Hi there!
My name is Kathryn and I’ll be working in the UK head office on
the MyChoice UK programme. Its a very exciting
time to join the department and is certainly
going to give me something to get my teeth in to.
I thought I’d give you a little insight in to my travel
experiences. Although this is temporarily
on hold as I have a nearly-one year old son, Freddie. Prior to his arrival, I was a big ski fan and
spent a very exciting five months living in Northern Italy, working in lots of
different ski resorts. I was so lucky in
my job as I got the chance to drive across the gorgeous country and experience
the culture and lifestyle.
I do have one
very clear memory, that is probably not what you would call a positive experience,
but it certainly made the day exciting (ish). I was leaving a small resort called Spiazzi (so small it didn’t even
have a piste map!) and heading towards Alpe de Susi to meet a hotelier and try
out the ski area, when I suddenly realised that my Sat Nav was taking me away
from the main road and sending me through a small town. This would normally be absolutely fine, but
then I found myself going higher and higher up a mountain road that was getting
narrower and narrower. There was so much
snow on the ground and trees down and no traffic to speak off, that I realised
the road had been closed. It was
completely treacherous but I couldn’t turn the car round so had to keep going. My diversion added about 2 hours on to my
journey, and it was pretty hair-raising, especially as I was on my own, but I
did see some amazing sights across the tops of the mountains and all the apple
orchards that produce world-famous apples! 
One other highlight of my time was in Folgarida, part of the Val di Sole ski area. They hold an annual vintage car rally called the Winter Marathon. The route has a total length of 426,060 km doing a circular route starting and ending in Madonna di Campiglio. The night they arrived in Folgarida there was a bad storm and they were delayed. They eventually pulled in to resort in a blizzard at 2am! Imagine the sight of 40 vintage cars, many with their roofs down, chugging up the road and slipping all over the place. It was incredible and certainly something I won’t ever forget…
Kathryn is responsible for recruiting host families for our international students coming to study in the UK for up to one academic year. She matches the families and students together and then supports the host family throughout the student's placement. For more information on becoming a host family please go to www.xploreuk.com or email Kathryn; homestays@xploreuk.com
No comments:
Post a Comment