27th December – Last day in the snow connect with Illaria from Open Knowledge

Perfect day….blue skies and snow everywhere. Beginner snowboarders good enough to go to another larger field at Compatsch, close to where we had our Xmas dinner…lots of photos and videos today. 

On the drive up to Compatsch

Nice day in Compatsch

Erin and Marti after a successful run down the mountain

Carri and Gav in the Gondola on the way back down the mountain
Looks like Carri is taking no chances....but is was perfectly safe.

At Resciesa at the top of the mountain after skiing
Jo is the photo hog...Erin has Hot Chocolate

Its interesting to reflect on the technology changes since we were last skiing in Europe 32 years ago. Then we paid for a ‘professional’ video where the VHS camcorder looked like a mobile television studio. Today we have wearable cameras; Gavin had his helmet mounted Go Pro and I had my somewhat down market video sunglasses.

 

Gavin and the Go Pro...taken by my $40
video glasses

Me and my video glasses taken by Gavin and his
$400  Go Pro....just a bit of a quality difference!

I was looking for a big skiing day today but daughter Erin kept reminding me that I'm not as young as I used to be and I would regret it if I injured myself on the last day, and that we should spend the afternoon with Mum (Julie) up at the lookout. So I was happy to 'retire' from this skiing trip on a beautiful sunny day and my first and only "no crashes" day.

On a business trip to Milan with Open Knowledge earlier in the year, I mentioned that we had planned this trip and immediately was alerted to two Open Knowledge staff who were connected to two of our main stops. Poala and Sicily I mentioned earlier and Illaria who has a place in Ortesei and spend the post Xmas period here with her family. Unfortunately we could not meet up with Ilaria physically. The heavy snow delayed their arrival and our text messages also experienced some delays! She has been good with the advice on where to have our Xmas dinner celebrations. So Ilaria is added to our growing social network map. Wherever we travel in Italy we seem to have some Italian contact who has lived there or knows the place well. Its like having a personal ‘Trip Advisor. Maria and Rosario had also been to Sicily recently and were pleased with our choice. Maria says that when you ask an Italian where you should visit in Italy they will always tell you first, where they come from, and second, Sicily… so more on that later.

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