Tiff's 2026 Winter Olympic Italian adventure

Last day of my European trip was spent in beautiful Geneva.  I said goodbye to Tim at the train station as he headed back to Paris for his flight out tonight via Singapore. Then off to explore for a while.  I wandered around enjoying the sunshine and historic sights and made my way to the lake.  I followed it to the Jet E'au which is a huge water spout that shoots water 150m into the air in the lake.  Such a relaxed vibe today as people all enjoyed their day off around the lake. I rented a 'Donkey bike' (city cycle) and squeezed in a 10km ride along the lake before my walking tour.  Snow capped mountains in the distance and crystal clear waters. My free walking tour guide was enthusiastic and passed on many facts about this city and its sights.   It is a very expensive place to visit and live and the minimum wage is equivalent to AUD$50 per hour....

Travel day today. We checked out of the apartment which has felt like home, walked down the 5 flights of stairs (that we will not miss 😂) and walked to the bus station. An easy ride for 2.5hrs through spectacular snowy mountain scenery, dipping into France before finishing in Geneva, Switzerland.  We walked to our b&b on the lake to drop our bags and then walked to the Red Cross museum, via the United Nations headquarters.  The museum is informative, sobering and demonstrates the valuable work the Red Cross have been doing internationally since the late 1800's. We then caught the bus to see the Reformation wall which recognises the key leaders in the reformation movement such as Luther, Calvin etc. A wander up the former city walls to the old town, with cobbled streets, flags flying and cafes and restaurants starting to fill.  We found a cosy Chicken (Poulet) restaurant for dinner and added in desserts too.  Tried remembering to say Merci instead of gracie 😂...

Our last hurrah🚠⛷️ on the slopes and what a beauty it was.  Our biggest kms skied in a day (70kms) and another sunshiny day.  Rainy, cold and snowy weather forecast for the next week here and so we were truly blessed with 7 consecutive days of sunshine for our skiing🎉 I love my stats..   Total kms  on the slopes- 419.92kms Downhill skiing kms - 250.7kms Lifts and gondolas - 170kms Last night in Italy and so we went back to the restaurant we went to on the first night for some home style Italian food. A month in Italy has been everything I could have hoped for, exploring cities, volunteering at the Winter Olympics, seeing the Opening ceremony, skiing for 7 days in the Italian Alps,  eating pizza, pasta, Italian treats and all with great company.. Now to Geneva, Switzerland tomorrow for a few days before heading home. 🇮🇹 Arrivederci Italy 🇮🇹

Today we mixed it up. Our ski pass allowed one day to be used at partner slopes. We caught the local bus for the 1hr ride to Mont Blanc, Courmayeur ski field. The bus drops you at a Cable car stop for the ride across the valley in a 120 person cable car. This series of mountains are a different ski experience and we set off to explore. We ended up skiing black runs as well as the intermediate runs. I had my eye on a 20 person cable car to the top of the mountain. Tim not so keen and so I headed off myself. The views to Mont Blanc and the surrounding mountains were mind blowing. I then realised I was at the top of a steep long ski 😂😂. So, the only way is down and off I went for an exhilarating downhill ski. It seems I talked it up enough for Tim to overcome the cable car heights issue and we both went up for a brilliant ski. A day with perfect weather and surrounded by remarkable beauty again...

Fog in the valley this morning but it cleared to another magnificent day. Quiet on the slopes today and so our longest lift wait time would have been 3-4 mins. Pure joy skiing such long runs. Another 65km day on fabulous snow. It seems that the 70’s/80’s onesie skisuit us back in Europe and I don't know if they are original or you can now buy them again 😂 The slopes have about 95% skiers and 5% snow boarders and most of them are British.   We brought our skis down the mountain in the Gondola tonight as our ski pass gives us one day at a different resort and so will catch the bus in the morning. Dinner with Andy and Narelle tonight at a traditional Trattoria, and they now head to Spain to finish their holiday 😊. It's been so lovely to have shared an Olympic volunteer experience with them (even though they were Milan based).

Well, Italian Alps delivered another beautiful sunshiny day. We headed up the mountain on the gondola and had such a fun morning skiing some new runs. The slopes were quieter on a week day and so hardly any wait time on the ski lifts🎉 We chatted to some Brits and Belgium folks while having lunch.  Everyone saying that this ski field is one of the best with so many runs and breathtaking views. We have found it amazing and a 3 day pass here costs less than 1 day in Australia! Andy and Narelle joined us for the arvo and we had such a great time skiing.  We decided to have a drink after our last run. IiThey headed for the gondola to go back down the mountain and we headed to the ski hire place to put our gear in the drying room and collect our shoes and then to the gondola.  We arrived to find it shut! Another couple also standing there looking at the sign that said it closed at 5.30pm 😳 (the weekend was till 10pm ...