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| From Laura in Vienna, Spring 2009 |
Here's a picture of the lodge up at the top of the mountain. This isn't the very top but just about. There's a big cafeteria inside and everything looked pretty new (More on my lunch, later...). As you can see, it was pretty busy. I'm not sure if it's always busy or just because it was a Friday but it was bearable - certainly not what we're used to back at home. I guess I took it for granted, before!
My ticket was from Südbahnhof to Semmering and back with one transfer towards the end. The transfer was simple enough - from platform 1a to 1b (just had to walk up to the train in front of the train I was in.) After we got out of the city a bit, almost all the people in the train were skiers with their skis/snowboards and all their ski gear on so I knew I was headed in the right general direction. Some people even had their ski boots on from the begining of the train ride! I might not use my bag if I go here again because most people just carried their skis around with them everywhere. We got to the "Semmering" train station and much to my dismay, NOBODY got off!! I just froze, not sure what to do... so the train took off again and I was telling myself, "Damnit that was definitely my stop! Now I'm going to have to get off at the next one and wait for a train back the other direction." But I decided to wait it out and see where all these other people were going. Two stops later there was another Semmering - Spital am Semmering - and everyone got off so I followed suit. There was a van waiting for us at the train station to take us about 2km down to the base of the lift.
I put my gear on, found a place for my ski bag and got a keycard at the ticket counter. This is one aspect of skiing here that needs to be implemented back home! Instead of individuals standing in the lift lines scanning lift tickets, there's an automatic scanner that allows you to pass through when your keycard is successfully scanned. You can put it in your pocket and it is still able to read it so you just walk through and the little gate opens for you automatically. DUH!
The lifts were all 4-person or more and really fast! A couple of them had sheilds you could put down if the weather was crappy or something. Lucky for me there was just a little fog in some areas and mostly sunny all day!For lunch I ate up top and had Wiener Schnitzel with french fries. It's not burgers and fries here, it's Wiener Schnitzel and fries! AND the beer is cheaper than soda or water so of course I washed down my meal with a refreshing Ottakringer, one of Vienna's biggest and well-known breweries. I brought my own water bottle so don't worry, I was plenty hydrated.
After lunch I had a few more hours before the lifts closed at 16:00. I tried to make the most of them but my legs were mad at me for not skiing in three weeks and I was struggling! When I tried to navigate my way back down, I somehow found myself to a different parking lot... so up again a went to try again! Found it the second time and we had to take a lift off the mountain, a lot like Silver Mountain's gondola, back to the parking lot where my shuttle would take me to the train station.I got there a little early so the van driver suggested I take the next train to Mürzzuschlag, one stop further, to catch a direct route to Vienna. It worked out perfectly but when the ticket man came to check my tickets he said I needed to buy a ticket from Semmering to Mürzzuschlag - it was €1.80 and I kind of laughed.
I got home safe and sound around dinner time. I cooked up a little "instant" pasta. Just pour it into some boiling water for about 5 minutes and there's dinner!
Last night I navigated the night bus system all around town. It's a pretty good feeling knowing you can get just about anywhere in Vienna at any time of the day or night. Love it! I met up with Max (the German skier I met at Flex a while back) to hang out and say goodbye. The quarter is over for University of Vienna students so their break starts this weekend. I believe they have a week of holiday. But Max was only here for one quarter so he's going back to Munich to work! Anyway, we're going to try to make plans to meet up in Laax, Switzerland at the European Open in March.
Aaron is in Paris this weekend visiting a friend and watching more European soccer. We don't really have cell phone contact because it's expensive outside of Austria so I hope he's doing okay!
I posted more pictures of skiing in the Vienna Photos album so you can check those out. Hopefully we'll have internet by Sunday night or Monday at least!
Thanks for the e-mails! :)
