Blogout

08.30 pm.

Hello, the last few days have been interesting to say the least.

We're home.

The snow kept coming, and we decided to make a break for it.

Why? I hear you ask

Friday night, the night of our arrival, it had snowed heavy. When we tried to ski on Saturday morning, the lifts and pistes were closed. Only four lifts out of 84 were open.

We spoke to a representative of the resort, she was helpful and told us that there wouldn't be any changes to the lift and piste status today. She also highlighted that the weather would be turning later in the day and again more snow was expected up until Tuesday, with us leaving on Wednesday. As we were talking with her, she continued on to explain that there had been an avalanche on Friday night and the the one road in and out of St.Anton was closed.

We looked at each other and couldn't believe our luck and how events were unfolding.
We pressed her for more information, but the amount of snow and conditions like this were unprecedented. She advised to go to the police station to find out what was happening with the roads.
I know, going to a police station of my own free will and accord, that's how bad it was.
So at the police station, we spoke to a police lady, us standing outside and conversing with her through an intercom. A situation that i was somewhat unaccustomed, but it was nice. She  basically said that they were going to close the road, and reopening it possibly tomorrow but couldn't say for sure.
So it was decided, a break we needed to make. The thought of being trapped there and not being able to ski was horrid.
We tried to get a taxi back to the hotel, but the town was gridlocked.
So we went back to the hotel, it got a little heated between myself and the hotelier. I started to scare the new guests checking in, telling them about the ski situation. The hotelier didn't see the funny side of this either. Anyway, we said bonjour to the German wannabe and we were away.
We crawled out of st anton in bumper to bumper traffic and made it to the motorway.

Yes, again having to get down in the snow to remove the b****rd snow chains. (the snow was that bad that, even with the formidable off road prowess of the invincible, snow chains were necessary)

We joined the motorway, it was extraordinarily busy. With traffic moving very slowly. We started to think that we were not going to get away.

We eventually reached the bottom of the mountains, filled up with fuel and got the f**k out of dodge.  We blasted up to calais.

We had no idea whether there would be a ferry by the time we arrived there, or whether we could get on it or even if there was anything we could do when we get there. With an estimated arrival time of 10:30pm in calais, and having made sure that the satnav was allowing toll roads we pushed forward, adopting French driving tactics of gently sitting right up the arse of anyone in my way. They soon learned.

Something that I have learned from the return leg of the tour is that, my Sat nav is, like me, a little optimistic when giving estimated arrival times. I mean, I say to people I'll be there by 10. I actually mean I'm going to arrive by at 10:30. Well, I learnt just how frustrating this is especially when the Sat nav gave us an eta of 10:30. We arrived at calais at 11:10pm. Now, as you can probably imagine I wasn't hanging around, so to see the eta keep creeping up was nigh on infuriating.
How can something that plans your journey and takes you through tolls actually add time to your journey. Yeah, that's right at each toll, I would watch another couple of minutes added to the eta. How can a route planning bit of kit take you on a route which has planned stops not take this into consideration?!

Calais,
We got there, YES there was another ferry. But it was 11:15pm, at a ferry terminal with a ferry leaving in an hour and i was once again in the hands of a foreigner who could smell the desperation of an Englishman who wanted to come across the 21miles of water more than anything. So, what else could he do?

Ramp the f**king price up and rip me off. I'm sure he could have just swapped it, but no he ripped the arse out of it.

Then the French police took the piss and stopped us. Why would you stop me? I thought to myself? well you don't stop anyone from sangatte, or anywhere else. Why not stop someone who's going home. Tossers.

The ferry, to add salt to the wounds, was empty, old and dirty.

The only passengers were eastern blockers straight off the set of a cheap horror movie.

Just get me home!!!!

We arrived safely home.

There will be one more blog.
Hope you have enjoyed the journey with us...

J&S

Snow

Having problems with WiFi
Unprecedented snow fall. 3 lifts out of 84 open. Continuous snow over last couple of days. Haven't ski'd yet.
Road in and out of st anton been closed. And open for a few hours I morning.
Avalanche blocked it Friday night.
We are okay, but looking to get the f**k out of dodge (as my dad would say)

We are both fine, but think we will be home early.

Just our luck, too much snow in a ski resort

J&S

And so it continues.......

Today we hit the slopes in andalo, we ski'd hard and I'm confident in saying that we pretty much ski'd everything they have to offer except the black. There is only one token ski run and my wife was very aware of where it was and after approaching it from about 3 different ways she still wasn't fooled. Jodie has made a remarkable progression with her skiing ability. When I think back to her first run in France last week to skiing with her today, she really has done very well. Whilst on the subject of my wife, yes I found her purse. I haven't had any thanks lord praise for finding it, nor have i had any recognition for hiding it so well and neglecting to remember that I'd even had it. I also haven't received any praise for hiding the passports so well and remembering where I had hid them!
So wifey, when you read this back; don't worry about the good things, just recollect the one oversight on my part. I don't see what the problem is anyway, you've got it back x (remember I also repo'd your boots too! x)

Our time in Italy is drawing to a close, although it isn't my first time in italy, the bubble has burst and the rose tinted view I had is most defnitely gone.
I wouldn't return here, the skiing is not on par with France or Austria. They ski like they drive and the very limited Italian I speak has led me to draw the conclusion that they're full of s**t. Maybe I expect too much?

Why do I say this, well...

One can grow very tired of them letting doors go when you're walking behind them, constantly pushing infront at queues, when you talk to someone at a bar as soon as they realise youre English you get the feeling they've ramped the price up and then told the guy next to you so they both chuckle. The men use the women's toilet if there's a queue and finally, we noticed as we drove in from France practically every layby was covered in rubbish. So much so that it was as if the dustmen had been on strike and so people chucked their rubbish in laybys, only, no-one told the dustmen once they'd finished striking. I just feel that they come across with a holier than though attitude, when this isn't the case. If it was Italy, you wouldn't be nearly bankrupt would you?

Next stop Austria. Our next resort is St. Anton am Arlberg. We leave in the morning and I can't wait. 3 days in this resort is plenty.

Enough ranting from me, I hope you're all well and we look forward to seeing you soon.

One last thing why is all of their music our music? And every film, an English/american film dubbed over in itallian. 10/10 for originality.

J&S

Great day today in Andalo, but bloody freezing!!!!

Wednesday 4th Jan 12.
18.31 pm.
Currently -3C

Bonjourno!

We have had a great day today skiing, we managed to complete most of the runs on the piste map and I didn't take anyone out; in particular children. (Story for another time!) LOL! I also didn't have my boots stolen and my purse is safely locked away. (Even from Stuart) so all in all, we are happy and enjoyed our first day skiing in Andalo.

I must add that at 8.45am we were 2125 metres high; it was extremely cold!!!! Never have I experienced such conditions!!! We did not have hardly enough layers on for the sub zero temperatures. We now know for tomorrow!!!  The snow, however, was lovely and powdery on the slopes enabling me to improve my technique further and helping my confidence to pick more speed up, still not enough mind to keep up with ol' Franz Klammer! ('Stuart' - apparently his dad called him this when he was younger!) but nonetheless I am getting there. :-)

I have added a few pictures that we have taken today. The views were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!  Took my breath away; in more ways than one!!! Literally it did!!! :-)

We are now in Stuarts favourite place; "the bar " we are just waiting to have dinner so making the most of the Wi-Fi. We are getting accustomed to the strange looks now; we put this down to us two being the only English in the whole of Andalo!!!
Again, my perception of our fellow Europeans has altered. I was always under the impression that Italians were 'beautiful' people; nah ah, nope, non, nadda. How wrong I was again. Not even seen an 'almost' attractive individual yet... As well as the people, I also thought Italy as a whole was supposed to be a beautiful country, (The Godfather, etc.) don't get me wrong we have seen some amazing sights but then again during our journey here from France we have also seen some appalling sights. We went through several small towns that Stuart could only express as " worse than up north... "

Needless to say, Andalo is a very nice place and we have enjoyed our time here. Looking forward to getting back up the slopes tomorrow...

We are off to dinner now, will post again tomorrow. Enjoy our pictures.

Much love.

Ciao!

J & S

Xxxxxxxx

At long last... Andalo.

Tuesday 3rd Jan 2012.
16.13pm

We have finally arrived in Andalo. It took an hour to drive from the hotel we stayed in last night in Terlago (which I have to say was very, very nice, both are gutted that it wasn't nearer to skiing- damn booking.com!! ) :-(

Anyhow, after three attempts we have got ourselves settled into a lovely chalet hotel. (Alpine Hotel) We have got half board, which is breakfast and dinner. It also has a sauna which we are going to try out before we head to dinner. (This is what won Stuart over, I tend to choose by cleansiness & decor?! nevertheless, it is a nice place to stay so we have done well)   :-)

We r both looking forward to getting back up the slopes tomorrow, we have decided to start early doors so we can make most of the day. We bought our lift passes this afternoon and have studied the piste map, so we are good to go! I just hope the sun is shining like today; we might as well try and get a tan whilst we r here! LOL!

Hope all is well at home, we miss you all. I will attempt to add some pictures we took on our journey here to Andalo. Stuart is having a snooze right this minute, hence me writing today's blog. Sorry if it hasn't been as witty as my husbands previous entries; I hasten to add his humour still fails to amaze me!

Also, before I forget, and also on the subject of my husband; good news! We have found my purse. It didn't get stolen in the end - thank god!
My ever so caring husband hid it in the truck but completely forgot he did so and where. So it was only when we were packing our things in France that he found it in a side pocket to his ski boot bag. Thank you dearest, I now have no access to money as all of my cards have been cancelled!!!

Joys of married life!! LOL!

Take care all.

Lots of love,

J & S

Xxxxx

Monday 2nd: If it was easy it would be boring!

So today we have travelled from France to Italy. We have just arrived at the hotel in Terlago, on the side of lake Terlago. Pulling up to the hotel, it is beautiful.

We started out @ 7 this morning, tapped in our address on the Sat nav and followed the directions. We'd been driving for a couple of hours when my co-driver highlighted that being in the centre of Milan wasn't necessarily the best route. I checked the Sat nav for road preferences. The Sat nav in the truck gives you 3 possible routes for every destination you enter. At no stage did it give an oppurtunity to choose your preferences. Well, there is a button, the co-pilot found.
We had been avoiding toll roads.
Not only had we been avoiding toll roads on this leg of the journey, but we had done it all the way down to the 3 Vallee's. This was the reason for us hugging the toll road, then the toll road would dive through a tunnel and we'd be doing the Italian job mountain roads. This is the cause of us navigating mountain passes on the 1st leg unecessarily.

So we sorted this and blasted through to our hotel just outside andalo, or so we thought.......

As i said earlier, we're at the hotel. We arrived but something told me there was something wrong........
Well, according to the booking website, the hotel is 8km away from andalo. It is in actual fact nearer 40km.
Apparently, after speaking with the hotelier this happens a lot due this website.

It never rains, it pours.

So we are now in a beautiful hotel in an ideallic location on the edge of one Italy's famous lakes. Which is great, but not if you've come to ski in andalo which is f***ing miles away.

What now?
Nice food, plenty of vino and a sleep.

No seriously, we're going to drive into andalo in the morning and try to find somewhere else, ideally near the snow!

If it was all smooth running, it wouldn't be an adventure now would it?

Will keep u posted...

J&S

Donnez de douche

Wow, we went out tonight with no expectations food wise. We decided upon a pizza. We walked around looking for a place that Jodie had seen earlier. This wasn't open, we then walked further and found another pizzeria. As we walked in a plume of smoke escaped. I quickly turned on my heels and was gone. Didn't fancy it.
By this time we were starting to think this would be the end of our time here, that would befit the events of the previous days.

I then recalled a restaurant that I'd seen on the drive in to brides. We agreed to walk there and at the very least it would be a nice walk. Enroute we found ourselves behind another English couple whom we had seen nearer to the previous restaurant. They seemed to be attempting to get to the restaurant infront of us.
They did reach it before us, they looked in through the window and didn't fancy it.  We looked and were very sceptical, but we agreed to give it a go. When we walked in there were only two other people in the corner. We ordered our pizzas and sat and waited.
As we sat there it suddenly began to fill up. Soon the lone old French guy serving, whom I presumed to own it, was turning people away much to their dismay.
The food was absolutely fantastic. A real surprise and completely caught us unawares. I did look for the English couple on the way back to thank them their turning their nose up, but I didn't find them.

This is it now from brides les bains and the 3 Vallee's.

Next stop Terlago, Andalo, Italy.

Hope you all had a good new year.

All our love,

J&S

I almost forgot

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

New years day 16:47pm

The slopes today were beautiful. The majority of the froggies have vacated, and so the slopes weren't as busy. The weather has been glorious all day. Finally we got to to Courchevel. I had my ski boots adjusted as they had been giving me a bit of gip. It was too early to have lunch here, so we ski'd a bit more and luncheoned at restaurant called 'Chenus'. This was at an altitude of 2305m.  Due to clear skies and great weather, we were able to get over to courchevel, this hadn't been possible the last few days due to closed link lifts. Where we ate, is where we also took the scenic photos to give those reading, who have never been skiing, an idea of the vistas we experienced today.

This afternoon we ski'd into meribel and had another fantastic afternoon's skiing.

Forgot to mention that yesterday whilst skiing in meribel, we stopped next to 'Russ Malkin'. He was in the long way round and long way down with Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman.

So, that's it! The first leg of our tour is nearly over. In the morning we leave the hotel, the next stop being Andalo, Italia.
We're hoping to make pretty good time and stop off in Milan for lunch.

Jodie has made remarkable progress and is doing amazing, my patience whilst teaching Jodie has increased considerably.
Those that know me, this can only be a good thing.

So our time in meribel is drawing to a close, we've learn't first hand that:
The french are rude, arrogant, obnoxious, and thieving (in terms of footwear, purses & prices they charge for food). But, alas, we mustn't let this dampen our spirit we knew this before we crossed the channel.
We have had a good time, but would we come back I hear you ask? Only to collect  JODIE'S PURSE!.

All jokes aside, we have had a great few days and are excited about the next leg of the journey...........

J&S