Snowboarding on the mountains of Bolognola

I may have tweaked my wrist, but I write yesterdays adventure with a full heart! I can check one of my long-time bucket list wishes... Snowboarding in Italy!

This adventure took place over a month ago. I happened to be at the local mall and saw an advertisement for Bolognola Ski. I've been wanting to go snowboarding for the past 3 years, but every year winter and spring blew past me with rapid speed. So this year, I was determined to go. I told one of my friends that I wanted to go, and a plan was immediately executed.

So on a random Tuesday, we drove one hour to Bolognola. I wish I could tell you that we drove straight to the resort with no fuss. Unfortunately... the GPS steered us to the middle of nowhere. The small car we drove and got stuck in the mud. Fortunately for us, the owner of the farm that we got stuck in happened to pull us out with his Land Rover. Another fortunate coincidence, the owner of the farm, was also the owner of the restaurant located at the exact resort we need to go to.

Following our lovely angel, we arrived safe and sound. A thrill of excitement flowed through me. I was nice and toasty in my mountain gear, and ecstatic to do something I enjoyed so much as a kid.
I strapped on my borrowed board and flew down the beginners' trail.

I found myself bewildered as my body naturally made the appropriate adjustments. I vaguely remember certain tips from my childhood lessons. "fall on your knees", "keep your knees bent" "Lean slightly back" etc etc. I found that my body knew well before my mind how to glide at a thrilling speed. I don't say these things as if I just naturally got back on a snowboard and

everything went to plan. Quite the opposite. Because my body was reacting faster than my body, I had an urgent need to go slower than was possible and my abruptness caused me to crash twice landing awkwardly on my wrist.

The one thing that I was not the least bit prepared for was the ski lift. I've only ever been on chairlifts and magic carpets. These are easy and don't require a significant amount of concentration on my end. The drag lift was a whole other beast. I kept flying off, and crashing down. If it took me 5 minutes to get down the slope, it took me 35 minutes to get back up.

Despite the battering of my body, I feel incredible. The sheer amount of joy that I've experienced on this trip will sustain me for a long while. My body is incredibly sore... but my heart is happy.

Impromptu a la San Benedetto Del Tronto

On January 6th, I felt an urge to jump on a train an explore another city. So that is exactly what I did. Fortunately for me, I am close to the local train station. I double checked the train schedule on trenitalia.com and I bought a round trip ticket for 9.30 in euro's.

This was an impromptu trip. In other words, I planned nothing until about an hour before I needed to get on the train. To be honest, I tend to put off the actual planning of my trips until the last minute. So in keeping with my character, I did a quick google search on attractions in San Benedetto Del Tronto. I google mapped the first four attractions that I found. And with a little anxiety in my step, I power walked to the train station. I was running behind because I had to make sure that I'd sent a proper text to let people know I would not be home for dinner. And to make sure that all of my podcasts were properly downloaded. Of course, my train ticket was printing as the train pulled up, I sprinted down a set of stairs, only to sprint back up another set of stairs. Never the less, I found myself on the train headed toward my destination!

  I arrived, I pulled up the google maps app only to find out that I hadn't actually downloaded the offline map. Therefore I had no idea of how to find the attractions that I was looking for!! Never fear, I didn't despair. For the sake of honesty, these are usually how my plans un-foil. I forget some important step or something crucial stops functioning and BAM! I'm wandering the streets wondering if I'm where I am supposed to be. This has been happening for so long that I no longer panic or freak out when these things happen, I just follow my impulses and see where they take me. (My impulses have improved dramatically)

So that is what I did today, I followed my impulses, and I found THREE out of the four destinations I had planned on visiting, so in the end, google maps wasn't as crucial as I thought.

The first thing I saw was the LAVORARE LAVORARE LAVORARE PREFERISCO IL RUMORE DEL  MARE sign. Excitement filled through me! I hadn't been actively looking for it, I just followed one interesting looking street to the next and I found it!

As I was trying to cross the street to get to the sign, I found myself right in front of the Palazzina Azzurra. It was simply majestic. There were unique sculptures on the property. A beautiful garden (It's January... so not a bloomed garden, but still beautiful) There was a miniature amphitheatre, The tree's from the park loomed over the property. Overall the grounds were are quite a sight. It's very small, but there was a part of the garden that reminded me of the "Secret Garden" and it made me flush with childhood pleasure.

I wasn't aware that Palazzina was also a museum! Or maybe an art gallery... I'm not sure but they were featuring an artist named Otashov. I really liked his sculptures. They gave me a simplistic, futuristic "Star Wars" vibe. Anyways, it was a nice surprise. And the building was nice and toasty which was an added plus.

I took a stroll on the beautiful beach and soaked in the view. My favorite place is by water, there is nothing like being by a sea, and being enclosed by the peace of lapping waves.

As I was continuing my walk... I happened on my third list Museo Del Mare... which was right across the street from the other two sites I'd seen.

These ramshackle beach shakes have huge historical photo's imprinted on them. They explain the history of this quaint seaside town and relatable sea-infatuation quotes that I could relate to.

Overall, my impromptu seas-side day trip was a success. The moral of this trip is... even if you don't a fully flushed plan, you may still most of what you're looking for.

Travel

Hello there!

I'm writing from Italy this January and despite the cold, it's still one of my favorite places in the world. I've enjoyed this wonderful country, and I have been content to upload pictures on Facebook and Instagram as a way to keep my loved ones in the loop of my adventures.

In the back of my mind, I've felt that I should have a travel diary, or a blog. This blog will be written as a diary, rather than a "How to travel" blog. If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask a question in the comment section. 

This year I will be travelling to many different places. I will document my various experiences and state of mind. It's important to understand the "Why" of travel. In the fall of 2016, I gave myself 4 years, to travel however much I wanted to. By the end of that first year, I realized that I wanted to travel for the rest of my life. 3 years later, I am back in Italy, and I am tasked with self-development and growth. The immense lessons I learned during my first trip, stayed in my head, even though I hadn't had many chances to utilize them. I became someone wholly different and yet struggled against the habits I had developed all throughout my adult life. In 2018, I travelled to cope and navigate my emotional pain. This year, I travel to develop my skill. I want to make a living out of travelling and documenting. I'm not entirely sure how this thing is supposed to work, but there is a resounding knowing inside of me that says, writing is what I was always supposed to do. 

I hope you enjoy travelling with me,

Lom