The ravine that tried to kill me.....

<---- The ravine that tried to kill me

The ravine is only a little below those people right around where the snow is dirt on the right













---->This is about 30-40 meters down where I landed




On our last day we skied at Bad Kleinkirckheeim which is totally in the showadows for the majority of the day.  Wind chill and zero sunshine created a rather cold morning, but with long runs and groomed snow the conditions were fantastic.  And of course this was the day I attempted flight.

Racing after Florian, I was determined to beat him down our last run of the day.  Unfortunately, when he cut right, some crazy Italiano cut between us forcing me to stay straight, ski over the snow mound blind,  and into a mini ski ravine.  Ejecting from my skis like a pilot crashing their plane, I flew 30-40 meters down the mountain head first, hit my hips, and now have have a few new scratches on my helmet and some war wounds to take home as Austrian souvenirs.  At first I thought I seriously injuried myself because I couldn't understand the man yelling to me while I was lying on the ground mentally inventoring my body.... then I remembered he was probably speaking German or Italian so I wouldn't understand him regardless....

THE HIKE

For our last dinner in Feld am See, the family wanted to take us to have the best sausage in town. There was a catch..... It is literally “over the mountain and through the woods to the little hut we go....” First, we drove up a one lane snowy, icy dirt road without guard rails....so narrow that if another car were to come down the path there would be a serious dilemma. After driving for twenty or thirty minutes we abandoned the cars and started our hike. There were no street lights, no porch lights; I didn’t even have a flash light. After a very cold, icy, slip-n-slide hike up the mountain in complete darkness, we finally made it to the small HOUSE (yes, a person’s house who opened their kitchen and dining rooms) where we all had one choice and one choice only for dinner. Sausage with or without a side of sour kraut.

Walking back through the darkness with the only moon illuminating the night and the stars to admire will forever be one of my treasured memories.


Living in the downtown with all the city lights and clouds, it's rare to see a lot of stars.  I wish that a picture would have justified how gorgeous all these thousands of shimmering little diamonds looks with the backdrop of the snowy mountaintops....

Stars and good company, what more can a girl ask for?

Frostbite = NOT fun

  On the 4th, the weather was gorgeous absolutely gorgeous. Blue skies, sunshine…. With a dash of a bitter bitter wind chill. In case you are ever in this situation, when your nose turns white completely white, that is stage 1 of FROST BITE. TURN IMMEDIATELY TOWARDS THE SUN. But, be advised that the pain as it warms up is so intense that it will make your eyes water as if someone just punched you in the face. Luckily, I was okay once I regain color and control of my tear ducts. As soon as we finished the run I was able to grab my scarf I stupidly left in the care.

<<<<------- PRE FROST BITE, NO SCARF

Today we had bought three hour passes, but since no one skied on the third thanks to Mother Nature….the lift lines were ridiculous especially with the gorgeous weather. Today, today we could have skied much longer than the three hours that nearly killed us on the 2nd, but it’s probably a good thing since for dinner we HIKED (yes, HIKED) to dinner.

Turracher Skiing - New Year's Day

Hands down, best ski day of the trip.  Blue skies, no lift lines, so much skiing my legs feel like jello.  Today, dad, Philip, Florian, Frederick and I got up to the slopes by 9:30 or so.... maybe even more like 10ish.  Since it was New Year's Day, we basically owened the slopes while everyone else slept off their New Year's Eve celebrations.  We got four hour ski passes, which for today was probably about an hour to long since there were no lift lines and every run was a black slopes & a race to the finish.  This ski mountain is about 30 minutes farther up the mountain than St. Oswald, so with the higher elevation their lake is completely frozen over & everything is covered with snow.  Also, the weather was much cooler today so the snow wasn't as slushy and I actually felt like a skiier again today.  Finally.....

For all you new skiiers out there, when you fall uncharacteristically and your feeling fatigued STOP SKIING, go inside, enjoy a baileys & hot chocolate.  If you do not heed this advice, inevitably you will crash and probably get injured.  Your body fatigues and can no longer react 100% which is dangerous when you're flying down the mountain, surrounded by trees, rocks, and other people.   Florian, Frederick, and I did one last run while Philip and dad enjoyed their drink in the hut at the bottom.  It was this day at that little hut that I transferred ownership of mom's unique coca-cola glasses.  Be proud that at this level of fatigue Florian and I were able to ski down to the lift, ride the lift, and then ski all the way across the mountain and back to the car without crushing the glasses in our jackets and seriously injuring ourselves.

On the 2nd (as I posted that day)  Mother Nature apparently was so angry with us that she was blowing 50 - 60 miles an hour winds.... with ice and snow at the top of the mountain.  We skipped this day.  I like to think she knew how EXHAUSTED and sore our muscles were and figured we would be better off swimming in the "BAD"  aka  thermal baths at the spa.

St. Oswald skiing - day 1

Let's take some time to talk about all the fabulous skiing I have done in the Alps.  Our 1st fully day in Feld am See (12/31/09) we skiied at St. Oswald with Florian & Philip.  St. Oswald is a smaller mountain at a lower elevation, but it's Fredrick's favorite because the sun always shines on the slopes for the majority of the day.  Although the sun aids with my vision, it has a tendency of making the snow slushy and this particular day it was very warm & I was over dressed.  I was at first disppointed with the lack of snow cover, the slopes were great it was just the surrounding views that were rather green for my taste.  Apparently, they had snow everywhere since October, but the recent warm snap and sunshine caused it all to melt.  Mother nature must have known I was coming back to Europe to ski....  she can be so vindictive sometimes.

Today I thought Philip and I were going to get into a major fight, two type A personalities don't blend well when making plans, decisions, etcs.  Luckily, I figured out how to avoid fighting by skiing with Florian who is much more my kind of guy.  Calm, relaxed, and a good skiier to boot. 

All day today I felt so uncoordinated.... I hope this feeling goes away soon because it is extremely frustrating.  I need to move back to the mountains by next winter, I miss skiing to much to live in the South.

One More Day

 Oh, and for everyone who was planning on meeting me at the airport tonight, so sad so sorry but I'm still in AUSTRIA.... One more day for us in Salzburg.  When our flight got all messed up at the beginning of the trip, the return flight also got changed.  So, it worked out that we didn't end up loosing a day at all.

:)  I should be back to Nashvegas sometime tomorrow night, USA time.  We leave for the airport at like 4 a.m. Austria time.

***It's SNOWING***

Yay!!! Finally, it's snowing in the same part of Austria as I am visiting.  It started snowing last night on our way back from Bad Gastein and some small villages and I don't think it's stopped.

  I must say, Anita, Oliver, dad, and I all had a snowball fight last night when we got back..... which is amusing considering I'm the youngest by 8 years....

My Injuries..... and yes multiple

I think at this stage of the game it's time to talk about all of the injuries I've suffered since the beginning of the trip.

First, my right middle finger.  I was, of course, talking to the people in front of my as I'm going through security when I smashed my finger into the metal casing around the x-ray machine for the luggage.  It took a good 3 minutes before I realized I was gushing blood.

Second, the top of my left hand, two scratches courtesy of Moritz the cat.

Third, a gash in the life line of my right hand, a forget-me-not from Karlo the cat.

Fourth, two matching bruises on my hips from a very nasty wreck three days ago.  There I was, flying down the hill after Florian, when he jutted to the right.  I could not cut to the right due to some probably Italian skiier coming straight toward where I would go.  So, I had to stay straight and go over the mound of snow without any clue what awaited me on the other side.... Of course, it was basically a mini ravine.  So, my skis popped off, launched me in the air, and down the mountain 25 to 35 meters.  I hit my hips and my head off the ice, and heard a strange language being spoken.  Luckily, I wasn't too loopy and remembered the majority of the people speak German and figured he was asking me if I was okay. 

Fifth, a small swelled up spot on my right cheek.  Thank you daddy.... well it was an accident and probably really funny to watch happen.  Oliver, Anita, dad, and I were getting off our very ski lift for the day yesterday, but Anita wasn't paying that much attention.  So, when we pulled up the bar her feet were still on the feet rest thingy.....  If you've never been on a ski lift, then this description won't be of much help.  But, if you have then you will understand what kind of problem that would pose.  So, there the four of us where trying to get Anita's feet out from the foot rest and the bar raised, and when we were finally settled the stupid lifty hadn't stopped or slowed the lift.  Instead of being able to easily stand up and exit the lift down the little slope, we had to jump off it about 5 feet up in the air.  Anita fell over and dad's arms flung out, punching me in the face with his ski pole. But, for the potential chaos and major accident that could have ensued from that, I will take the only injury being a small swelling under my right eye.... as long as it doesn't turn black & blue on me in the next few days.

Only I could go on this trip and leave with all of these injuries.... at least I didn't hit any trees or innocent bystanders.....

Sleep

Finally, I got a full nights rest with no alarm waking me up to go skiing.  It's only what, 14 days since I left Nashville?  We are in Salzburg now with dad's friends Anita and Oliver.  We arrive late in the evening on the 4th, in time for a wonderful dinner at a local resturant.  I say it was wonderful not so much for the food but for the converstation and company.  This was the first time in a long time that I was able to have a politcal discussion about politics and world events and global happenings in a very long time.  Four people, four different ideologies, but there was no yelling, name calling, swearing, or even offended people. 

Yesterday, we all went skiing at a smaller mountain about 20 minutes from Salzburg.  The smaller mountain, although the slopes were shorter and there were more of the stupid T-BAR lifts, was so beautiful.  Where the mountains around Feld am See had snow in the higher elevations, everywhere you looked there was snow and majestic mountains.  When Feld am See had warmer weather, this area had a big snow storm, but it was beautiful views wherever we looked. 

Skiing with dad, Anita, and Oliver was fun, but I did enjoy skiing with Florian more.  The two of us have a similar mentality and skiing style, which was so nice to have in comparision to the rest of our skiing group.  We could just ski whichever slope we pointed our skis down, as fast or slow as we liked, and of course since he's Austrian he's a good skier.  For the first time in the past 8 days or so, my dad actually noticed that I was quiter than normal.  I really believe he didn't notice how quiet I was because I was overshadowed by the loud personality of Philip and his dad.  Which is fine by me since I had time to myself to sit, relax, and enjoy my time in the Austrian Alps.  I never thought I  would find myself missing a 14 year old Austrian, but what can I say....

Yesterday evening, when we got off the slopes we had a bit of bad luck.  Dad's rental car got hit in the parking lot, and of course the jerk did not leave any information what-so-ever.  He/she scratched the back of the bumper and knocked the front license plate off the car on the guy's car behind us.  So, we got a new experience in a foreign country, that of reporting a hit & run to the police, rental car agency, dad's travel insurance through American Express, annnnnd trying to get the ski slopes to help which was a fruitless effort.

For dinner, I dragged my exhausted self to the German interpretation of American cuisine for some ribs, chicken wings, potato skins.  I ordered a baked potato with salmon on the side/top of the baked potato which was phenomenal, and the salad that we ordered for the table was delicious.  It had bacon and potatos on it (potatos instead of french fries, and other than that difference it tasted like a delicious salad we would get back home).  Emmm.... Brian you would love  a lot of the food, it's basically potatos, bacon, some noodles.  But no major sauces or flavors, pretty much just the natural flavor of the food.  So, although you would die in Mexico and probably India, you could survive in Austria.  Just always remember that, if you're ever on the run from the US Government Austria could be just the place to go.  And, they get 5 weeks of vacation from their job, mandated by the government.  5 weeks!!! Can you imagine, that is fabulous.

Today, today is more relaxing of a day.  We're going to go around to a lot of the smaller villages by where Oliver grew up, and I can't spell  their names to save my life so I will leave out my horrific attempts for now.

XoXoXo  Only a few more days left of my Austrian Adventure....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!!!

Today, my baby sister is turning 22.... yaaaaay


Happy Birthday Kellster, I miss youuuuuuuu.  And, don't do anything too stupid tonight during your celebrations!

NYE 2010

  For New Year's Eve, we celebrated in Feld Am See with some Austrians, Brits, and New Zealanders (so ENGLISH yay!!).  I tried to separate mzself from my dad as much as possible because people continually ask us if we are a couple or if I'm his wife.  It's like, GO DAD since people think he can snag a young pretty girl like me, but for me it's like EWWW that's my DAD.  Instead, I plazed WII with Florian and two other kids, so I skewed the age range slightly, but you really can't hate on the WII.  They're too much fun, even if I am still horrible at Mario Kart.

  At midnight we ventured out into the cold and watched the different firework displays (thank you kind neighbors for putting on a good, free show for all of us).  Sadly, it was terribly foggy so we heard about twice as many fireworks as we actually saw explode.

  After some champagne and chocolate covered strawberry treats, we went down the mountain, walked to the church, climbed up these rickety wooden stairs, and listened to the church bells ringing over our heads.  Do you have any idea how loud it is underneath the bells??? Trust me, it is ridiculous.

  Our final stop was at Philip's best friend Bernhart's house, which is right next door anyway.  We ate some goluash soup (it's really similar to chili), played some SING STAR, and called it a night.

The sunrises early on the ski slopes :)

Vienna, Thoughts and Opinions

It's a little late, but with all of the traveling and time changes I haven't really gotten a chance to sit town and talk about Vienna.  The city is beautiful, cobble stone streets with old architecture everywhere.  I wish I would have studied up on my architecture styles before I came to Austria.  Last time we were in Europe I was still in college, so with my Spanish culture classes the styles and differences were fresh in my mind.  Travel tip for anyone going to Europe, review those it'll make looking at the building a little more interesting.  Give you another angle to admire if you will.

Instead of a hotel, we stayed in the flat of Philip's (dad's exchange student from last year) Aunt Ines & Uncle Philip.  Their beautiful 100 year+ old flat with vaulted ceilings, hard wood floors, and pretty much all of the Ikea catalog for their organization is located in the third district of Vienna.  Vienna is divided up into what they call districts, we refer to as neighborhood.  District one is like the Gulch in Nashville, district two would be midtown, district three would be Vandyland... etc etc etc....  

  On the note of Ikea, their furnishings are great for creating stylish storage space in small areas, why does the nearest Ikea have to be in Atlanta???? Nashville needs to get with it and try to get an Ikea store to move out to Lebanon or something, that would help revive that dying outlet mall.  Or, a perfect spot would be to stick one in the now empty Home Depot Expo building down on Thompson Lane.... 

  I'm stepping down from my soap box and back to our time in Vienna....

Day 1:  Arrive (a day late, but still we made it), quick shower, coffee with Iva (my long lost older sister who is now married and has a three year old),   Then, we had dinner at a tiny but popular resturant followed by the Mozart & Strauss concert to which we walked. 

Day 2:  City tour of Vienna, via bus followed by a guided tour of the palace "Schoenbrunn " with some gluvine for a quick pick me up in the square.  Philip wanted us to see the back of the palace, which was so beautiful with the gardens.... but there's nothing like a quick sprint to catch our tour bus to warm you up in this cold city..... And I thought gluvine was good for that, nope just sprint to your bus about a half-mile....

For the lunch we ate at a really cool resturant, the "Palmenhaus", that was built out of a green house, dinner was at a local resturant built in the lower portion of the Belvedre palace.  Trying to go anywhere with the ever-so-impatient Philip can be a challenge.  For example, when we first walked into the Palmenhaus he asked a server "Can we have a table?"  When he was answered with a "There's none open right now," he prompted turned to leave too impatient to even inquire how long the wait might be.  Now, it's one thing to be hungry, but it's another to turn and leave with a ten minute walk to another resturant.  In that time, would a table open up at this resturant, in all actuality negating the possibility of eating any earlier?  That my friends is an interesting concept to deal with, luckily dad and I can deal with it by distracting him and just telling him we are eating here end of story. 

Day 3:  Our last day in Vienna with a three hour drive to Feld am See.  We had breakfast at a little  coffee house, the Austrians love their espresso.  After breakfast dad wanted to buy an "Austrian" hat, so we went back into town.  Somehow I ended up getting a hat as well, but I think it's cute.  Then, we went to their farmers market which is awesome.  I love farmers market, and this one sold different meats, vegetables, spices, and even scarfs.  Of course, I got a new scarf to match my new hat.  After four espressos, I still ended up sleeping the whole way to Feld am See.

I <3 MILKA!!!

For anyone who does not know me very well, you should note that not  only do I love chocolate and sweets but I am obsessed with Milka chocolate.  This obsession started with our first exchange student, and with every European that comes through our house or with every vist of mine to Europe it only intensifies.....

This is what 18 euros worth of Milka chocolate looks like......

I might have a slight problem...... :)

Incliment Weather

Well... the Austrian storm today poised a slight problem for us, but instead of trying to ski into 50 mile an hour winds and dense fog with ice underneath, we're going to the hot springs for a nice swim.  Which will be a welcome relief for my aching legs.  Well, aching probably is a bit of a stretch, they do have a good bit of DOM though....

  I've "created" a bathing suit for myself since going to the Austrian alps I did not think I would have a need for a swim suit, luckily there's not much difference between a black sports bra and some black boy shorts.... when you think about it this will actually be a more conservative version of a swimming suit in comparision.

Off we go.....

Mom's gift

Okay mommy.... I found you an extremely cool, kind of unconvential gift..... let's hope that I can get these two babies home to you and somehow up to you in Weirton.  I've already broken one trying to take it out of the bar.....


And, just so you know I had one in my jacket pocket and Floriene had the other in his, then we had to ride the lift AND ski down one last slope without breaking these.   But, we're just good so it wasn't a problem thankfully!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year, I have much to catch up on but I have been so tired from all of the skiing and celebrating that it will just have to wait until tomorrow!!!


Chauuuuuuuuuuuu and sweet dreams it's time for this one to go to bed.