Anna S. E. Lundberg

Coach, Speaker, Writer

Flying High in the Swiss Mountains: A week of skiing in Verbier

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When my friend Serena suggested a ski holiday in the Swiss Alps, I jumped at the chance. I hadn’t been skiing in three years, and despite living in Geneva for nine years before that I actually didn’t make as much of it as I should have. I didn’t have a car so was dependent on someone else offering to take me (or taking the dreaded bus), and, if I’m honest, I was also just a little bit terrified.

Snowplough in the 1980s
It’s all about the snowplough…

I used to ski with my family in Sweden, in Åre and Lofsdalen, when I was little. We’d go for half term but one week every few years really wasn’t enough to make me comfortable on a set of skis. I’ve always been so jealous of the children I see zooming past me on the slopes… Kids are used to doing crazy things and falling over, plus they’re closer to the ground! They just don’t have that fear that takes hold of me when I stand at the top of a slope looking down over the ridge at the endlessly steep and narrow slope that I’m somehow supposed to go hurtling down…

Inside the Verbier cable car
Serena and I looking fresh-faced on our way up to the pistes at the start of the week…

So Serena and I signed up to the Warren Smith Ski Academy, which offered five days of group classes with a day off in the middle. We were divided into three groups based on a “ski off” and Serena and I ended up together in the bottom one. I say bottom, but this was no beginner’s class and the overall level was high across the groups. And so it was that we went tearing down first red then black pistes, and even off piste into the fresh powder that had fallen at the start of the week. My emotions during the week went from exhilaration and delight at how much I was improving – I learned far more than I’ve ever done before, thank you Will! – to trepidation and despair when I reached a particularly steep or bumpy patch. The problem with being at the lower end of your group is that you’re constantly behind, trying to catch up.

Anna above the clouds
The best thing about skiing is going up above the clouds, leaving everyone down below shrouded in fog. Mwahaha!

So here’s the science of skiing according to Anna… I think it’s made up of three things: the technical, the physical, and the mental. The first, the technique, is ‘easy’ to learn and during the week we got through flexing, thigh steering, pole plants, etc. You need to keep practising to engrain it in your muscle memory but it’s something that you can work on. The second, as it turns out, is just as important: you need the physical strength and the flexibility to ski all day every day, and although I’ve been training hard at the gym it turns out that this requires a whole different set of muscles and another type of stamina! By the end of the day I simply didn’t have the strength to turn with my legs and I would end up losing control. Finally, there’s the mental aspect: fear is a killer! Here I think I made the most progress this week, as I began to attack even the black pistes with gusto. There is nothing worse than traversing across the slope, “shopping” for a turn that looks easy, until you stop at the very edge of the slope and are out of options. The reminder to keep my body facing down the slope, my arms up and my legs doing the steering instead of the shoulders, was a huge help in keeping me focused on making steady progress down the piste.

Pumpkin soup at Chez Dany
The food was pretty good everywhere we went. This is the pumpkin soup at Chez Dany on the slopes, served in farmers’ bread; I had pumpkin soup again at Le Dahu, also on the slopes and with a spectacular panoramic view. Down in Verbier we had three delicious courses at Le Rouge (where we also had our first Pornstar Martini), and the famous Potence at Le Vieux Verbier (sizzling meat on spikes! with a selection of sauces).

Of course, the best part of skiing is après ski, right? Each day when we finished at 3pm I would heave a huge sigh of relief at having survived another day; I cannot describe the pleasure I got from taking off my ski boots and putting on my lovely normal walking boots. We were actually very civilised, going to a café for a cup of tea or a salad after finishing for the day, rather than heading straight to the bar. Every other day we would then have a massage (a genius idea on the part of Serena, and a huge help for my sore calf muscles), after which we’d shower and head out for the après-après ski. The great thing about nights out after skiing is that you start so early – so you can have a long night out and still be in bed by midnight! If you so desire.

Pornstar Martini at Le Farinet Lounge
My new favourite drink: the Pornstar Martini, made from passion fruit and vodka and served with a shot of champagne. Shaken, not stirred…

By the end of the week we’d settled into a routine: dinner at Le Farinet Lounge (I particularly recommend the Crispy Pork Belly and the Super Farinet Salad, or the Assiette Valaisanne to share), rounded off with a Pornstar Martini; then we’d head over to the other side of Le Farinet, where there’d be live music until about 9pm; then the T-bar and then the Loft Bar; and sometimes even continuing on to Farm Club or Twin Peaks. We were staying in the Hotel Phenix, right in the centre at the Place Centrale, which meant that everything was in a couple of minutes’ walking distance. The mood was incredibly different on different nights: when we arrived on the Saturday, Farinet Après Ski was full, with the bartenders pouring vodka straight down people’s throats or else down the back of a ski, beer being flung across the dance floor, and topless young men building human pyramids. Wild. On weeknights, though, it was much calmer, with people scattered about talking to their friends and maybe a lone crazy person dancing to their own beat. Wednesday night was back on track, though, as it’s the one day that all the seasonaires get off; and then of course we came full circle back to Friday and Saturday night when the “weekend warriors” returned to the bars.

Champagne at Le Farinet Lounge
Champagne all around during the Ministry of Sound night at Le Farinet Lounge, courtesy of Russian oligarch Aleksandr.

I’m not sure what I expected from this one week but I had such a good time, meeting great people, improving my skiing, getting to know Serena better – and even coming up with a new business idea together that we’re now pursuing, full speed ahead. I’m incredibly tempted to do a full season next year, to overcome my fears once and for all and get really comfortable on the slopes. That’s the benefit of being self-employed, right, that I can bring my laptop with me and work from anywhere? I just need to find an apartment with a strong Wi-Fi signal as the weak and unreliable Wi-Fi at our hotel was excruciatingly painful. Ah, the plight of modern-day life…

I leave Switzerland having lost my voice, my favourite purple pashmina, and a sock (a modern-day Cinderella?!), with bruised toes, a suitcase full of dirty laundry and a whole lot of new gear, and with great memories and even greater plans for the future. Merci Verbier, I’ll see you next year!

 

The soundtrack for the week:

  • Taylor Swift, Shake it Off (don’t ask)
  • Hozier, Take Me to Church (Serena made me watch the music video for the first time. Wow.)
  • A fabulous original song from the Swedish band in Farinet with a rather creepy chorus of “Stay awake, watch my back!”
  • 4 Non Blondes, What’s Going On (always a favourite of mine, since it was played as the last song at summer camp when I was 13)
  • Time of my Life from Dirty Dancing (cheeserama but oh so good)
  • Calvin Harris, Blame it on the night (a great sentiment: blame it on the night, don’t blame it on me!)

The practical bit:

Warren Smith Ski Academy: The Warren Smith Ski Academy runs courses in Verbier throughout the year for intermediate right up to “athlete/performer” level. It was in English, which meant that I actually understood all the body parts and movements that our instructor Will was talking about! We did the 5-day winter academy at £429 per person. They’ll video you at the start of the week and then again at the end so you see how much you’ve improved.

Hotel Phenix: The Hotel Phenix is nothing special, breakfast included cold scrambled eggs and sausages, but it’s clean and comfortable and the location is perfect if you want to go out to all the classic bars and clubs. There was a free navette (shuttle bus) that picked us up just across the road and went to Médran, where we rented lockers for the whole week so that we could leave our skis and boots overnight.

Massage: We booked a massage every other day at 5pm, each taking half an hour. The masseuses from The Verbier Touch would come to our hotel with a heated bed so it was incredibly convenient. The only problem was wanting to go to sleep right afterwards, but a quick shower and the hunger pains we were feeling by this point would ensure that we ventured out into the night…

Ladies in Latvia: Relaxing in Riga

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South America may be a distant memory, but the travels continue, albeit in a piecemeal way. A bit different to my solo budget backpacking, this latest trip was a luxury stay in a spa hotel with my mum.

The Baltic States have long been on my list of countries to visit, and I had a romantic idea of driving through the three countries some day. A couple of years back, though, my friend and I visited Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on a day trip with the ferry from Helsinki. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, with an unusual bout of sunshine over the Easter weekend. The Old Town was a lovely place to wander, with colourful old houses and cute little cafés.

Looking out over Tallinn Old Town, Estonia
Looking out over Tallinn Old Town

This time, my mum and I chose Riga as the setting for a relaxing few days largely based on the price of a return flight from London. It seemed bigger than Tallinn and, in fact, it’s the largest city of the Baltic States. We’ve again been incredibly lucky with the weather and had a few days of fabulous sunshine – to the point that I’ve managed to top up my South American tan after losing a lot of colour during my first month back in Geneva.

The highlights, then, have been those moments sitting in the sun as we went from terrace to terrace drinking our morning coffee, eating lunch, drinking afternoon coffee, and finally having dinner; rowing up and down the canal and, one day, taking a motorised boat all the way around the canal and out into the Daugava River; and just wandering the streets of the Old Town, letting the rays of the sun guide us as to the direction in which we would walk. Our quest for sunshine meant that we didn’t go to any of the museums, which would otherwise have been interesting, say if it had been raining.

A street in Riga Old Town, Latvia
Following the sun in Riga Old Town
The National Opera House in Riga, Latvia
The Latvian National Opera House was built in 1863
Rowing in Riga, Latvia
My rowing skills from university came in handy…
The view from a sightseeing boat across the Daugava River to the Old Town in Riga, Latvia
The view from our boat across over the Old Town

We did see some outdoor sights, though! The Freedom Monument is a memorial for the soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918-1920). The Swedish Gate, of particular interest to us of course, was built in 1698 to celebrate Sweden’s occupation of Riga. Down by the river, Big Christopher stands as a symbol of the founding myth of Riga: he would wade across the river, carrying people from one side to the other. One day, he found a baby and carried him over the river; the next morning, there was a pot of gold where the child had been and it was with this money that he founded the city of Riga. Riga also has a lot of art nouveau architecture and this is concentrated in some parts in particular, including an area behind our hotel where we found the British and Swedish embassies. This is where we found our favourite restaurant for dinner, Rossini, where we could sit outdoors on our last two evenings.

The Freedom Monument in Riga, Latvia
During Soviet Occupation, it was forbidden to lay flowers at the base of the Freedom Monument
The Swedish Gate in Riga, Latvia
The Swedish Gate in Riga, today the entrance into the street where we found our favourite lunch restaurant

The Old Town is another UNESCO site, small but full of interesting medieval architecture. The German influence is palpable, from the time that Latvia was part of the Hanseatic League. You can take the lift up into the tower of the Gothic St Peter’s Church, destroyed many times in various fires and battles and eventually “pessimistically” rebuilt in metal instead of wood. There we met an elderly Swedish couple who had taken the overnight ferry from Stockholm, arriving in Riga at 10am and exploring the city until 4pm when the ferry would return. Quite a convenient way to travel, although a bit limiting in terms of the time available to get to know Riga.

A street in the Old Town of Riga, Latvia
Going back in time to Medieval Riga
The view from St Peter's Church in Riga Old Town, Latvia
The view from St Peter’s Church, Riga Old Town

Latvia was occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Union under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. By July 1941, they were already occupied by Nazi Germany. Then a longer period of Soviet occupation followed from 1944 to 1991, when independence and international recognition was finally achieved. (An impressive demonstration had been organised on 23rd August 1989 when around two million people held hands to form a human chain across the three Baltic states to highlight the common fate that the three countries had suffered.) The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which we unfortunately didn’t visit, tells the story of the foreign occupation from 1940 through to 1991. Today, Russians naturally make up the largest ethnic minority in the country.

Latvia has since joined the European Union in 2004 along with its two neighbours, and in 2014 it will give up its local currency of Lats and introduce the Euro. The Latvian language is related to Lithuanian (though the two languages are not mutually understood as is the case with Norwegian and Swedish, for example), while Estonian is instead of the Uralic family along with Finnish and Hungarian. I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t learned a single word of the local language before coming – even my ambitious language learning goals don’t stretch to fluent Latvian, but I would have liked to at least be able to attempt the basics: “Hello”, “Thank you”, “Goodbye”… especially since our Nordic looks made us blend into the local population so that people would almost always address us in Latvian.

So that you’re better equipped, should you decide to follow in our footsteps to visit Latvia, here are some useful words and phrases to get you started:

Hello   –   Sveiki

Goodbye   –   Uz redzēšanos

Thank you   –   Padless

How much is this?   –   Cik tas maksā?

Where is the toilet?   –   Kur ir tualete?

I don’t understand   –   Es nesaprotu

Do you speak English?   –   Vai Jūs runājat angliski?

I’d like two tickets   –   Es gribētu divas biļetes

(Incidentally, my impression was that the local language and culture are rather direct and straightforward – “Eight Lats”, “Open passport!”, “Left”, which is quite foreign to me, having grown up in a country where every sentence uttered must contain “please”, “sorry”, or “thank you”.)

Finally, a billboard at the airport told us, “You haven’t been to Riga if you haven’t tasted Black Balsam”. Black Balsam is a herbal liqueur which, I’m afraid, we did not taste while in Riga; but I bought a small bottle at the duty free counter and we will dutifully taste it as soon as possible so as to ensure the authenticity of our visit to Riga (since adverts never lie).