It's about 5:30pm and I'm on the train again, heading back to Vienna. Unfortunately this weekend I didn't have a good, steady supply of internet so the blog was neglected. This was probably one of the more eventful ski trips I've been on and to add to the disappointment of no blogging updates – my digital camera ran out of battery juice shortly after our arrival. I'll be able to steal some pictures from my two cohorts but it just isn't the same. Oh well.
It's just starting to get dark now but I have a pretty awesome view of the giant Alps we're leaving behind on the train. We've been on since 4:15pm or so and won't get into Vienna until just after 9:30pm so we're in for a long haul. With our music and laptops and my Michael Savage podcast, we should have plenty to keep us busy.
Anyhow, more details about Zell am See!
So I gave Jeff a skiing offer he couldn't refuse at the beginning of the week, and after several reminders he finally caved and gave me a concisive “Yes.” On Thursday during class, Andrew told me he had caught wind of our weekend skiing plans and asked if he could tag along. I said of course, and at 5:30pm we were on our way.
Our train arrived Thursday night around 11:00pm and we made our way to the hostel which couldn't have been more than half a kilometer from the train station. The reception desk at the hostel only stays open until 10:00pm so someone hid a key for us in an envelope outside of the building. It took us a good 10 or 15 minutes to discern the broken English directions about where to find the key, but we finally did and got our stuff inside. We had already decided drinks were in order along with some grub after the long trip. We found an interesting but lively bar near the center of town where we were able to quench our thirst and fill our bellies at a good price.
Friday morning got off to a late as Jeff had to get his ski rental all set up for the weekend. Andrew decided to sit the day out and recover from the events of last night. He was in no shape to attempt skiing for the first time. The weather on the mountain was pretty crappy but the snow was great and the lift lines were sparse. Jeff and I lasted until about lunchtime but Thursday night caught up to us, too, and we slowly made our way down to the bottom. For dinner, the hostel receptionist recommended a great restaurant with tons of choices. It was the first time in a while we had all been so full – and the food was great! That night we decided to take it easy so we stayed in our room and watched movies.
On Saturday, it was Andrew's turn to get some rental skis set up. He also didn't have any ski pants but he was able to find some nice, fairly cheap ones at the rental shop. The hostel was also full Saturday night so we were moved next door to the Pension Hoffner. We were given a discounted price and the place was pretty neat. A hearty breakfast was also included. After we got everything moved next door and got Andrew's skis figured out, we decided to head to the Kitzsteinhorn via ski bus shuttle, Zell am See's highest skiing area and part of a glacier. It sounded pretty intimidating but most of the runs on the map were only moderate to difficult and even some easy runs. The weather, though, was horrible – windy, snowing and cold! NOT great conditions for our first-time-skiing-friend, Andrew. Not only that, but the sudden altitude change Andrew's body wasn't used to gave him altitude sickness and his Saturday was cut short as he found his way back to the bus stop. Jeff and I continued skiing for the rest of the day, and although the conditions weren't great, skiing was still awesome! We spent most of our Saturday evening at a restaurant near the hotel and only went to a small bar near the train station for a couple drinks.
I woke up this morning to a “warmish” breeze coming from the window. When I looked up, all I could see was blue. This was going to be an awesome day.
I didn't bother waiting for the guys and hopped out of bed to get some breakfast. After that, I gathered up all my things so they'd be ready to go that afternoon. After I was all paid up at the office, I got on the ski bus to Kitzsteinhorn again where I was sure to witness some awe-inspiring views. Awe-inspiring was an understatement and even the gondola ride up got me excited. The sun was shining and I could see huge, jagged Alpine peaks for hundreds of miles. The glacier was wide open with only the T-bar lifts to ski around. It was the typical European ski resort and I was loving it!
The three of us met up for lunch on the hill and laid out our plan of attack for getting to the train station on time. It all worked out and here we are on the “Alpenkonvention” train, direct to Vienna. I still haven't gotten to the bottom of what that's all about, but I remember there being one from Kitzbühel, too. It must have something to do with making stops at all the skiing hotspots and still going directly to Vienna (no transfers in Innsbruck, Salzburg, Wörgl or anywhere else). I believe only on Sundays, too.
Anywho, I've got a small German verb conjugation worksheet to fill out for homework due tomorrow so I'll be blogging more the rest of the week. Tschüss!
Items of note:
After wandering the Schönbrunn grounds for a couple hours, I made my way to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's most famous open-air market. It's the largest and most popular open-air market in Vienna and offers cheap goods like clothing, accessories, fresh fruits and veggies, tons of spices and all kinds of weird/creepy meats you can imagine. A great place to practice your bargaining skills. It was was truly bustling, thanks to the fantastic weather I would imagine, and reminded me of Pike's Place Market back in Seattle - except 10x bigger and way more busy! A cool place to do some serious people-watching, too, I'm sure I'll be back again before I leave Vienna.
We couldn't get a hold of any internet, unfortunately, so I'm sorry I wasn't able to update the blog! The weekend was pretty busy, anyway, so I don't think I would have been able to write much. Right now, we're in the car on our way back to Munich. Last night we visited Lindau, a famous, old city on an island in the middle of Bodensee. The town center and pedestrian zone was really cool, and kind of resembled parts of Italy. We had a nice little walk, saw the harbor and then returned to the flat for some late dinner.
So we watched some competition, skied some runs, watched more competition, slid some baby boxes and rails thanks to our new inspiration, watched more of the competition, skied more runs... it was a great Friday! Sunday was similar, but instead of slopestyle, it was halfpipe time! We ditched our skis at the top of the hill and found a perfect spot along the pipe, right at the second hit sweet spot! I took a bunch of pictures, even though only a few really good ones turned out. My little camera was giving its all but had nothing on the thousand-dollar cameras all the professional photographers were using. Still, I was proud of some of the shots I got. :)
Today I did more walking around but I wasn't as lucky with the weather. It wasn't too cold but still a little wet and rainy. Today is the Hungarian Revolution Day, similar to our own Independence Day, and families were out and about in full force, sporting Hungarian red, white and green colored ribbons, flags and clothes! There was some kind of scavenger hunt for kids and other patriotic activities. In other parts of town, the riot police were suited up and ready to go because demonstrations were planned in Heroes Square, from both sides of the argument about taxes being used by the "gypsy" people. Apparently, a large portion of Hungarians are very upset with the way their tax money is being handled (given away to Gypsies for them to live off of) and another portion of Hungarians are okay with it. I was tempted to go check it out but witnessed some other areas of riot police gathering and decided it would probably be a lot of standing/waiting around and nothing actually happening. So, off to the train station instead.
Lots to see today! It's easy to see that Budapest was once a thriving Eastern European power city but now, it's STILL picking up the pieces from WWI and WWII. One of my first stops was called the "House of Terror" which reminded me a lot of the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. It was, of course, a little depressing but I'm glad I went there first because I learned A LOT about Hungarian history that I never knew, especially about events leading up to WWI and all the way to the end of WWII. Obviously I knew that Hungary was effected by the Holocaust but there was so much more than what we scratch over in school. Really interesting stuff and the museum was very well done. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures! I did sneak a quick video of one room, mostly because the music was so creepy and dreary.
The weather in Bratislava yesterday was crazy! It was cold and blustery at time but at other times it was sunny and calm, almost warm! We had a good time following our professor around while he explained this and that to us. We went to the top of a giant tower for a good overlook and we all felt like we were going to get blown off! Don't worry, there was plenty of protection, though.
Yesterday morning we had some free time so I decided to finally attend one of the famous Hofburg Palace Spanish Riding School Lipizzaner morning exercise sessions. I'd been wanting to go for some time but with my morning classes, it was almost impossible. This week, we had some schedule changes so our Wednesday morning was free. It is kind of advertised as a "practice" session but really it's more just exercising for the horses because they are cramped up in stalls most of the day. (Their stables are right in the middle of the city so they don't have any pasture!) They didn't do many cool tricks, either, just some little basic ones, but I was still able to observe some minor training and correctional techniques and watching all the cute riding school boys was definitely worth it. ;)
I'm still not, however, convinced the Lippizzaner horses are that attractive. They are stalky with big, sagging bellies and unusually thick necks (even the geldings!) Fun to watch but I just don't think they are as "beautiful" everyone makes them out to be. There seems to be something off about their conformation. Still cool, though, and I'm sure the horses I saw were part of the bloodlines that have been in the Habsburg Dynasty for hundreds of years.
