Italian on My Mind

In 2010, before returning to Sestriere, Italy where I had become smitten with my instructor the year before, I made a brief visit to a new place, Val Thorens, France...It's basically all the same area of the Western Alps, just on the other side of the border. But this time, the food wasn't as great and the people were definitely not as nice. Oh...how I missed my Italian instructor.

That's me and my French Snowboard Instructor, Benoit (benwaah)...he was flashy and funny, and he really tried to improve my technique, but to no avail, the Italians are just much warmer and patient people. So I decided I would go to Sestriere one more time before the season was over. I immediately smsed my Italian instructor, naivly asking if there was any snow left on the mountain as it was the end of the season in April. To which he replied, "yes my flower! come to stay with me, I will guest you in my guesthouse!"

So I arrived a few weeks later to Sestriere and my lovely instructor picked me up from the bus stop...with open arms! Of course I knew beforehand that he and his girlfriend had broken up months ago and that this was my chance to pounce.

This time I had him all to myself. We spent 10 glorious days together, sharing in the beauty of the surrounding mountains, learning to snowboard from a skilled teacher, and oh... did i mention falling head over heals in love....sigh.......we grew close in those days...and made a promise to meet again as soon as possible....

By the way, his name is not Jack, it's Luca and he lives on the first floor.

My First Visit to the Italian Alps

My first visit to this area was in March of 2009. My friends and I flew into Milan on an all-inclusive Club Med Vacation to the Sestriere, home of the 2006 Olympics.

And as corny and predictable as my life has always been, I fell in love with my Snowboard instructor. In the short chairlift rides to the top of the piste, he told me about life in the mountains.  

I was curious to know what he did when not instructing, besides being handsome.  He worked on his family's farm tending to the animals and producing the amazing Toma cheese native to the area...as if having green eyes wasn't enough, he was also a championship skier, ski and snowboard instructor, manly organic farmer and experienced beekeeper. But.......he had a girlfriend...from Milano. I had an amazing time on that vacation, but unfortunately left without even a little peck on the cheek. 

During the next few months to remind of me of my beautiful vacation in the mountains, I set the photo below as my desktop background on my computer at work.