The Beauty of the Off-Season
- Ian Sharp
- 12 hours ago
- 5 min read
Venezia
We left Italy on a high note, visiting the magical city of Venice - thankfully without the crowds. We were surprised to find ourselves staying right on the island of Venice, but in a neighbourhood where our courtyard filled with Italian kids and teens in the evenings. The day we arrived was college graduation day with hundreds of students partying in the streets wearing corona di alloro (laurel wreath crowns) to celebrate their accomplishments.
We had great fun wandering, discovering the daily market and getting lost in the crazy maze of streets and canals and took a must-do gondola ride. Venice keeps its streets seriously clean. Everyday, trash is collected and streets are swept by hand or with tiny vehicles that fit the alleys. It is like every morning, the city gets a wake up face wash - lovely. Unfortunately, we also discovered that due to its unique geography, and the often windless winter weather, air population (from industry, cruise ships, vehicles) gets trapped in and around Venice leading to very poor air quality frequently.
Leaving Venice, our train got cancelled with no notice when we got to Trieste. In what we now know as typical Italian fashion, there were very poor instructions on how to find the bus that we needed to get on to take us over the border into Slovenia to rejoin the train. We, along with many others on our train, wandered around the train/bus terminal looking for information, typically met with the ever present Italian shrug and thumb to go find someone else “just around the corner” who will obviously know more. In typical Ian Sharp fashion, by the time we were on the bus, Ian had made friends with a band (who were equally as confused as us), shared spotify playlists and travel stories. Technically we can now say part of our trip included being on a tour with Rapture - the death metal band from Greece.
Ljubljana
We travelled to the capital of Slovenia to reconnect with Fabienne, Erin’s former flatmate during her year in Edinburgh, who is now the French Ambassador to Slovenia. We had a wonderful stay with Fabienne, Nicholas and their daughters Valentine and Estelle who were close to the same ages as Jasper & Finn. It was such a gift to have great playmates for endless games (even an adorable new kitten!), while the adults enjoyed relaxed meals and long-overdue catch ups. Merci mille fois encore Fabs!
We loved Ljubljana! Many people call it the most beautiful city in Europe, designed in large part by architect Jože Plečnik. Its city centre is vibrant with predominantly pedestrian-only streets, filled with cafés and bars that heat their patios through the winter making it a social scene regardless of the weather (Canada could learn a thing or two from this!). We visited the Ljubljana Grad (castle) by funicular to overlook the lovely city, and even visited a museum of illusions.
A country of only 2.1 million, Slovenia was the first former Yugoslav republic (independent since 1991) to join the European Union. As off-season visitors, with local guides, we were lucky to see how life moves on the regular - and we found the quality of life to be exceptional and vibrant.
Innsbruck
We took the train through the Alps in Austria to find our first hint of winter. The Sharps could feel our lungs expand in the mountains like they do back home in our beloved Rockies - the mountains really do bring peace to the people. We stayed in the small town of Götzens above Innsbruck to put ourselves ‘in’ the vistas. Austria boasts more than 400 ski resorts in winter (we could see several from our window) so visiting in the off season left us feeling both fortunate to enjoy a slow pace, and plotting our return with our ski gear.
The dress code (puffy coats, hikers and jeans) made us blend in a bit here. We went for hikes, explored our first Christmas market, and were introduced to the European staple of warm mulled wine. We walked the market sipping from cute little decorated xmas cups while sampling some local delicacies, the best being a potato skewer that resembled homemade pringles. Our evening concluded watching a cringeworthy yodelling show and the kids even got to throw some snowballs.
Zurich
We were on a mission to get to Zurich to see Mumford & Sons in concert - a much loved band for Ian and Erin whose tour vaguely coincided with our travel route. We all had the best time! The band played so well and we were reminded of music’s power in a crazy world - 15,000 people all singing along to beautiful, joyous music. Swiss efficiency has been put to good use on the concert front - we were so impressed to find free lockers outside the stadium (so as not to clog the exit at the end) and cardboard beer carriers that allowed one person to deliver six beers (wake up Saddledome!). We are on the hunt for more live shows en route!
We burned some of Ian’s hotel points here to stay in style in an otherwise very expensive city - and took full advantage of the hotel’s lounge and other perks including a sauna that had a view of the city; very blissful to enjoy a winter view while cozy in a hot sauna. The boys loved visiting the FIFA museum which included many fun interactive displays about the history of the sport. Weirdly they left out the part about corruption and bribes at the organization.
Overall, the Sharps feel like we have found our travel groove on the road these last few weeks, creating some really wonderful memories, exploring varied landscapes, meeting new and old friends and enjoying the coziness of fall in Europe. We’re now on our way back to France for a week of chill after what felt like a hurried experience through the Alps, well worth the push to see some of the best sights Europe has to offer.
Jasper
One thing I liked was the Mumford & Sons concert because Marcus Mumford came all around the stadium singing. In Zurich I also liked that we stayed at a luxury hotel. I also liked that we got to stay on French soil when we were in Slovenia meeting new friends that we got to stay with and the cutest cat in the world. It feels really good to be in the cold because it feels like home where the weather is always changing.
Finlay
Zurich was one of my favourite places so far, an amazing hotel using my dads hotel points. We also went to a really fun concert by Mumford and sons. At one point Marcus Mumford was even ten feet away from us. On our free day we also went to the FIFA museum where we learned about the history of soccer/football. At the museum there were a whole bunch of fun games where you could kick the ball around. There were even video games at the museum. Overall Zurich was a lot of fun.
Looking good Sharps!!!