25th March 2014, 19:40
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| Senior - BHPian  | Short & sweet trip to the Piani di Bobbio @ Barzio, Italy When was the last I went out with my family for vacation? Wow, its been almost a year. And none after we relocated to Italy. Too bad, nah. The last trip we had was to Goa during the beginning of this 2013. If the Goa trip marked the memorable start for the Year 2013, this trip made it even more memorable and wonderful end for this year 2013. It was really difficult to plan one in Italy mainly for 2 reasons. Oh, yes. I have relocated to Italy in last May. Lets take a different thread to discuss on those adventurous decision  Top most reason being that I don't have a car. Sorry, cant even own one due to the reason that we need to take up the written test for license ONLY in Italian for obtaining the license. Ok, that would take another log by itself to explain the details. Second, obviously the language. As usual, end of the calendar year calls for 2 weeks vacation in office, but stranded in Italy without a car means its gonna be a expensive trips owing to the fact that this is a big time vacation period of Europeans. I checked with other Italian office friends, but since they all use cars, they had no idea about the bus / train for long journeys. Anyway, to cut short the whole story, I finally got a detail on a bus operated by one of the Town nearby the Ski resorts - Barzio. And to add to it, it was very economical too. You can get more detailed info from here. Zani Viaggi - Bus operator  They operate bus service [pics from internet] from Milano to Piani Di Bobbio, the place from where you can take the tele-cabin to reach the altitude for the Ski station. Piani di Bobbio falls in the Province of Lecco, and can be reached from Lecco or Bergamo on public transport. The nearest railway station is Lecco, and this can be reached on regional trains from Milano easily. Its on the top left in the map  The hill is right next to the inverted Y  However, there are also bus service or tour buses that leaves major city around here that takes you to the Ski resort. We took the one from Milano using the Piani Di Bobbio website. The package includes the ticket for both the to & fro from Milan and also the telecabins used to reach the ski resort. The cost at the time of writing this log was 23+1 euro for Adult (20+1 for child till 12 years) to reach the Ski resort. In case you are looking to go on top for ski, then you can also buy the ticket that costs 34 euro which also includes the skipass in addition to the above. Thus the plan was made to visit on 29th December, and I made online booking for the snow bus through Pay pal. Kids were very excited on the eve of the D-Day, and it was hard to get them to sleep. Finally, the D-Day arrived, and we got up around 5am, got ourselves ready and reached the Piazza Castello, at 7AM. We waited for the others to join, and also for the bus to arrive. The bus was on time, and thus our first trip towards the Snow mountain started. It made a quick stop in Sesto San. Giovanni station for some more passengers, and headed towards Barzio. The route was very scenic especially once you are around Lecco. On those Autostrada  Moment you cross Lecco and start to climb the mountain, you would get the glimpse of the mountain crowned with the white snow. The golden sun shine on the top of the mountain with the snow was a wonderful scene to die for. View of the snow covered mountain   We reached the destination around 10AM. Once we reached the destination we were handed over with a cover that has the tickets for the Telecabin. We took and went ahead for the station to take the telecabin. We could see numerous cars parked in the parking even at that time of the day. So probably we were little late to start !!! You should be lucky to find a parking slot!  When we looked at the mountain, we almost lost our hope. Because, we could not see any snow covering on the mountain and thought that it was not a good time. Anyway, we took the telecabin and started our climb. There you go, first glimpse of SNOW  After like couple of minutes, we started to get the glimpse of snow all over, and we were really astonished to see the view. It was full of white blanket on the rocky mountain. Once we reached top, the kids inside-us started to show. We were like kids-in-the-candy-shop. Not sure what to do and where to start. Panorama..  First thing we did was a quick short photo shoot, and then had some sandwiches. Then we were fully charged for the adventures. Snow white - everywhere  Snow white...  Relaxing after the quick lunch  Kiran, trying to "fall"  Hold one, will get to it  View from the ski resort  Bigger picture!  Since it was the first experience for us, we were almost lost on what to do. We saw some renting shops who were renting the ski and other equipments. Even though we had zero knowledge about the ski and snowboard, we went ahead to get some equipment and give a try. After an hour of trying, all we found out was that the snowboard is nothing but a flat board, which would make you fall on the snow.  But my son was more adventurous than myself. Infact, by the end of the day, he was more comfortable in sking, except the very important steps in ski - to BRAKE and stop. Never mind, we always have a next time to try!! Once we "learned" how to fall using snowboard, we decided to change the adventures - to KISS - I mean, to keep it simple stupid. ! We got the snow bob - a plastic tub to sit and slide on the snow, and finally found that it was the best FUN we could get in the first visit. After the initial hick-ups on controlling the bob, we got used to it after few trials. The toughest part was that you need to climb back after the sliding all the way down, which made us bit tired. But the fun and shiny weather made it worth the try. Sea of Snow  Enjoying the slide  Yes, it was mesmerizing  In down we could get a beautiful view of the surrounding mountain. Also, the trees covered with snow was simple awesome - nature at its best. Snow for the show   Your's truly with Kiran  Some more of the snow    Clicks time  Last edited by mjothi : 25th March 2014 at 21:41. |
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25th March 2014, 21:15
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Short & sweet trip to the Piani di Bobbio @ Barzio, Italy Some more pics on the mountain   We found this beast chained in the mountain     And its up to us now to utilize it properly... Before anyone claims the ownership  I doubt, if even the original owner would got such PICS !!!  Finally, around 4am we started to leave back to the station. We found a huge crowd when we tried to return the equipment. Seems everyone were thinking in the same angle - to leave at 4am. Probably it would be wiser to start the descend by 3:30pm. The view of the sunset as viewed from the tele-cabin was a wonderful way to end the full day adventure & fun.  Returning - praying to be back soon...  Bus was promptly waiting for us, and we started around 5PM. The return was too tiresome for all, and we started to see the hit our body took in all the fun we had for the day. Anyway, I would say, it was well worth it ! And back to the Castello well before 7PM. Infact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was such a place near to Milan to have such a fun & adventure - it was less than 12 hours, with max of 2 hours driving each direction. Signing off now... Last edited by mjothi : 25th March 2014 at 21:30. |
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27th March 2014, 14:41
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2nd April 2014, 12:01
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| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Netherlands
Posts: 77
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2nd April 2014, 14:08
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| Senior - BHPian | Re: Short & sweet trip to the Piani di Bobbio @ Barzio, Italy Quote:
Snowboard starts from 20euro Ski kit starts from 16euro Bob (Plastic bucket to sit and glide) is the cheapest - starts at 5 for single person, and 7 for the one that seats 2 person. Many people who take up classes rent is for a week . You can use and leave it in the shop for the nights. Ofcourse, costs for such plans are cheaper. | |
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