Milan and skiing in Val di Fassa

From Krakow we headed down to Milan (where we stayed overnight) to pick up a car and drive up to the Dolomites. The Easycar depot in Italy was run by LocautoRent and provided good service (which was a nice change for an Easycar depot), although the chains they gave us were broken - but more on that later.

The Dolomites are about 380km from Milan, but we made pretty good time, especially given that the speed limit on the motorway was 130km/h+ (although a few people went past us at that speed like we were standing still). Everything slowed down a bit when we got up in the mountains, though, since it had just snowed and the road was still covered with slush. Without chains it was hard going, but we managed to pick up our skis and find our hotel in Possa di Fassa with no dramas (thanks mostly to Sarah's excellent driving skills)

First signs of snow

Real snow on the road up the mountain - and very fresh

We got an afternoon of skiing in on the Monday, which was fantastic since the snow was fresh and the crowds were thinning out by the minute. We also had our first taste of Italian skiing life, when we grabbed delicious food at one of the little family-run restaurants that seemed to be at the top of every lift - most of them serving both Italian and Austrian-style food as we were very close to the northern border of Italy (and most of them bi-lingual in German and Italian, fewer speaking English - they all assumed Sarah must be German when she didn't speak Italian)

Our first ride up the gondola, with the snow-covered town of Pozza di Fassa behind us

By the end of Monday we'd pretty much skied every run fed by the 'Buffaure' lifts, but we relished another of be benefits of Pozza di Fassa - it was part of a big complex of resorts, linked by lifts and buses. So Tuesday we checked out the neighboring resort (where Stephen conquered his first ever black run), while Wednesday we headed across to the next part of the valley. This commute required a gondala ride, a chairlift, a red ski run, then another chairlift, another red run then a black run, a bus ride and then another gondola - and scenery was fantastic the whole way.

Conquered!

Heaps of snow!

It was more than worth it, as not only was there more runs and nice snow (including some shin-deep powder to play in) but there was also the chance to go up to the top of Sass Pordoi, the highest peak in the immediate vicinity at 2,950m. There was the option to ski down from there, but we chickened out when we saw the warning signs and heard the guys who looked hardcore talking about how hard it was. The view was brilliant, though!

The view from the top of Sass Pordoi

Sarah on top of the world!

Why we decided not to ski back down from Sass Pordoi

The village of Pozza di Fassa (where we were staying in the Hotel San Nicolo) was certainly quietening down for the end of the season while we were there, and the whole area seemed family oriented - we didn't see many other couples our age (we did see lots of three-generation families though - grandparents, parents and kids). This probably explains why there wasn't a lot of nightlife (although our hotel did have a bar) but it meant it was even more of a relaxing holiday. And having a 50m walk to the bottom of the gondola was fantastic - makes you never want to stay off-snow again.

Another favourite discovery was across the road from the hotel - an excellent pizza place which did a really light version of pizza in a wood-fired oven, with some delicious combinations (and some really high quality ingredients)...so we ate there three of the nights (we tried a couple of other restaurants when we just couldn't face any more pizza...but kept coming back).

The Hotel San Nicolo

We think we timed our skiing perfectly - the slopes were quiet, and it had just dumped down some snow. When we first arrived, the fields around the town were white, but by the time we left they were clear of snow, although this hadn't started to really impact the skifields at all - we think we probably got the last week of real snow.

We were flying out of Milan first thing on Sunday, so we decided to spend Saturday checking out the city. After a few navigational issues we found the main square, dominated by the enormous gothic cathedral - the Duomo. The shopping around the cathedral was pretty amazing - both the beautiful Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (more impressive for the building than the shops) and the 'fashion quadrangle'. I don't think we were tempted to buy much (especially with the sticker shock) but it was fascinating to see the concept stores, especially the Polo store which was decked out like an English country house.

The 'Duomo' Cathedral in the centre of Milan

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, was full of all the big brands (there is, however a McDonalds there - the Golden Arches were actually a tasteful shade of gold (rather than Bright Yellow))