Category Archives: Posts from the road

Trying to cross the Andes to Argentina

July 26, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Peulla, Chile)

The plan was clearly laid out: using 4 different buses and 3 different boats, we would travel from Puerto Varas, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina. The various modes of transportation are required for a good reason: in addition to crossing various lakes, we would also be crossing the Andes.

The mellow end of the waterfalls at Petrohue, Chile

There was one small problem, however. If you are travelling on a Canadian passport, you must pay a “reciprocity fee” to enter Argentina because Canada charges Argentinians a visa fee to enter Canada. My wife duly paid the fee online in advance, as required, and obtained an invoice proving payment. However, the border officials also apparently required all of this in a bar code format, which my wife did not have. In addition, her e-mail account was locked because her e-mail provider was apparently not used to her accessing the account from South America.

A huge waterfall hidden in the rainforest above Peulla, Chile

To make a long story short, we could not progress beyond the Chilean border town of Peulla until she had that magic bar code. We reluctantly said goodbye to our tour group and booked a room at the Hotel Natura Patagonia in Peulla. It was situated nicely (I took the photo at the top of this post from our room), near the shore of Lago dos Todos Santos and in the shadow of the Andes. However, there was nothing else in the “town” and it was very definitely out of season. How long would it take until this was straightened out? Would it *ever* be straightened out?

Bar made out of a tree, at the Hotel Natura Patagonia in Peulla, Chile

We did not know the answers to our questions. Our group had moved on to Bariloche, Argentina and would then be flying on to Buenos Aires. The rain was pouring in Peulla and, to be honest, we were getting quite frustrated with our situation. We wouldn’t know anything else until the next morning, when the Argentinian immigration office in Buenos Aires opened again.

The Hotel Natura Patagonia in Peulla, Chile

I went for a hike to the only accessible local attraction: a huge waterfall hidden in the rainforest. I got soaked, even with an umbrella, but it was awe-inspiring to see the waterfall suddenly appear at the end of an overgrown trail. The picture above shows part of it; the waterfall went on and on.

Condor sign at the national park in Peulla, Chile. Could it mean something?

Near the dock in Peulla, I saw a signs with information about condors, pumas and pudús. The pudú is the world’s smallest deer and I thought I might see one while we were in the area. I held out no hope for the others.

Darkness arrived early. We had a very quiet dinner in the oversized hotel dining room. There were perhaps 6 other occupied rooms in the hotel; there would ordinarily be hundreds of guests. Being in immigration limbo in a nearly deserted hamlet in the middle of the dark, cold and wet Andean winter…it doesn’t get much more desolate than that!

Posts from the road

Hiking at Volcán Osorno

July 24, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Puerto Varas, Chile)

While there is more than one volcano visible from Puerto Varas, Volcán Osorno is the most dominant. Right now, it is reminiscent of Mount Fuji as only the top half of the volcano is covered in snow. When the opportunity arose to hike here, we took full advantage of it…despite the high risk of rain. The lake district receives an exceptionally high amount of rain and very slippery hiking conditions were a real possibility.

After driving by numerous roadside businesses selling Kuchen, we finally arrived at Petrohue and the departure point for our hike. We would be walking for about 4 hours: a gradual ascent on the side of Volcán Osorno followed by a descent to the shores of Lago Todos los Santos (see photo at the top of this post) and then hopefully a boatride back to our mid-afternoon lunch in a Petrohue fisherman’s house.

On the shore of Lago dos Todos Santos, Chile — On the shore of Lago Todos los Santos, Chile

We spent most of the first half of the walk looking up at Volcán Osorno. It is not even 3000m high but it looks much taller because there are no peaks nearby and the base is essentially at sea level. Once again, I took a lot of photographs. This was a good thing: the light was tricky and the glare made it hard to see the volcano in most of the pictures. It felt good to be walking in the clean air and we weren’t slowed by the sand-like trail that felt a bit like walking in snow.

Crossing a somewhat incomplete bridge in the rainforest near Petrohue, Chile

The last part of our walk was through a rainforest close to the lake. This was reminiscent of Costa Rica, but without tarantulas and large mammals. There is little that can harm you in Chilean rainforests! We were also very happy that it did not actually rain during our hike: it is rare to have consecutive days without rain at this time of year.

The challenges of boarding a boat without a dock

When we finally arrived at the beach, there was a boat waiting for us. While boarding was made very difficult by the lack of a dock, we eventually made it on and travelled a short distance down Lago Todos los Santos to our captain’s house: as a reward for our long trek, we were being treated to a home-made lunch. We each had the choice of freshly caught lake trout or wild boar. We both went for the trout and it was very good.

The bus ride back to Puerto Varas was very quiet. I think people were both tired from the hike and aware that we would be attending a traditional Chilean barbeque that evening.

A Chilean dog helping out with the raking (Petrohue, Chile)

It was a real adventure to reach Marcelo’s house on spooky gravel roads and through almost total darkness. However, once we arrived, it felt like having a big family dinner in Swiss alpine hut. My favourite part was the “choripan“: this consists of a sausage (chorizo) on a bun (pan), topped with a honey mustard sauce and huge bean sprouts. I had more than one: when it came time for the main course of barbequed pork and grilled vegetables, I stuck mainly to the vegetables.

Marcelo at the grill, preparing a Chilean barbeque

While we’re loving the natural beauty of the Puerto Varas area, our time in Chile is limited and we’ll soon be moving on to another country…or will we?

Posts from the road

Arrival in Chile’s Lake District

July 22, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Puerto Varas, Chile)

After a couple of days in the Santiago area, we flew down to Puerto Montt, the “capital” of the Chilean lake district. Our first stop was the market in the Angelmó district: while originally a fish market, it has grown to include cheese, meat, vegetables, and various other edible sea products such as barnacles and seaweed. Now that cruise ships occasionally call at Puerto Montt, it also has more tourist-oriented items such as wood carvings, ponchos, and wool gloves, socks and toques.

We bought cheese from this vendor at the Angelmo Market in Puerto Montt

While Puerto Montt is one of the fastest-growing cities in South America, nature is still very prominent here. We were entertained by sea lions in the harbour; we suspect that they were asking for food. They seemed quite playful until one suddenly lunged forward and barked at us: it was quite loud and we all took a few steps back from the shore. We also saw lots of pelicans: if you haven’t seen one fly before, it is very odd to see an airborne bird with such a large beak.

Sea lions at the harbour in Puerto Montt

From Puerto Montt, we drove to our home for the next two nights: the resort town of Puerto Varas, on the shores of Lago Llanquihue (pronounced somewhat like “Yon-Kee-Way”). This town has a rich German-speaking history that is reflected in the family names, the architecture, and the “Kuchen” (cakes) for sale everywhere. Most of the original European settlers here were from Germany, Switzerland or Austria: they were attracted here in the 1800s by offers of free land. Our Spanish-speaking bus driver was named Helmut.

One of the outdoor stalls at the Angelmó market in Puerto Montt, Chile

While the Andean lakeside setting is beautiful, Puerto Varas is probably best known for its (weather-permitting) stunning views of Volcán Osorno…the Osorno volcano that last erupted in 1869. It is seen from the Puerto Varas harbour, in the photo at the top of this post. I’ll be writing more about this volcano later!

For lunch, we went to a private home for a very typical dinner from this part of Chile: curanto. While it was originally cooked underground, it is now more frequently prepared in a large conventional pot. It is a collection of many ingredients, most notably a huge amount of mussels and clams. However, it also contains potato dumplings and regular (albeit colourful) potatoes. While it also used to contain sea lion and seagull, these are now generally replaced by pork and chicken.

After taking so many photos of Volcán Osorno, it would be a shame not to pay it a closer visit. Stay tuned for the details!

Posts from the road

Trip to a Chilean Winery…and eating Santiago street food

July 19, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Santiago, Chile)

We travelled to the nearby Maipo Valley today in order to visit a local winery. We went to the Pérez Cruz winery: I was not previously familiar with it…but it turns out that Canada is its second biggest export market, after the U.K.

We stopped at this roadside cafe on the way to the winery

This was a very modern facility: all wood and curving walls. We went into the cellars to taste some not-yet-aged wine (French oak barrels are generally preferred) before seeing some of the production facilities and finally doing a taste test. I was very curious about this, as I am not much of a red wine drinker and Pérez Cruz only makes red wine.

The Perez Cruz Winery, in Chile's Maipo Valley — The Perez Cruz Winery, in Chile’s Maipo Valley

We were given samples of three limited-edition/premium red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah (Shiraz) and Carménère. We were also given a plate of various cheeses and crackers. The idea is that you have a small piece of cheese with each wine. If either the cheese or the wine is overpowered by the other, it is not a good pairing. However, if they both retain their flavour, they are complementary. It was fascinating to eat a strong cheese but not taste it at all because it was overpowered by the wine. Similarly, some of the cheeses made an objectively bold-tasting wine taste like water.

Tasting new wine directly from the barrel

Much to my surprise, the taste testing confirmed that I enjoyed the Shiraz the most. It was a little sweeter than the others; we found out later that Shiraz is often chosen by those who actually prefer white wine. We are learning a lot of unexpected things here in Chile!

After returning to Santiago, we were on our own for the rest of the day. We decided to find our own lunch at the Mercado Central (“Central Market”). While this was a little touristy and focused on seafood (see photo at the top of this post), we found another market a few blocks north that catered slightly more to locals. However, if we wanted to eat, we would have to speak Spanish! We kept it simple and had a couple of very cheesy empanadas (one with shrimp, one without). Success!

We then explored Bellavista: this is known as the “Bohemian and cultural barrio” of Santiago It was probably more Bohemian than cultural, as our local guide had indeed suggested earlier. Santiago is much like Toronto in some respects: although it is a very large city, it is also a collection of neighbourhoods that have their own very strong identities.

This was where we had some Mexican-style empanadas in downtown Santiago

While we have enjoyed acclimatizing to Chile in Santiago, the real reasons for our trip to this part of the world still lie ahead. Our language training continues and we are ready for some exciting outdoor adventures!

Posts from the road

On the road again…in Chile!

July 17, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Santiago, Chile)

For many, many years, I have wanted to visit Chile. After a few false starts, including a 2014 trip to Patagonia that *nearly* happened (I went to Costa Rica instead), it has finally become a reality. It’s winter here – quite a shock as Kingston temperatures have been hovering around 30’C for the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, the daytime temperatures in Santiago still get up to about 15’C. It will get much colder later in our trip!

As English-speaking tourists are not as common here as they are in Costa Rica, it really was essential for us to learn some Spanish before we got here…hence, the Duolingo crash course that my wife and I have been taking over the past week. In fact, we are still working on it, even though we have already arrived!

Avenida Londres, near our hotel in Santiago,Chile

After a long overnight flight from Canada, we just wandered around downtown Santiago today. Nothing too adventurous yet. We climbed to the top of Cerro Santa Lucía, a huge downtown park that is only a few blocks from our hotel and offers views (see photo at the top of this post) of the entire city. This is where the city was first founded. They really try to provide a safe family atmosphere: even though the park is free, they still ask people to sign in and indicate where there are from.

View from our hotel of Avenida Paris (Santiago, Chile)

We also did some grocery shopping – this is always a fun way to immerse yourself in a new place. Our main mission today was to buy some bottled water: the local water is drinkable but heavily mineralized and can be troublesome if you are not used to it. We also picked up some interesting local snacks.

Near the bottom of Serro Santa Lucia (Santiago, Chile)

Finally, we wandered through the Plaza de Armas: this is the “heart of the city” and is festooned with palm trees. It was especially busy as this was a religious festival day; we took the opportunity to visit the huge Santiago Cathedral and explore the pedestrianized Paseo Ahumada before returning to our hotel. Our hotel is in the Barrio Paris/Londres: a very small and elegant cobblestoned neighbourhood that, as the name suggests, looks like it has been transplanted from northern Europe.

Plaza de Armas - the heart of downtown Santiago — Plaza de Armas – the heart of downtown Santiago

We’re joining a small tour group for the next little while before striking out on our own at the end of our trip. We met our group for the first time tonight and it seems like a good combination of people with diverse backgrounds yet shared interests. We enjoyed dinner together outside on a rooftop in the Barrio Lastarria and will be heading out for our first group expedition in the morning. Stay tuned for our South American adventure!

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Ottawa and the Chair of Horns

May 29, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

We just spent a weekend in Ottawa – as we went by car this time, we decided to focus on places that are a little harder to visit using public transportation.

I’ll start with the strangest part: we stopped at a flea market in Stittsville on Sunday. There was a lot of used furniture and the usual knick-knacks that are typically found at flea markets. But then we saw “it”! As you can see from the picture, “it” is a chair made out of animal horns. This raises all kinds of questions. Was the chair builder somehow inspired to build a Chair of Horns and subsequently went looking for the perfect horns? Or did the chair builder already have the horns…and then arrive at the unavoidable conclusion that they must be used to build a chair?

The startling chair of horns in Stittsville, Ontario — The startling **Chair of Horns** in Stittsville, Ontario

It would be interesting to know the answer. From my perspective, when I see horns, I don’t immediately think that “I must build a chair out of these”. Anyway, it’s quite unusual and, if you’re lucky, this Chair of Horns might even still be available for purchase!

Although we didn’t realize it was happening until we arrived in Ottawa, we also managed to attend part of the annual Tulip Festival. This festival has its roots in the gift of more than 100,000 tulip bulbs by the Netherlands to Canada, as thanks for Canada’s role in World War II (you can read the details here). The big event this year was the unveiling of the new “Canada 150”: a tulip that resembles the Canadian flag (see photo at the top of this post). It has been developed in anticipation of Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017 and will apparently be available commercially later this year.

Part of the Tulip Festival near Dow's Lake — Part of the Tulip Festival near Dow’s Lake

Many of our destinations were food-related. In addition to various ethnic grocery stores, we went to a Malaysian restaurant on Friday and a South Indian restaurant on Saturday. We learned that the food from the Kerala region of southern India is very spicy…even the mild dishes would be considered at least “medium hot” elsewhere. Fortunately, we were able to balance it with gelato from Little Italy on Preston Street.

World of Maps in the Hintonburg district of Ottawa

However, I think our best food experience was in the Hintonburg neighbourhood. We found a lot of great little shops here: my wife enjoyed a Christmas store, I enjoyed visiting a record shop, and we both spent a lot of time in “World of Maps”! As this is a travel blog, I have to mention this as a travel store worth visiting in Ottawa. Lots of maps and travel guides, of course, but also lots of other travel literature and supplies. If you need a New Zealand sticker for your car, or a flag from Barbados, this is your place!

My Capricciosa pizza at "Tennessy Willems" restaurant in Hintonburg — My Capricciosa pizza at “Tennessy Willems” restaurant in Hintonburg

Anyway, we had a great lunch at a Hintonburg restaurant called “Tennessy Willems” (spelling apparently intentional). It focused on Italian food and was extremely committed to local ingredients. The Capricciosa pizza (usually my favourite kind) was one of the best I’ve ever had; I’m glad that I remembered to take a picture before eating. The sauce was particularly good – the restaurant even sells jars of it!

Stay tuned for a few more flashbacks, as the Southern Hemisphere countdown continues!

Posts from the road

Showtime in Toronto

April 29, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

We recently made a quick visit to Toronto for a concert. Los Lobos have been on my musical bucket list for a while and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to see them. Before showtime, however, we had a couple of stops to make.

Toronto has a great transit pass offer on weekends: 2 adults (and up to 4 children) can ride all day for a total of $12.00. With single rides costing $3.25 cash, the pass pays for itself if 2 adults take one return trip. We did that…and much more.

The Hockey Hall of Fame in downtown Toronto

Our first stop was a neighbourhood that used to be known as “Little India”. Somehow, I had never visited this part of Gerrard Avenue East (between Greenwood and Coxwell) despite living in Toronto for 3 years. It’s now known as the “Gerrard India Bazaar” but it still has several blocks of restaurants and shops featuring food and clothing from the Indian subcontinent.

We were hungry and slightly overwhelmed by the number of restaurants, so we went to the first one that looked a little different from Kingston’s Indian restaurants. Karma’s Kitchen featured Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan cuisine; I settled on a sizzling plate called Chicken Tangra.

Chicken Tangra at Karma's Kitchen in Toronto — Chicken Tangra at Karma’s Kitchen in Toronto

After picking up some unusual food items (including a delicious Punjabi peanut brittle!) for home and dropping them off at our hotel, we did some music shopping in the Queen West/Spadina neighbourhood and then headed to The Annex.

I lived on the edge of The Annex many years ago and often visited this part of town for dinner and/or entertainment….and so it was on this night, as we visited the venerable Country Style Hungarian Restaurant on Bloor Street West. As you can see from the photo, the size of the schnitzel did not disappoint! There was lots of spätzle underneath and a cucumber salad besides. It’s not fancy but you cannot possibly leave hungry.

Chicken Schnitzel at Country Style Hungarian Restaurant

We sauntered slowly from the restaurant to the concert venue. It was all quite promising: an acclaimed band, an acoustically renowned concert hall, a supposedly “unplugged” concert theme, and seats in the first row of the side balcony, right by the stage. We looked forward to seeing and hearing with astonishing clarity.

Well, we did *see* Los Lobos up close. Unfortunately, the concert was marred by unbalanced and muddy sound. It was strange to be only a short distance from the saxophone player and yet not hear any of the notes he was obviously playing. Same with the vocals; in fact, even the announcements (without music) at the start of the concert were unintelligible. However, we did hear plenty of the wall of guitars. Our ears rang for quite some time afterwards; this was certainly not an unplugged or acoustic performance.

Los Lobos at Koerner Hall in Toronto: this band has been together for more than 40 years! — Los Lobos in Toronto: this band has been together for more than 40 years!

I walked the length of the balcony, to see if we were in a sonic “dead zone”, but things didn’t seem to be any better. Los Lobos finished their concert with a seamless medley of “La Bamba” and the Rascals’ “Good Lovin'”. They clearly are accomplished and adventurous musicians – other songs wandered into portions of “Not Fade Away” and “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” before returning to the original Los Lobos song.

Despite the disappointing sound at the concert, our trip was still a success…particularly with some great finds the next morning at the antique market and spectacular gelato (as always) at “G is for Gelato” on Jarvis Street. And we can listen to brilliant albums like “Kiko” at home anytime!

Posts from the road

Arrivederci, Italia!

April 22, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Torino, Italy)

My last two days in Italy were blessed by brilliant sunshine. The first, in Sestriere, was a rather unplanned day off the slopes…but I did enjoy exploring the town and indulging in some local pastries.

Sestriere is a “purpose-built” resort with an unusually high number of cylindrical buildings. Not much character, then, but looking up into the surrounding gleaming mountains does compensate somewhat for the lack of history. There was an unexpected fireworks display on the last night: although it is difficult to capture it on camera, it really was impressive to see the fireworks reflecting off the white snow.

One of Sestriere's cylindrical hotels. Note the spiraling windows! — One of Sestriere’s cylindrical hotels. Note the spiraling windows!

We traveled to Turin (Torino) for the final full day in Italy. I was expecting a city similar to Milan, but I found Turin to be a little more accessible. There were more affordable indulgences and more elegant architecture: many streets had arcades to shield you from the sun…something I didn’t see much in the more commercial and hectic Milan. In a nutshell: there were lots of appealing opportunities for gelato, pastries and focaccia! It was only March 19, but for lunch we were able to eat our pizza outdoors.

Dinner was a special treat. We found a “locals only” restaurant a few streets away from our hotel. It was family run: the parents were running the show and the (adult) children were handling the customers. After 12 days in Italy, I was feeling bold enough to do all of the ordering in Italian. This was partially out of necessity: there was no English menu here. We also lived on the edge, as we didn’t necessarily know what we were ordering. I knew enough Italian to avoid trippa (tripe) and our appetizer of insalata verde (green salad) was obvious enough…but we didn’t truly know what would show up for our main courses. No worries – our pasta dishes were delicious and we had lots of the real parmigiano reggiano cheese to go with them.

My pizza capricciosa; I was so hungry (and it was so good) that I ate it in about 30 seconds after taking this picture — My pizza capricciosa in Turin; I was so hungry (and it was so good) that I ate it in about 30 seconds after taking this picture

For dessert, we took an even more daring approach. Reasoning that the most expensive dessert would also be the best, we threw caution to the wind and ordered the mysteriously-named (so mysterious that I cannot remember it) house specialty. Great call: we enjoyed a phenomenal dessert with hazelnut liqueur and dark chocolate in various forms. How much did we enjoy dinner? I completely forgot to take pictures of the food!

While we were only there for about a day, we left with a very positive impression of Turin…even if that was based mostly on the food. The only negative was that people seemed to smoke a lot here: no smoking was permitted inside but some of the more crowded areas downtown were a little unpleasant after being in the fresh air of the Cinque Terre and the Italian Alps for nearly two weeks.

I didn't expect to come across a tango festival in Turin! — I didn’t expect to come across a tango festival in Turin!

Thus endeth another Italian ski adventure. On our last night in Sestriere, we had a meeting and decided on the venues for next year’s ski camp. I’ll keep it a secret for now…however, given how much we enjoyed Cortina d’Ampezzo and Val Gardena, I am reasonably certain that next year’s choices (in two different countries) will be great as well.

Stay tuned for some Canadian content!

Posts from the road

Skiing Italy’s Milky Way – Part 4 (The Final Chapter)

April 15, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Sestriere, Italy)

The stage was set: after exploring the Milky Way ski region for 4 days and confirming the logistics involved, our 5th day would be spent on an epic round-trip journey on skis to Montgenevre, France.

But it wasn’t. We awoke to yet another snowstorm and made the difficult decision to stay closer to Sestriere. It just didn’t make sense to ski all the way to France without being able to see anything.

Pausing mid-morning before resuming an attack on the "Kandahar" Olympic downhill slope — Pausing mid-morning at a plateau before resuming an attack on the “Kandahar” Olympic downhill slope

Instead, we returned to the nearby Borgata area and set about exploring some of the pistes that we hadn’t seen back on Day 1. Something cool happened: while the top of the mountain was shrouded in snow and had essentially no visibility, the bottom half (which could only be reached by skiing all the way down from the top) was actually relatively clear even though it also had been blanketed with tons of fresh snow. Thus, if you were willing to endure some blind skiing up top, you were rewarded with amazing conditions at the bottom.

We stumbled upon the “Kandahar” (Banchetta Nasi) piste early and took the plunge. This was the 2006 Olympic men’s downhill course and the buckets of snow made it an exhilarating ride. We returned to it often, thoroughly enjoying conditions that are rarely associated with on-piste skiing.

We decided to ski to the village of Pragelato for lunch. The lone piste to the village was a winter wonderland; nowhere near the Kandahar in terms of difficulty but nonetheless incredibly scenic as it slowly wound through the snow-blanketed forest to the valley. Alas, Pragelato turned out to be a Club Med village…with very formally dressed staff and steep lunch prices for non-guests. We ate instead at a more humble place back on the Borgata slopes.

My lunch: potatoes, bacon, cheese, egg... — My prototypical Alpine lunch: potatoes, bacon, cheese, egg…

While the Kandahar piste remained excellent for the rest of the day and we returned to it periodically, the sun eventually emerged over the entire area and my posse found even more stunning deep powder conditions on pistes that had been marked as closed or had simply been overlooked by everybody else. When looking at the next two pictures (as well as the photo at the very top of this post), remember that these pistes had been groomed overnight: these photos were all taken in the afternoon! As you can see, there was nobody else around.

Believe it or not: this is on-piste in the afternoon above Borgata

Access to this kind of skiing is usually only by helicopter…and yet, we were able to have the same experience for the price of a simple lift ticket. We were incredibly fortunate.

And then, on the last run of the day, shadows began to fall on the slopes. I was within sight of Sestriere village when I planned a turn through what I thought was yet another stash of powder. Alas, the low light was playing tricks on me and it was not powder at all. I didn’t realize this until the last second and took an awkward stumble. To make a long story short, I decided that I should not risk a more permanent injury by skiing the next day with a stiff shoulder and neck.

More on-piste (!) skiing in the sunny afternoon above Borgata...begging to be captured on film for posterity — More on-piste (!) skiing in the sunny afternoon above Borgata…begging to be captured on film for posterity

I was more than a little frustrated at the time. However, as I type this, I realize that I did have a remarkable 5 days of skiing…and it was probably equivalent to 10 days of skiing in “normal” circumstances. Taking it easy the next day also ensured that I could enjoy the last two days of my holiday.

Stay tuned for the final post from my trip to Italy!

Posts from the road

Skiing Italy’s Milky Way – Part 3 (Another Blizzard!)

April 8, 2016 pierrev Leave a comment

(Sestriere, Italy)

Day 4 on the Milky Way slopes was set aside for a journey by skis to the resort of Claviere on the French border. It all made sense: we would speed through Sansicario (familiar to us from Day 3) and travel through Cesana Torinese on the way to Claviere, thus setting the stage for a trip to Montgenevre (in France) on our 5th day of skiing. There was just one thing we did not count on: another blizzard.

Old house near one of the lifts above Cesana Torinese — Old building near one of the lifts above Cesana Torinese

Everything looked good at first: we roared down the familiar Olympica piste at Sansicario and at Cesana Torinese we enjoyed the novelty of taking a chair lift above both a major river and a highway. However, by the time we got onto the 3rd (and final) chairlift above Cesana Torinese, we couldn’t even see the chair in front of us. Amazingly, it got worse.

At the top of the Claviere area, several lifts (including the 3rd lift from Cesana Torinese) converge and several pistes branch off in various directions. The problem: we couldn’t see *any* of them. We had to walk in a big circle to figure out where the pistes were located…and then figure out which one went down to the actual resort of Claviere.

This piste just above Cesana Torinese was easy enough that we could take pictures while skiing...but at least we could see! — This piste just above Cesana Torinese was so flat that we could take pictures while skiing…but at least we could see!

Skiing blind in whiteout conditions on slopes you’ve never seen is not ideal. Presumably because my jacket’s colour is “creamsicle orange”, I was nominated to lead the way. Well, skiing blind is a very good way to remember to bend your knees. It is essential because you do not know if you are going to hit a mogul (or encounter any change in pitch) until after you’ve hit it. If your knees are not bent for shock absorption, you will become involuntarily (and very ungracefully) airborne at the first unexpected bump.

This is about halfway up the mountain at Claviere...the visibility got worse at the top! — This was taken at lunchtime, about halfway up the mountain at Claviere. Yes, this picture is in focus…and the visibility got worse at the top!

It wasn’t all bad. As we descended the abandoned slopes toward the village, we naturally found lots of deep powder and even gained a tiny bit of visibility. Despite skiing a number of pistes, however, we cannot truly say that we have *seen* the slopes of Claviere. We only *felt* them. We decided to take an early lunch, in the hopes that the blizzard might clear while we were eating. No such luck…but we made an excellent choice for lunch!

Claviere's excellent La Coche restaurant — Claviere’s excellent Baita La Coche restaurant – nobody eating on the sun terrace today

We ate at Baita La Coche, a family-run restaurant approximately one-third of the way up the mountain from the base of Claviere. I saw polenta e salsiccia on the menu, although I was skeptical that it would live up to my expectations. Wrong! It was even better than the one I had on the first day of skiing! I had a cioccolato calda (hot chocolate) to go with it, as I had a bit of a chill from the blizzard. It was deliciously dark chocolate and warmed me up very well, but it certainly couldn’t wash down my polenta: it was more like hot pudding. My spoon couldn’t reach the bottom because the chocolate was so thick!

Another delicious lunch of polenta e salsiccia...with some seriously thick cioccolato calda! — Another delicious lunch of polenta e salsiccia…with some seriously thick cioccolato calda!

Because the visibility at Claviere seemed to be getting even worse, we decided to be prudent and return to Sansicario (which kept us close to our base in Sestriere). We didn’t want to miss the last lift home in conditions like these!

Back in Sansicario, the blizzard still raged but the visibility was a little better. With the slopes here also being empty, we enjoyed some absolutely brilliant (and on-piste!) deep mid-afternoon powder. This is unusual in itself, but almost unheard of in the latter half of March when ice and unwanted moguls can predominate. Once again, we whooped and hollered like little kids as we sliced and bounded through the somewhat visible snow. There’s nothing like fresh snow to keep you young!

My posse climbing over the pass from Sansicario to Sestriere at the end of the day…it is still snowing heavily!

Stay tuned for more: would the weather clear so that we could actually see Claviere and then finally make it to France on skis?

Pierre Vanderhout's Travel Blog

Category Archives: Posts from the road

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The Odyssey Continues…