ski week (aka physics conference, la thuile)

After sleeping in, we packed and left on the bus for La Thuile, Italy. Derek is presenting at a physics conference and I am as usual tagging along. We arrived at the hotel and got settled, found the ski lockers, and went for a walk around town before welcome drinks and a huge dinner.  I was so surprised to see the vegan and vegetarian food was labeled- oh joy! Above is the hotel. We could watch the chair lifts and a few pistes from our room window.

My plans for the week: eat, ski, sleep, repeat.

winter olympics

Need a break from speed and spandex? Above is a really beautiful and fun video of the Olympic Winter Games (1924 - 1968).  I especially love the old black and white footage of the earliest games. The winter games had their beginning just down the road in Chamonix, France in 1924, and the Alps have hosted many of the subsequent Olympics. The video contains footage of these Olympic locations:

1924 - Chamonix, France
1928 - St. Moritz, Switzerland
1932 - Lake Placid, New York USA
1936 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
1948 - St. Moritz, Switzerland
1952 - Oslo, Norway
1956 - Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
1960 - Squaw Valley, California USA
1964 - Innsbruck, Austria
1968 - Grenoble, France

Some extra Chamonix skating moments. In this video, Sonja Henie is only 11 years old and the first Olympic figure skater to compete in a short skirt (it's okay, she was young enough that it wasn't improper).