I was actually very impressed with Venice, it was a breath of fresh air (literally!) being in a city without any cars or motorbikes. All the streets are very pretty and fully pedestrian with most people walking everywhere and occasionally taking water bus boats. In the evenings the whole city goes quiet and tranquil. All the hundreds of canals and waterways crisscrossing the city and maze of narrow streets make for a wonderful immersive ambience.
After Venice we hopped back on the train for a few hours to head into the Dolomites. We visited our friends Ryan and Rob who were renting a chalet for a month, remote working and skiing as much as possible. After quickly adjusting to the dramatic change in temperature (+21 degC to -22 degC!), it was fantastic to be in the mountains again and heading out onto the slopes to try and remember how to ski. Luckily I quickly regained my very wobbly skiing legs and enjoyed a great few days skiing with Ryan and Rob and a couple of days snowshoeing with Amy.
The highlight for me was skiing the Seleronda, a lift assisted round tour of the Sella Massive. While not particularly difficult (it’s on pisted red runs) it was a fantastic journey with each run being on a different piste, we got round in good time and even had time to explore some untouched off piste power valleys on the way back.
 |
| Seleronda! |
In the future I would love to do some proper ski touring, it’s a fantastic way to get around the mountains in winter. Maybe even with an ice climb included! However after a few days skiing I remembered why I don’t get to do it very often; it’s very expensive!