Åre - just across the border but rather different

Last weekend we were in Åre, a big ski resort just across the border in Sweden, never been there before so it was a bit of an adventure. We flew from Bergen to Trondheim then drove for two hours across the boarder. The journey was made more amusing when the extremely camp man at the SAS check-in totally lost it when I refused to pay for the ski bags. He started ranting and shouting about Ryan Air and how unfair it all was. Still we didn't pay so that was the main thing!

The drive across to Sweden was made worse by the snow storm and the fact that Wales lost to France. That in itself was compounded by me losing two bottle of wine and a lot of face in a bet on the game to a small hyperactive French girl. Bugger!

Åre had a really nice feel to it, just a bit smoother and more polished than most Norwegian resorts. We stayed in a rather strange hotel, ultra modern with very small rooms with 4 bunks and no windows. Outside the room was a little seating area like a patio, but all indoors. Odd but functional. Anyway it was central for both the town and the resort so no complaints.

The boarding was ok but it needed a good dump of snow. Still it was fun to explore and new resort and we found some fantastic terrain, including a huge U shape bowl with tonnes of potential. Lunch on the Saturday was a challenge since all the restaurants on the mountainside seemed to be sit down, table clothes and waiters. Not a bit like the pølse and waffle shacks we are used to in Norway.

Saturday night we had an excellent meal and a few beers. Sunday was strangely quiet on the slopes and we chalked up another good day but bailed early as I am still feeling under the weather with man flu. The drive and flight back were uneventful. In summary definatly worth a visit and surprisingly different in a lot of subtle ways to Norway.