Today, I bought my first pair of ski pants. Not just any ski pants. I purchased ski pants from a children’s store because, apparently, I have the same legs as a twelve year old boy. Score one for petite-ness. Plus, this is an activity that I might only try once in my entire life, so no shame in my children’s ski equipment. We spent the majority of the day prepping for tomorrow’s ski school – finding appropriate clothes, being fitted for boots, helmets, and whatever else is necessary to properly glide down a snow covered hill.
If you can’t tell, I’m a little skeptical about this whole skiing thing. As with cage diving in South Africa (which failed miserably), I’ve been peer pressured into something entirely out of my comfort zone. I am just generally ungraceful and not athletic in the least – probably more so than anyone you’ve ever encountered. People just don’t understand until someone throws a ball at me or expects me to run farther than from my car to the entrance of a store when I’m cold. Then, suddenly, they seem to get it. Whatever gene is necessary for athleticism, I missed out on.
I’m going to blame a good part of that on my mom, who will at least be the only other person on the slopes as ungraceful as I am. This all will make for a memorable blog post, I’m sure.
We were supposed to go on a hot air balloon ride today but, unfortunately, that was canceled due to the wind and snow. Instead, we slept in and spent a good amount of time enjoying Lionshead & Vail Village, which we haven’t gotten a chance to explore since we’ve arrived.
We managed to fall even more in love with the area – the scenery, the people, the food. Vail is a foodie haven – we haven’t had a bad meal since we arrived, including our meal in the airport. Today I had homemade stone oven pizza at La Bottega’s for lunch and Trout Almondine at Lancelot’s for dinner – both of which I would highly recommend.
This afternoon, in between preparing for ski school, I had a chance to do a site inspection of a Virtuoso property in Lionshead, the Arrabelle. This gorgeous property is really the only luxury ski-in ski-out option in Vail. The atmosphere of Lionshead is just perfect for families or those who like the charm of a European ski village, which is exactly what the Arrabelle was built to replicate. There’s an iceskating rink right on property and the shops/restaurants are much more centralized than those in Vail. Not that either village has a ton of walking, Lionshead is just a little more compact – built more upward than outward, if that makes sense.
The Arrabelle has both hotel and condo-style options, which is another reason I think it’s a great family property. My rep took me to see one of the four bedroom units, which was huge. Plenty of space for multi-family trips, plus I can still provide Virtuoso amenities when you book the property through me, like complimentary breakfast and an upgrade if available!
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