Cinque Terra

The Cinque Terre are five coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in the Liguria region of Italy. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all encapsulated in a national park by the same name.

We stayed in the town of Vernazza which is the second town in the line of five (from West to East). Our hotel was run by the best restaurant in the town so we headed there first to collect our keys. We were directed up the back streets of the town as we climbed to our rooms located above and behind the main square.

The weather was good that evening but the waves assaulting the town’s walls were mighty. I have never seen such huge waves dwarfing sea walls and flying over to crash into the bay and carry on to the main square! The locals were milling around in a safe place enjoying the show. I spotted a little alcove which was close to the action. From this alcove we could watch the waves literally fly past the opening that we were standing in!

Of course we flirted with the waves by jumping out of the alcove and jumping back in just before they crashed down on us. How old are we? Without the risk of understatement - let’s just say that we were all stunned when a massive torrent came in sideways and completely flooded the alcove. Here we were - drunk and now very wet standing in the sea water - you could hear the local’s laughter echoing round the square! We had no choice but to erupt in laughter as well. Running out of the alcove I noticed Gummy laughing at me (He had somehow evaded the wave) - I was laughing so hard that I had no way to warn him that a huge wave was about to break behind him. He also ended up soaked through. We moved back to the safe distance that the locals had chosen and enjoyed a few bottles of wine while watching the ferocious sea continue its spastic little dance.

We were greeted the next morning by fine rays of sunshine bursting through what remained of the clouds and illuminating the terracotta colours of the town. With views like this it’s not hard to see why this place is so popular. Our planned walk today would take us first to the village of Corniglia - we climbed the never ending steps to walk high above the village and along the cliffs. This leg was the most challenging of the day and would take us about 1.5 hours. With Titch 6 months pregnant we had to take it easy and make sure her heart rate did not climb to high.

The next two legs taking us through Manarola and Riomaggiore were a lot easier and just as stunning. We enjoyed the sea views and consumed some ice cream (gelato) before heading back to our town for a siesta before regrouping for dinner. We had not booked anywhere so in the end we were forced to pair off and see what we could get (as no restaurant would take 10 people). Titch and I got lucky as we managed to get the last two seats in the best restaurant in town.

The next day we woke up to find an overcast day - we met up for breakfast and I was surprised to see Gummy in just a jumper and no jacket. After a lot of convincing Gummy finally relented and went back for his jacket. Good thing too because 5 minutes into the walk the storm hit us. It started as a slight drizzle and ended up as a constant fall. Not torrential but over a period of time you got very wet. This track is the hardest of the walks and it never ceased to amaze me to see steps disappearing into the distance when ever you turned a corner.

We were very wet by the time we arrived at Monterosso - Frankie found us a very nice restaurant which specialised in vegetarian food. We attempted to dry out over lunch and then we headed to a pub to watch Man United v Liverpool and Chelsea v Arsenal - the falling rain helped to justify our decision to watch football. I guess the less said about the results the better...

After the football we had to quickly get to our base town to meet up with the non-football watchers for our pre booked dinner. We enjoyed a fantastic meal and then headed to the bar up the road where we stayed till closing. The next morning Titch and I headed off alone to Pisa while the other guys heading to Lucas instead.

Pisa isn't the greatest city in the world although the leaning tower is quite fantastic to look at (if you can ignore the huge crowds and street hawkers). We found a really nice restaurant to eat in before finally heading back to the airport to meet up with the others and head home.

Fantastic little trip which seemed longer than it was. It was also the last flight Titch and I will make before the birth of our little baby girl!

Jeepers! Not long now!

Check out the photos here...

Val D'lsere - Snow Report

I met up with Jason in Feltham the night before we left as we had arranged a coach to pick us up and take us to Gatwick.

I met some of the team of 10 at the "club" in Feltham that night and the rest the next morning on the bus. We arrived at Gatwick and snubbed the check in queues as we headed straight to our VIP check in agent. Once through security the whole team headed straight to the pub! It was 7:00am! I headed to "Eat" instead and had a sandwich and smoothie.

We were sitting in first class on the plane and the beer was still flowing! The team started to get rowdy....

Sitting on the transfer bus some of the guys pulled out the duty free Vodka and JD! They all started drinking.... the coach trip to Val D'Isere is 3.5 hours long... it felt like 7. By the time we pulled in to our hotel everybody on the coach hated us. I had not even taken a sip of alcohol but I was tarnished with the same brush. A lot of the guys the next morning could not even remember arriving at the hotel....

Things improved from here.

The much promised snow started falling and would not stop for three days. The first morning we met up with the guides in a huge group - they took us all to a slope and we had to go down one by one to be rated. There were four groups: Beginner, Advanced, Expert, Insane.

I was classified as insane as were three of my team making a total of 8 boarders in our group. A few of the guys didn't make the cut and were a little gutted - good thing though as our group was hard and you had to be quick! I was absolutely exhausted at the end of every day. Our guide was amazing and our time on the piste was almost non-existent. All day every day he would find untracked powder! I had some of the most incredible runs I have ever experienced in waist deep powder!

This hotel was amazing! Board-in, board-out and all drinks were free - Spirits, Wine, Cocktails, Beer, Coffee, Espresso. All food was free - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Bar Snacks - and we are talking gourmet here! The selection was incredible!

I somehow broke my ski pass and it cost me 5 Euros to replace. I paid 29 euros for a wax and edge for my board. All up - the only money I spent on the holiday (Apart from the inclusive package) was 34 Euros. If I was staying in the UK next year I would definitely never ever go independently ever again! Club Med all the way - you just cannot beat the value for money.

The last three days of the holiday was intense blue sky with no clouds and deep untracked powder (Although getting harder to find towards the end of the week).

One of the guys had a camcorder in his bag which was hooked up to a bullet cam attached to his goggles. We have about 3 hours of footage - once I get a hold of the DVD I will post some footage on facebook.

It was a fantastic way to say goodbye (for now) to the European Alps. The next time I board will no doubt be in New Zealand - something I am quite excited about...

Check out the photos here...

Val D'lsere

I am off to Val D'lsere on Sunday with Club Med (All inclusive 5* Package) for one weeks snowboarding. Europe has had an awful February with virtually no snow falling at all! I can now hardly believe my luck when you look at what has just fallen and what is about to come…



Just look at those conditions - Piste: Excellent, Off Piste: Powder. With 41cms forecast in the first few days... looks like I might be in powder heaven.