"What's this about The Matterhorn then" I can here you ask? Well dear reader here you may be in for a bit of an awakening,  for The Matterhorn, that ever so beautiful hunk of tourist drawing granite is in fact not completely in Switzerland at all.

At least half of it lies directly in the sunny back yard of the Italian ski resort of Cervinia. And believe me, when I say back yard I mean back yard. From the town level in Cervinia it feels almost as if one could reach out and touch Monte Cervino as it is called in this part of the world. Indeed when one is skiing on the Italian side of the peak the majestic mountain's presence is even more dominating. 
Hopefully we have established that Cervinia, and its sister resort of Valtournenche

just down the road but on the same lift pass, are much more than distant cousins in relation to The Matterhorn, or if you will, Monte Cervino. That being all well and good, what else is going on in town? Well, as it happens, plenty. Besides offering a rich abundance of skiing at all levels and in two countries, Cervinia is a complete winter resort.

Picture yourself in Cervinia, more than 2,000 meters above sea level and staring directly into the face of one of the most famous mountains in Europe, The Matterhorn. Now one might well be forgiven for thinking that this is the beginning of a story on the Swiss resort of Zermatt, but it is not. Indeed the subject of this tale is not even in Switzerland, it is instead perched high above the city of Aosta in the beautiful, long Italian valley that bears its name.