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.