3rd September 2013

I spent two and a half weeks of August in Cervinia, which is in the Italian Alps.  O is doing his first ski instructor levels out there, so I hopped on a plane (and then a train.  And then in a car) to go and visit him.

I took a LOT of photos, so after plenty of sorting, I have managed to choose my favourites.  I think I’ll let the pictures do most of the describing in this post…

If you’re interested in mountains, waterfalls, and of course, Alpine food – then read on!  (Not surprisingly – there’s quite a bit of cheese involved)

The view from the glacier above Cervinia where you can ski all year round.  This is looking back down towards the town.  During the summer, you take three lifts up to get to the slopes…

Matching in mint green (so hot right now)

Predictably, being Italy and all, the pizzas are amazing.  This one had Fontina cheese, Speck ham and mozzarella.

A morning on skis

And the afternoon at a glacial pool

Heading down through the clouds for Raclette, potatoes and pudding…

(Before)

(After)

One night we took a trip to the next town down the mountain, where we stayed at Locanda Quattro which is a little chalet hotel with only four rooms.  Each room has a special feature – a Turkish bath, a steam room… and ours had… a jacuzzi of course (what else).

We’d done the Raclette, so it was time for la Pierre-chaud…

Back up at Cervinia, one of the walks we took was to a massive dam above the town.  In the winter, it’s in the middle of the pistes.

The water is unbelievably blue.

When we reached the dam, we went for a closer look…

Playing train on an old railway track

All that walking builds up an appetite I can tell you!

And the best thing about being in the mountains?  Drinking as much hot chocolate as you can.

O’s parents came to Cervinia for a couple of days while I was there and we had some lovely meals with them.  I tragically forgot to photograph the best cheese fondue I’ve ever had – was too busy drowning myself in Mont D’Or.  

But at the beautiful Saint Hubertus I had honey duck breast with roasted potato chips and courgettes – see below.  The chips were roast potatoes in disguise – get it?  One on my ‘to make’ list.

Rabbit and burrata ravioli with vegetable cubetti (wow)

Lemon sorbet

When not hiking, skiing or sleeping, we mainly spent our time dog watching (Cervinia has the most beautiful assortment of dogs of all shapes and sizes I have ever seen) and playing cards.  Hey, it’s not a party town!

Check out this guy

The biggest walk we did was up to a refuge on the snow line.  On the way we passed some incredible waterfalls.  The valley Cervinia sits in has several, and they make the setting completely stunning – especially with the Matterhorn in the background.

We had some fortifying milkshakes, and set off.

It was getting pretty hot so Mowgli decided to take a dip…

Suitably refreshed, we carried on up the mountain.  Up, up, up – legs were burning by this point!

You could see the dam all the way on the other side of the valley.

Finally, we reached the refuge.  It was incredibly satisfying sitting down to some meat, cheese and bread.

Although before too long, we had to make our way back down – we hadn’t brought sleeping bags to stay overnight.  

There’s a great restaurant in Cervinia called La Copa Pan where we ate a couple of times.  It has a basement bar and is beautifully furnished – a combination of modern colours, brass fittings and traditional mountain décor. 

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar & rosemary

Fondue bourguignonne

There was also a delectable amuse-bouche of goats cheese, béchamel, fig chutney and rosemary.

Which pretty much brings us to the end of my trip!  Maybe this post was a little too long, but I couldn’t resist – sorry.  I left Italy feeling refreshed and rested, with lungs full of mountain air.

Hopefully I’ll be able to return to Cervinia in the winter one day as I’d love to do the ski all the way into town from the top of Plateau Rosa.  

O will be home soon, and I can’t wait to see him.