Swoosh, swoosh… ahhh, the sound of me skiing ever-so-gracefully through the freshly fallen snow in the beautiful Swiss Alps. Ok, yes, technically I was only going down the bunny hill but those 2.5 seconds were still glorious. Actually, being the natural that I am at sports (or NOT!), my instructor admitted that I was picking it up very quickly and that we should try a run together beyond the bunny hill!! He made sure to tell me several times that he 1) was surprised at my progress (thanks!) and 2) doesn’t normally take beginners up on the trails so he wasn’t 100% sure what to do with me while up there. How’s that for instilling some confidence? Did I mention he didn’t speak English very well? And that I’m scared of heights?!? Talk about setting yourself up for success.
Sidenote: I’m sort of a ringer when it comes to skiing; I claim that I don’t know how to ski but I did ski once (albeit when I was 17) and I snowboarded once a couple of years ago (when you have some time, ask me about the guys who rented me the equipment that trip, you’ll die). Ok, now my soul is cleared for Heaven since I didn’t lie.
But you read it here first, folks. I, Lisa Janet Christen, graduated beyond the bunny hill and skied a real run in the Swiss Alps!!!!! And now I would like to officially announce my retirement. I’m upgrading from ski bunny to snow bunny. The boots hurt, my knees hurt, I wanted to cry from the speed and the height, and overall it just wasn’t that fun for a control-freak like me. Plus Florian was waiting at the bottom of the mountain for me when I finished and suggested we get drinks. I’m only human, people!!!
The rest of the time we did tons of other things that didn’t involve skiing. I get that it sounds ridiculous to go on a ski vacation and, well, not ski BUT I think you’ll soon understand my logic. For example, if this were your view from your balcony and the wine and Prosecco were flowing freely, what would you do?
And if your husband had bought you entrance to an exquisite day at the Spa, including entrance to a Hamam and a couple’s massage, would you really fight to wear those uncomfortable ski boots?? BTW obviously we couldn’t take pictures while we were in there but we pretty much looked exactly like this creepy couple from the hotel brochure. And I’m pretty sure my face looked like this other girl’s at least 90% of the time (creepy picture again courtesy of the hotel brochure).
Did I mention that Florian and I went swimming in a giant heated pool OUTSIDE. Yep, while people were sledding, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing around us and bundled in their warmest winter gear, there we were in our bathing suits, splashing around while it snowed on us.
And of course we spent a lot of time eating. We ate, and ate. And ate some more. And when we thought we couldn’t possible eat any more, we obviously still ate. Did I mention the restaurant at
our hotel has 14 Gault Millau points? And the head chef personally knows all of the Christen family?
And the best part of our trip was undoubtedly… finding out Bella is also a snow bunny!!