Skiing in Sestriere!

During our early weeks here in Milan, IES Abroad arranged a trip for us to go to Sestriere to ski! I have never been skiing before in my entire life, but what better place to learn than in the Alps? It was also a really exciting trip because it was the first time that a lot of us IES Abroad students were going to be spending time together. As excited I was to go skiing, I was equally not as excited to be in the cold. Everyone that knows me knows how much I hate the winter and hate being cold, so I knew it was going to be an interesting experience for me. The first day that we got there a few friends of mine and I decided that we wanted to spend the day ice skating. Ice skating is my absolute favorite winter activity, so I couldn’t wait. The rink was right next to the mountains and the view you had while skating was breathtaking. It was definitely the highlight of my trip. On the way back to the hotel a giant snowstorm passed through out of nowhere. My hair was completely covered in snow and looked insane for the rest of the trip. That same night, we took a snow cat up the mountain to have dinner at the top. It was by far one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. Dinner was about six courses, and I thought I was going to explode. However, I couldn’t stop eating! Everything was so good! The next morning, IES Abroad arranged skiing lessons for us beginners (thank God). I couldn’t wait to get out there and learn. The weather was stunning and I was even a little hot while walking to the lesson. Surprisingly, fear didn’t hit me until I clicked my boots into my skis for the first time. We were barely going down an incline on the tiniest hill possible and I almost peed myself every time. Our ski instructor Ilaria was so sweet and patient with all of us. She even ate lunch with us and told us all about how she became an instructor. Towards the end of the lesson she pushed us all to go down a much longer hill. I was still pretty terrified but the little ounce of confidence I had forced me to try it. Surprisingly, I didn’t fall and made it down in one piece! I’m glad I decided to try something new. Sestriere was definitely an experience for the books. Thanks IES Abroad!