Semester Endings

It's hard to believe the study abroad experience, that I had been literally counting down the days to since the 10th grade, was almost over for me. I still don't know how time flew so quickly! Things got a bit hectic as the semester wound down, between trying to fit in all the last minute sites to see, the Christmas markets to visit, the gifts to buy, and that little thing called final exams, but the final days as a student in Vienna were just as incredible and jam-packed as normal for me, since I like to "squeeze the juice."

Here are some of the highlights in my last two weeks:

1. Dinner Party at the Villa!

I felt like a real grown-up inviting friends over to cook and eat together on Monday night after I got back from Innsbruck. Andrew and Aneyn agreed to "help" me cook (as in, do most of it for me as I hovered) and we feasted on roast chicken, almond sautéed green beans and asparagus, fluffy couscous, and a gugelhopf for dessert. Elise joined us for dinner as well, and it was a fun evening at home, listening to German techno music, making an enormous mess, and eating a home cooked meal together.

2. Die Nussknacker (The Nutcracker Ballet at the Staatsoper)

I like to think of myself as a ballerina, but I'd never seen a ballet before, and that felt quite wrong indeed. So, I was really excited to line up at the Staatsoper at a ridiculous hour (4pm for a 7:30pm show) to get standing room tickets for The Nutcracker. I had convinced Meghan to join me for a crepe and then the ballet that Tuesday, so we did work while waiting in line. We managed to get into the very front row of standing room at 7pm! The ballet was absolutely beautiful and made me reconsider my major: why hadn't I pursued a dance major like I'd intended for a brief time in high school? Watching the ballerinas float across the stage so gracefully really made me miss dancing. But I definitely enjoyed watching their impeccable pointe technique. I can't wait to go home and practice again. Classical ballet is gorgeous.

3. Magic at Martin's

Our business professor, Martin, invited my class to his office (he has a consulting firm) after classes on Thursday for a little end-of-semester party. I thought it was really nice of him, since no other teacher had bothered to make the effort with us and some still didn't even know our names. It was quite an interesting party. Martin had lots of snacks and breads and tons of glühwein, and then he did a bit of a strange magic show for us in his basement. Turns out he is very interested in magic and has a lot of old collectables for magic tricks. Some were quite good! However, it was all a bit strange and we were all really confused...quite an experience though!

4. Elise's Birthday!

Happy birthday roomie!

Elise organized a Mexican fiesta at Los Mexikas with a bunch of friends so we went to dinner and enjoyed some great, spicy food and some sort of flan for dessert. Afterwards, Elise went home because she felt a bit ill and the rest of us went to a rooftop bar called the 25 Hour Hotel. It was very classy and actually a lot of fun overlooking the Viennese city lights on leather couches. We're lucky we got there early and managed to get a seat, because the bar seemed to be incredibly popular as it got later and later. I'll definitely be taking Zaynee and Savannah there when they visit!

Evan and I at the 25 Hour Hotel Bar

View from the balcony of the rooftop bar!

5. Freyung with the Frau

Julia, Haley, Sara, me, and Carly at the Freyung market

Instead of a final German class, our teacher took us to the Freyung Christmas market and bought us some incredible honey-cinnamon hot chocolate from a stall there. It was such a nice end to the semester, talking with Frau Sachermeier with a warm drink, listening to a German children's puppet show on the stage next to us. Freyung is one of my favorite Christmas markets.

The amazing Freyung honey-cinnamon hot chocolate!

Punsch sign at the Freyung Market

6. Studying over the weekend with Elise

We actually did do work...well I did haha

Though studying sucked a lot, Elise and I made some sort of effort to make it a bit more enjoyable: as in, we went to cafes and then had a good time on Facebook or watching TV (in her case) between attempting to write our papers. We discovered Yamm! Cafe right across from the Universität because there was wifi (our house STILL didn't have wifi...five days later) and there was a really delicious, healthy vegan/vegetarian food bar that we ate from on Saturday night before going to the terribly boring IES party. Then on Sunday, we studied in Cafe Museum before heading to the Schonbrunn Christmas market. I actually got a lot of work done on my three papers. 

The IES party that we spent about 10 minutes at. #arrivelateleaveearly

7. Hitting every Christmas Market possible before the week ends

I loved looking at all the handmade ornaments!

I decided I needed a mug from every market I went to. If you buy a hot drink from the market, you pay a 2 or 3 euro deposit on the cup it comes in and you can either keep it or return the mug and get your deposit back. They're all unique and some are quite nice! So I tried to visit every market I could, even just to see what sort of things each sold. Here are my favorites, in order: Spittelburg for the cool, handmade gifts, Schönbrunn for the abundance of international goods and Käsespätzle (like Austrian mac and cheese with fried onions on top!), Freyung because it was small and intimate, Karlskirche for the good quality products, the Am Hof Market for the interesting displays, the Stephansdom Market for the super cool mugs in the shape of boots, the Rathaus Market because its the largest ever and I had a yummy yeast pastry in a mug with vanilla sauce there, and then the Belvedere market because it was calm and they had pretty mugs. I managed to hit the majority of the markets, so I was pleased with myself!

Karlskirche has the best waffles ever...

8. Exams

I survived. And studied way too hard, because they weren't too hard. That's about all.

9. A final hurrah at Diglas

After our German exam (neither Elise nor I studied, and instead spent the evening before talking and singing along to old songs like Hilary Duff and Aaron Carter and Avril Lavigne while packing), Elise and I went to Cafe Diglas with Amanda, Megan, and Sara where I had a Frittatensuppe and Gugelhopf. It was a nice farewell to our BC friends. I'm glad I'll get to see Amanda back in New Jersey though!

Delicious Frittatensuppe<3 (beef broth with pancake strips and chives)

10. Saying farewell to Elise and Evan :(

This was sad. So incredibly sad. It seems so surreal that I won't be living with Elise and Evan next semester and I'm really depressed about that. They've both become such good friends to me and I'm so glad I got to know them. Elise was the best direct roommate and friend I could have asked for and Evan and I always had so much fun talking or going out together :( Hopefully, we'll all be able to stay friends and see each other again in the future.

Evan and I at Schönbrunn Christmas Market

And, incredibly, that summed up my semester abroad in Vienna. From making new friends, establishing a new routine, and taking the tram every single day, to learning German and actually practicing around Austria, exploring cafes, cultural sites, and different European cities on trips I'd planned myself with new friends, I've had the most amazing time I could have possibly imagined. I don't want this to end, but they say all good things must end at some point. I'm glad I made the most of this opportunity, and I can tell I have grown and changed, as cliche as that sounds. Going back to America in January (yes, I still have more time in Europe!) is going to be such a huge culture shock again, however excited I am to see my family and friends. I love Europe and will be waiting for my chance to move here sometime in the future. From the life I created for myself this semester, I can see Vienna being a possible home for me in the future!

IESV2013

West to Innsbruck!

I'm so glad I managed to find a way to visit to Innsbruck this past weekend. I had been planning on going with some friends, but things came up and they decided they wouldn't be able to make it. I'm a lot more independent after living in Vienna for over three months now, but I still didn't really fancy the idea of traveling alone, exploring alone, and especially staying in a hostel alone in the west of Austria. It would have been fine, just not a whole lot of fun for me. I like being able to share my experiences with people in the moment! So when Lizzie, Amy, and Christianne said they were planning to go to Innsbruck for the weekend, I had found my new travel companions!

It was a four and a half hour train ride on Saturday morning from Vienna, west to Innsbruck. I had packed incredibly light, with everything I needed for two days in my small backpack. I think I'm becoming a pro at light packing now! We slept almost the whole way to Innsbruck, and woke up in time to see the gorgeous Austrian Alps rise up around us and see the snow lightly falling onto our windows. Soon, we were at the station, surrounded by immense, snow-capped mountains, with tiny flakes swirling around us in the sunlight. It felt like a TV moment: four city girls escape to the small mountainous town. Except Innsbruck isn't that small; it's one of Austria's main cities! However, it's tiny compared to places in the USA, so we'll just stick with my description.

Our first stop was getting wifi and some quick food, so we could get to the hostel. Soon enough, we leapt onto a tram in the right direction, completely forgetting our monthly Viennese transit passes wouldn't work here. Luckily we got off at Sillpark, the next stop, before we could get checked for having no tickets. Right in front of our eyes, was Primark. We thought, what the heck, and decided to just go in now so we wouldn't have to come back at a later time (because we obviously were going in). I'm really good at managing Primark and not succumbing to the absurdly low prices on low quality goods that absolutely no one needs (most times). I left with just a necessity: winter tights. Vienna is getting colder, and Innsbruck was about 10 degrees F chillier! Lucky I had worn three pairs of socks under my waterproof Hunter boots, including ski socks. It still astounds me that we unanimously agreed that, yep, Primark, good way to start our weekend in Innsbruck. #noshame?

Austria's first Primark store

Once we had finished up and deposited our stuff in the sketchy luggage locker room at our Jugendherberg (youth hostel), we set out for the Altstadt. It was nestled between the mountains (like everything else here), next to a beautiful river. And Innsbruck in December means Christmas Markets galore! The entire Maria-Theresia street, the main road of Innsbruck, was swallowed up by an amazing market! The products were a lot nicer than some of the Viennese ones, but it was very diverse. I tell you honestly that we spent the rest of the afternoon (like 3 hours) wandering around the market (which wasn't even very big), looking at products, streets, and architecture, trying new things, and taking photos. Lizzie tried some Hot Sangria and Christianne and Amy tried different types of Punsch. I'm just ecstatic that my sister let me borrow her awesome camera to try and capture the beauty of this little city!

Maria-Theresia street

Lizzie, Amy, Christianne, and I

Christmas market stalls

Amy and me in our matching coats!

Tribute to Nelson Mandela along the riverfront

We stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It's surprisingly difficult to find good Mexican food in Austria, but this place was pretty great. My chicken-veggie quesadillas were delicious. It was nice to warm up in the restaurant overlooking the river and consuming yummy, spicy food we'd all been craving for a long time. There aren't Chipotles in Austria...

We could tell our hostel was the cheapest one in the area. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't impressive. The rooms of six were about half the size of a single dorm at Emory, with three bunk beds tucked in there. I was separated from the other three, since I booked after them, and later than they did, and when I walked into the room, the lights were off (it was 20:30) and someone was snoring on top of the only free bunk. I had to navigate through the room, make my bed with the basically cardboard linens provided, and lock my stuff away in a locker, though mine happened to be broken. Luckily, the other girls were just next door. I had assumed we were just going to have an early night since the temperatures were really dropping outside, but at 21:15, we set out for the town again. Time to bar hop!

We made some slightly tipsy friends on the bus, who seemed to be thrilled that we were from America. Two of the boys our age were asking us about where we lived. One of them thought Georgia was in the center of America...and then he proudly stated that he was studying geography. They pointed us towards the Bar 360 we had intended to go to, and went off to a pub across the road. They were interesting. The bar we went to was not. Since we'd all packed so lightly, we weren't ready for an evening of being all dolled up. This bar was tiny and swanky. We looked through the glass doors and windows at the posh people inside, and decided to quickly turn around and go into the Irish Pub across the road. We quickly found out where our bus friends had gotten to...

It was a fun night, hanging out in the Irish pub. We met two blokes, in their late twenties, who spoke really great English. They talked to us for about an hour and a half and were very nice. The one I was talking to looked surprisingly like Ryan Cabrera. Can I say that was my celeb spotting on this trip?

The next morning, we packed everything away (thank god we were leaving that hostel...) and I ate the hostel's bland breakfast before we headed out to get wifi and plan our day. We were not about to pay for 24-hour wifi at the hostel. When we finally figured out our day, we got onto a bus to the Altstadt...only to be caught by ticket inspectors, so we quickly hopped off at the next stop before they could fine us. It wasn't a long walk anyway. We meandered through the Christmas market again (it was so pretty in the sunlight!) and came across a small petting zoo, which we will call the Alpen Zoo. The actual Alpen Zoo in Innsbruck is high in the mountains, where we went next.

The Austrian version of Nyhavn 

We bought tickets and took a bus to Hungerberg, which is the top of one of the mountains surrounding Innsbruck. We tried to go higher, but realized it was a ski area, and we'd have to buy an expensive, all day lift ticket to get there. No thanks. Our view was just fine where we were!

On top (sort of) of the Innsbruck mountains!

The last few hours we had in Innsbruck we spent eating and touring parts of the old town. We made our way through the completely packed Christmas market and saw the golden roofed building and museum before going to the famous Stiftskeller for lunch. I got a Frittatensuppe and was the most happy child. I love that Frittatensuppe (its a beef broth with thin, flat pancake strips and chives!).

Our final stop was the Hofkirche, in the middle of town. It was built in 1553 by Emperor Ferdinand I as a memorial to his late grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I. It was quite an impressive resting place! They even had an interactive show to teach us about Max's accomplishments. 

Kirche courtyard

Max's memorial is in the middle and his ancestors stand around him

We were on our way back to Vienna by 16:09, after I got separated and lost from the others in the Christmas market for 30 minutes. I felt like I was 5 again, with thousands of people scurrying around me as I tried to stay in one place and look out for Lizzie, Christianne, or Amy. None of them brought their cellphones, so it was literally like we were back in the day, with no way of communication. Not very pleasant, but we eventually reunited without much emotion, and continued on back to our respective houses in Vienna. It turned out that Innsbruck was a beautiful weekend getaway for us four city girls! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see more of Austria.

Speeding Along

It's terrifying to think that in just three weeks, my semester abroad in Austria will be over. Where on earth did time go?? That being realized, I've been trying to explore every crevice of Vienna before I have to leave in January. On Monday after class, Elise and I went to the Hohermarkt to do our grocery shopping and grab some of their healthy buffet lunch before wandering through the Am Hof Markt to get back to our tram at Schottentor. It was a beautiful day, so we didn't mind eating next to a fountain or walking all the way with our full grocery bags. It was also nice because it felt as though we actually did live in Vienna and did go to school here and did grocery shop for our house (which is all true, short-term, of course). I'm going to miss this new lifestyle we've created for ourselves. It feels so normal and regular, compared to when we first arrived and I remember Elise being in shock that grocery shopping would have to be at least once a week. Europe doesn't do "bulk shopping!"

View of Hoher Markt, where our favorite grocery store is

On Tuesday, we had a really cool field trip to the Amerika Haus for our European Politics class. The Amerika Haus is basically an extension of the US Embassy in Vienna and is celebrating it's 175 year anniversary. We met a very interesting woman who is a Foreign Service Minister, and basically sold us all on the job. You get to travel, live in random, exotic places, learn their culture and language, and talk about how fabulous the US is. We were all hooked, until she told us about a big exam we had to take, and then a full day of interviews...but maybe some of us will become Foreign Service Ministers!

The original Amerika Haus was a library for Austrians to learn about America

After the tour, Elise and I walked through the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt, to the Universitat Wien. We both really wanted to get a Univeristy of Vienna sweatshirt, but instead of asking somebody where the student store was, we decided we'd be able to find it. We wandered the gorgeous building hallways for more than 20 minutes, and even had a girl try and ask us something in German about where a room was. We didn't even know where we had ended up, let alone where the place she was searching for was. We finally stumbled across the tiny shop, and were a bit disappointed with the rather hideous apparel selection. We left empty handed, but it was still fun to see the Univeristy (as well as moan about how we would have preferred to study there than at Palais Corbelli).

Courtyard of University

Interior study hall

By the time we got home, I had half an hour to change and head out to the 17th District to my German teacher, Frau Sachermaier's, apartment. She had invited her class to dinner! I was really excited to see where she lived and what a typical Austrian apartment looked like, and I was not disappointed. Sara and I were the first to arrive, together, and we got to meet Herr Sachermaier who served us punsch and stuffed us full of orange-zimt Lebkuchen cookies (though I probably ate my weight in them, I'm obsessed with the soft gingerbread)! It was a bit awkward at first, because the Sachermaiers were only speaking German to us, and Sara and I are still not proficient in conversational German. But we got to look around her apartment at all her Christmas decorations and portraits of their ancestors, while eating delicious cookies and cakes. Soon, other students came to join. I was a bit sad that I had to leave so soon, but I was off to something just as fun!

Elise and I managed to score tickets a few weeks ago to Vienna's "Imagine Dragons" concert! We met at the Stadthalle station and walked over to the arena together to join the moshing crowd attempting to push their way through the doors. Somehow, we got through quickly and even managed to secure standing-room spaces at the very front of the General Admission area! We had a pesky middle-school crew right by us (one girl had very clingy, coarse, LONG hair that kept creeping onto Elise and I), but we managed to squeeze by them to the front railing. And the concert was INCREDIBLE! I love Imagine Dragons even more than I did. It really helped that we had a great view and only had to watch out for each other while fighting our way out! "We're on top of the world, yep."

Imagine Dragons!

On Wednesday, a tragic thing happened at home. THE INTERNET DIED. Completely. Let's just say it was a very early night for us at the villa :( Therefore, I stayed out as late as possible after my anthro class, and got to walk through the Karlskirche Christkindlmarkt. It was one of the more upscale ones!

Market around Karlskirche

Thursday, still no internet. It was a joy going to IES for class so we could get wifi. It's almost sad how dependent we are on wifi. We had classes as normal, and went to the Austrian Military History Museum for our politics class at 13:30. It took us more than half the class just to get there, because of construction on the walkways. But the museums was beautiful and very interesting! I like learning about World War I and II from this part of the world's perspective. They don't make it out to be any less despicable, but it's quite eye-opening to learn more backstory.

Exhibit in the Austrian Military History Museum 

Perfect venue for an event! Beautiful and interesting

Elise and I had really early dinner together right after class, in the 1st District at Hamama Egyptian Restaurant (where Mom and Khala and I went!). I had also explored that area beforehand, so I wouldn't get lost taking Elise there. I stumbled across some cool new restaurants that I want to try, as well as another church! It was next to the oldest University building in Vienna, and so I went inside to check it out (of course).

Exterior of the church

Interior of the Church

The meal at Hamama was absolutely delicious. We both really needed a good, hearty, warm meal (enough with the salads...). Once we were finished, we made our way to the Opera to see Barbara of Seville. As we got into the standing room section to wait for tickets, we found ourselves surrounded by dressed up, college-aged boys, being incredibly obnoxious. Yes, it is boring waiting for opera tickets more than two hours before the show starts, but why must you sing or laugh raucously? There are other people around, too!

We were unfortunately stuck in the middle of them for the whole line-wait, as well as when we finally got our standing room spots. Literally, RIGHT in the middle of them. That wasn't much fun since some of them thought they'd pre game their field trip and enjoyed harassing us (mostly me...I had a whacko behind me). We did manage to talk to some of them to find out they were music students forced into this field trip, and that some of them had been drinking, but apparently we spoke too fast for them, because the nerdy one who tried talking to us just stared at me for a minute too long when I spoke to him. It was uncomfortable. Yes, they did make some of the performance funny (like when the guy next to me fell asleep on the railing and then started so violently that he slipped off and caused all the boys, as well as Elise and I, to shake with silent laughter), but they were mostly a nuisance, so we made the executive decision to leave after the first act. It was a good decision on our part.

Tobi and Helmut as St. Nik and Krampus

Friday was der Tag auf der Heilige Nikolaus (St. Nikolaus' Day), which is a popular tradition in Austria. St. Nik, in a long red robe and big white Bischofsmutze (Bishop's Hat) with a golden cross on it, and the evil Krampus, with black fun, two horns on his head, pointy ears, a long tongue, and a rod to hit naughty children before sticking them in the basket on his back to take them away, come on this day to see if children have been good or bad. If you're good, Nik gives you little treats like oranges, figs, nuts, and chocolate. Otherwise...Krampus will hit you with a rod. None of us in German class are Austrian, so we didn't think much of the tradition we had learned about. Then, Helmut and Tobi burst into the class in costume. Tobi handed out oranges, apples, and peanuts, while Helmut went around smacking us on our shins with his makeshift rod of twigs. It was hilarious and made German class a laugh. 

Afterwards, I set out exploring. The weather was so beautiful that I wanted to walk to Schottentor. I went down Graben street, past Meinl's, and made my way through the Am Hof Markt and Freyung area. There were St. Nik's there, giving goody bags to children on field trips! I adore the Freyung area. It looks like it's been preserved in the past, with the cobbled stones, the pretty architecture, and the grand church overlooking the market stalls. I even went into the church to take a look before heading home to make my special french toast for brunch (I'd been craving...).

Freyung area: St. Nikolaus interacts with children

Inside the Schottentor Church

The morning was so good, but my evening was not. My anthro class had another horrible field trip planned: a 9pm concert at some hipster/gothic/punk/idk venue for some no-name band. I don't even know why I bothered going, because I did everything I could to slip out asap. Our teacher made us sit and wait in a bar from 7:30-8:30pm while she had a few drinks and smokes, before the concert started. It's the worst class ever, and not worth taking ever. I don't think I've learned anything from it, or the pointless field trips. IES needs to get rid of that class. 

Auf dem Gletscher Kitzsteinhorn: Skiing in the Austrian Alps!

I always forget how much I love to ski until I get back into it. So this past weekend of skiing on a glacier in the Austrian Alps was one of the most fantastic trips I've had while abroad, if not the most fantastic! We left Vienna on Friday morning and drove for five hours to the Salzburg region of the Austrian Alps. The ride was very beautiful, as more and more snowcapped mountains kept popping up along the way. In order to feel more authentic, we were also staying in a rustic, cabin-like hotel! We settled into our respective rooms after picking up our ski and snowboard rental equipment from the cute little town nearby and having dinner at the hotel (IES is back to picking our meals again, meaning all the vegetarian dishes I get are not very tasty...). Amanda, Sara, Megan, and I shared an enormous suite, complete with a sitting room, balcony, and view of the impressive mountains. We got very lucky! Some people had much smaller rooms and not a great view.

View of the mountains!

Saturday dawned bright and early and we all filled up on breakfast so we were ready to hit the slopes. We were only a five minute drive from the mountain base, so we got there quickly and unloaded our skis. Steph had a bit of a brain freeze and thought someone had taken her skis, so we dealt with that mishap for a while, before she found out that she had just remembered the incorrect number on her skis and those actually were hers. We had a good laugh about that! 

The gondola rides (there were two!) to the top where the Alpincentre was (like the base where ski lifts started) were quite long and a bit tightly packed, but the views were stunning! The higher we got, the more impressive, and the less trees there were. It looked like we had fallen into a National Geographic photograph!

View from the Alpincentre base

It took a while for Megan, Sara, Amanda, Steph, and I to get organized, but we eventually managed to get our boots and helmets on, both gloves on our hands and hand warmers for our pockets and head up yet another gondola to the very top of the mountain. I became a bit queasy. I wasn't able to stand in that cramped gondola...instead I was stuck leaning against a middle-aged man's snowboard. It was so stuffy. We finally made it to the top, only to take a quick tram downwards to the actual slopes. It was a bit of an ordeal getting to the runs!

Snow was still falling, as it was when we woke up in the morning. Turns out, even though we were very high up, there were still clouds above us. The mountain was completely white and it was difficult to see anything. It was quite pretty and peaceful having the snow fall all around us, but it didn't help us with our warm up run. In Europe, the easy to hard levels are blue, red, black, compared to America's green, blue, black. We intended to start out with a simple blue, just to get warmed up, but the thick snow obscured our vision and we shot down the first run we saw, which turned out to be a red. It wasn't terribly difficult, but seeing anything was! I was worried I'd have to spend the entire day straining my eyes to see through the swirling snow. Luckily, it cleared up by our second run.

Skiing through the clouds!

The five of us spent the entire morning skiing a few blues and many red runs. It was so much fun, especially when the clouds disappeared beneath us and the snow stopped. The views were breathtaking. Some of our runs took a long time because we just had to keep stopping and taking pictures. It was too beautiful to ignore!

I'm not used to skiing in a place with absolutely no evergreen trees around, so it threw me a little bit. It truly felt like we were at the summit of the mountain, which we were! I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was skiing on a glacier in the Austrian Alps!

On top of the world

We took a break for lunch around 1:30pm and by the time we'd finished, thick clouds were rolling in again. Nevertheless, we headed out again. On the chair lift up, we realized we couldn't see anything. Skiers were magically appearing from the mist below us without warning. When we got off, we could barely see our hands. We were in the middle of a cloud! It was pretty cool to experience, but skiing down cautiously was very difficult. We couldn't see any of the powdery moguls to avoid nor signs nor each other! By the time we finally made it down, our hair and even Steph's eyelashes had been frozen over and were white with little icicles. It was time to call it a day and head home to relax in our rustic cabin-rooms.

The gondolas on the left take you up and down the mountain

The next morning was beautifully clear. I knew we were going to have a fabulous day for skiing. The five of us got organized a bit quicker today, though we started skiing later, at about 10:15. We explored a few different red runs, and even braved a short black, while Megan and Sara went off together to tackle Black Mamba. I definitely wasn't feeling that. We got even more extraordinary photographs, both from the observation deck at the summit of the Alps and just while skiing down the mountains. That mountain air was so refreshing and the views so breathtaking, that I've decided this weekend of skiing has been my favorite weekend in Austria! I can't wait to beg Dad to let us go on a ski holiday (I'm positive he'd jump at the chance!).

Die Alpen

View from the observation deck!