Virtuous Vermont

If I had to personify the state of Vermont, it’d be a he, and he would be the archetypal American teen heart-throb; stupefying girls with his perfect contours and disarming boys with his prowess on a snowboard. His friendly drawl would entice you into a conversation that would last hours and end with an invitation to join him for a home-cooked meal. Back at his beautiful log cabin you’d learn that not only would he rival Rambo in a survival competition, he’s also an accomplished painter and philanthropist.

Now it is possible that my imagination might have run a little wild there, but honestly, Vermont is such a charming place. For somewhere with so much natural beauty, you might expect a little ego, but in the three days that we were there, we didn’t see so much as an eye roll. In fact, we met some of the nicest people yet. On our first evening we were gifted $100 worth of tuna sashimi by the owners of a sushi restaurant who were excited to exchange travel stories with us. To me, this generous gesture was akin to winning the lottery - twice - although with a little more will-power our edible prize could have easily lasted us more than two meals. Only a few days later, Lucan hit the jackpot when the owner of an adorable country store handed us a jar of silken amber for our journey. In case you don’t know, maple syrup is to North Americans what Tequila is to Mexicans and Vodka is to Russians. It’s the elixir of life. I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if Canadians used it instead of a gold reserve. Needless to say, her kindness definitely earned her a few karma credits and a mental high five from curly locks.

As previous posts will indicate, I’m not a fan of the cold, nor do I have a penchant for winter sports. After three years outside of England, my internal thermostat has been re-calibrated for tropical climates and will malfunction in anything less than 10 degrees. I therefore hope it makes you proud to read that I joined the snowphiles of Vermont and enrolled in Lucan’s school of snowboarding - and LOVED it. Although we were only playing for a couple of hours, I managed to master the 180 and didn’t fall over once. All credit goes to my fabulous teacher for his patience and encouragement - his prowess on the board certainly impressed.

Ben and Jerry's factory

On the road

Burlington

Mount Killington