw a woman walking towards us on the sidewalk and asked, "Excuse me, do you speak English?"  She made a gesture with her hand implying she probably knew as much English as Brendan did Spanish.  "Parlez-vous francais?"  "Ah, oui!"  I proceeded to tell her that Brendan and I had taken the bus here but that it dropped us off too far up the mountain.  She said [translated, of course], "Ah well the last bus comes around at 7:50pm."  It was approaching 8pm.  We thanked her and began to walk away before she said something like, "Mais le bus va descendre la montagne a 8h.  Si tu vas a l'autre, tu peux le batre... a l'AUTRE," gesturing towards the other side of the road.  It seems simple now when you just read it but when she was saying it I was hearing it in fragments as she was yelling it from down the road a bit.  "She said if we go to the other side of the road we can get the bus as it comes back down."  While I was saying this I was thinking, "le batre... what is le batre???"  The last bus down the mountain passed by and we realized our missed opportunity.  Granted, the bus driver didn't speak English and wasn't terribly accommodating so it probably wouldn't have helped if we'd caught him anyways.  It wasn't until later that night that it dawned on me, "BEAT IT!  She said we could BEAT the bus if we go to the other side of the road!"

We walked into a hotel where a friendly Italian hostess (who also spoke a bit of English but fluent French) called the owner of our B&B who kindly came and picked us up.  The gentleman, Marco, was the nicest guy ever.  He had kept the kitchen open for us so that we could have dinner (Ministrone and the most delicious serving of pork--sorry dad--that I've ever had!) and then showed us to our room.  Included in the 42 euro per night is a wonderful breakfast, an even better dinner, a ride to and from the mountain, a warm bedroom with a nice, clean bathroom, and a room to warm up your boots!  (Not that we used it since we rented but it was still nice.)

The next day we had fresh baked croissants and deliciously rich hot chocolate before heading to the mountain bright and early.  We snagged some rentals and got our lift tickets (we got "international supplements" later because it had been closed due to wind but our tickets in the end covered all of the mountains in the map below) and hit the slopes!  We made our way towards Switzerland and then almost got stuck there when the lifts closed.  We made it to Cervinia where I fell off the T-bar on the way back to Valtournenche and were almost stuck there.  Fortunately we made it back with about eight minutes to spare.  T-bars just weren't made for snowboarders...

Every view from wherever you were was amazing!  When we headed for the top of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise I was really feeling the altitude and was actually a bit dizzy.  Granted we skipped lunch but I think it was the altitude.  The view was totally worth it though!  You could see Mont Blanc!  Absolutely amazing.  Mountain peaks and valleys as far as the eye could see all blanketed with snow.  On a separate note I was also surprised at how empty the trails were.  Sometimes it felt like we were the only people on the mountain although in other places it was somewhat busy I suppose.  We hardly had to wait in any lift lines and the lifts were really nice too.  We'd ride different lifts for maybe 45 minutes but then ski for what felt like forever--begging for a lift by the time we hit the bottom.  I ate it a few times and was really glad I paid the four euro for a helmet rental but sadly broke my goggles when a jerk ran over my board.  I can't think of anything else to say about the skiing... it was just the best!  No ice, good powder, no moguls, fun.  So great!

We headed back to the hotel and got to take warm showers before another amazing meal (lasagna with steak topped with mushrooms and tomato sauce with tiramisu for dessert!).  We waited until 1am at which point Brendan stayed up to watch the Superbowl but I didn't make it.  I woke up in time for the third and fourth quarters though.  The next day it was back on the bus to Milan.  We got to see the mountains along the journey this time in the day light and they were so beautiful!  The snow caps looked like clouds on the horizon.  We took one last stroll through the fortress grounds and around the Duomo before taking the bus to the airport.  We did end up taking a long stroll through the business district on our way to the bus which was actually a very nice area but I was still left with a biter feeling towards Milan.  In my opinion it isn't worth any more than a day's time unless you're on your way to the Alps.  The Alps are always worth it!

I can't think of anything else to write but I feel like I'm probably forgetting to mention a million things even though I've already written a book here.  I'm sure I'll stick them in here as I remember them but that's all I've got for now!

"OMG THIS POST IS EVEN LONGER THAN THE BARCELONA POST--I JUST WANT TO SEE PICTURES OF MOUNTAINS."  Yeah, yeah...

Facts
The Matterhorn: borders Switzerland and Italy, 4,478m (14,690 ft), overlooks Zermatt and Breuil-Cervinia.
Zermatt: Valais, Switzerland, Top Elevation: 3899m, Base Station: 1620m, Vertical Drop: 2279m, Slopes: 195 (498km), 47 lifts.
Matterhorn Glacier Paradise: 3,883m (12,740ft), Valais, Switzerland, aka Klein Matterhorn, highest point in Zermatt-Cervinia ski area in Switzerland and the end point of the highest cable car in Europe.
Breuil-Cervinia: Italy, Vertical Drop: 1430m, top elevation at 3480m, base elevation of 2050m (1524m in Valtournenche), 46 slopes (148km), longest run: 22.5km, lift capacity: 40881 skiers/hour.
Valtournenche: Italy, Temp. at the top: -28C, Temp. at the bottom: -20C, Vertical Drop: 1458m, Top Elevation: 2982m, Base Elevation: 1524m, 18 slopes (35km), 8 lifts.

We only had time to ski the Breuil-Cervinia, Testa Grigia, and Matterhorn Glacier Paradise regions and down to Furi, Switzerland for a bit.  All of the names can get a bit confusing.

The Vistas and Photo Ops

You can see the tree line in the valley.  I think the bottom of that valley might possibly be  Zermatt, Switzerland.  I'm not sure if this is that photo or not. 

From the bottom of Valtournenche.

The Matterhorn

Chillin.  It was only -28 C at the top of the mountain.  I'm holding my camera in the picture on the right which is why my glove is off haha.  Trying to warm it up to make the battery think it's not dead.

I love this photo.  I think I'm welcoming you to Switzerland.  Can't remember...

A chairlift... with a shield! 

One of the two cool trams we took. 

Brendan!  Again, may be entering Switzerland at this point. 

A Few Photos Stolen From Brendan...

Traveling through the mountain to the lift up to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise 

Mountains Beyond Mountains 

Zermatt, Switzerland 

 Snowboarding down to the base of Valtournenche, Italy.  I loved how there appeared to be a fog setting in over the mountains.  I think it may have partially been an effect of the setting sun.

The Border!

Shielded Chairlift

Riding up the mountain!

Gondola back from Furi

Say what now?

Cervinia Tram

Furi (Switzerland)

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.  I didn't know my hair was super weird looking at the time... haha.  This is the top of the top.  About 2.4 miles above sea level!  To put things in perspective, we were about a third of the way to the altitude of our plane ride to/from Milan.  It was pretty cold too as I said which is why I wore under armor under sweatpants under snow pants.  Stayed warm all day. :)

Fashionable Attire

fancy stores

The latest in style this season: Jacket by Burton, Pants by CCS, Hoody by the RPI Bookstore, Glasses by Guess.  The street on the right is one of the streets with quite a few fancy stores.

 On The Road Again...

Brendan asleep on the left.  On the tarmac on the right.

 Milan Parks

Trolley/Tram!

It didn't occur to me that it would probably be snowy in Milan haha.

Pretty parks with so many dogs!

The Duomo

The Duomo Square Area

The Galleria (mall, essentially).

Stained glass inside the Duomo.

Inside the Duomo--the pillars are massive!

In front of the Duomo.

The fortress at the end of the road from the Duomo.

More of Milan

This is the building that houses the last supper.  Also, intersections were filled with webs of these lines for the trams/trolleys.

Near the canals there was some cool graffiti and a fresh fruit stand.

The arch near the market with more webs of trolley lines.

Valtournenche, Italy

The view from our window. 

Our room where we watched the Superbowl at 1am.

The bathroom was really nice too (great shower!) and this pipe on the right makes power with running water. That's Marco's van too by the way.

The dining area.  Our table was the one on the left. 

I cracked my goggles when a skier (jerk) passed me and ran over my board.  Then one of them laughed at me.  Rude.

Lasagna as an appetizer with steak and mushrooms topped with tomato sauce and a boiled potato for dinner.  Yum!

Delicious Tiramisu (for dessert) and incredibly rich (and delicious) and hot chocolate with a freshly baked croissant for breakfast.  Mmm.

The view from a hotel window. 

The elusive bus stop... 

 The entrance to the hotel and the wonderful Marco!

Bus Back To Milan...

 We didn't get to see this the first time since it was night time before but the mountain tops looked like clouds.

One Last Tour Through Milan...

The arch at the end of the fortress' gardens. 

A skateboarder outside the central station.