The Big Chill



Above the clouds



Macieks boarding track on the right, his two friends skiing tracks on the left

Buried chalets

It’s still winter.  Feels like it’s always been winter!  Waking up to bleached whiteness everyday is becoming a bit monotonous, it’s like living in black and white, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone so trying to appreciate it while it’s still here.  And it is magical when it snows, big fat flakes floating passed the window.  Apparently it’s the most snowfall this region has seen in 7 years.  When it snows the roads are cleared pretty quickly and very well, but all the snow from the road is fed to the sides of the road which has left walls of ice, some nearly 2 metres tall, and for a while driving around was like driving through an ice maze!  Blind corners everywhere (more than usual!) and difficult to find entrances to pretty obvious places like shopping centres and main roads!  Some of that has melted now, or has been chopped away.  Not long ago they were shoveling a metre of snow off the roof of our supermarket, as the roof is flat, and too bad if you were just strolling past as there were no signs up to let you know what was going on above, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair number of pedestrians became partially buried or at the very least copped a whopper of a headache and had to carry on with their journey soaked to the bone!  I went to get a trolley from the trolley park but couldn’t actually get one out as they’d been buried! 



We’ve spent many many mornings shoveling a few feet of it off our car and digging the car out so we can get to school, and everytime I say to Maciek ‘we must get a photo of us doing that’, but still haven’t, as in the rush to get everything organized, kids dressed in their marshmallow suits and getting out the door on time and then sorting out the car, the camera always gets forgotten.  The girls who parks next to us was holding a lighter to her car key one morning to try to defrost the lock which had frozen, and she couldn't open her car!  It’s been fun driving – NOT – skidding all over the place.  Maciek tried to be cool and chuck a ‘donut’ in the carpark of the hotel where he works only to get stuck and have a couple of his colleagues help push him out of his predicament!  How embarrassment! 



St Johann gondola, amelia calls it a bubble, noah calls it a zoom



There’s been lots of fun sledging, sliding on bumboards, and catching the gondola after work for a hot chocolate at the top, and animal foot print spotting in the snow (mostly deer and hare).  There were a few days in January where they closed the lifts altogether as it was too dangerous with the amount of snow and there were avalanche warnings.  Didn’t bother Maciek though, he considers himself too professional to be bothered by a measly thing such as an avalanche!  Dumkopf!  I did manage to go skiing for a couple of hours with a friend one Sunday morning.  We did more falling than skiing.  And unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the time to practice again since, so I am officially the worst skier in the family, apart from Noah, and that’s only because he’s two! 



Hot chocolate inside, frostbites outside



The temperature has been -20 or close to it the past two weeks.  You don’t spend much time outside in that!  Just getting from the car into school (literally 30 seconds) is painful, it does really feel like your skin is being bitten, and when you breathe you can actually feel the bits up your nose turning into little icicles!



 

 

taken by milly in the zoom

Buried trolleys

Forgotten Photos

 Here are some photos of Milly in action that i forgot i had.
BTW that mysterious odour has now gone. Melanie was trying to blame it on me. I must admit I have been responsible for a few bad smells around here from time to time but definitely not the last one. I'm not wearing that one.

Winter Update



Loads of Snow





Milly with Medal



 Servus, or gday everyone, Maciek here again with an update of how we’re travelling so far.  This blog will mainly be about me, the snow and me on the snow. So if you’re still with me welcome aboard.We are about two thirds of the way through winter and it has been quite a harsh one as far as snow fall goes, we’ve had a lot, which sounds great and it is but there a lot of snow removal to be done when that happens. It take about 15 minutes to dig the car out every morning after a snow fall, usually about a foot of snow covers the car and surrounds then the same in the afternoon. Digging the car out once a day is fine, twice is a pain. I’ve also had to do my fair share of snow clearing at work which can get annoying but mostly its better then standing around doing nothing. Work is either full on busy or dead quiet but it’s all good because I’ve been able to get plenty of time to snowboard.

These days, as I’m now 10 years older than I was when I last did a season, I find that a couple of hours in the morn before work is sufficient enough to get a fix and not feel too tired. I also usually get a chance to go out one day a week for a half day before I have to pick up Melanie and the kids. It has all been a bit of a fine balancing act, trying to get time on the hill and not upsetting the family, but so far it has worked ok, I think.



My Epic Ride-TOP



MIDDLE



The slopes around us are pretty good. There are three resorts within 15 minutes drive from here. I’ve spent most of my time at the local one, St Johann, as my work is at the bottom of that one. So what normally happens is that I drop mel and the kids at school, leave the car there, walk to the gondola, snowboard for a couple of hours and ride down to work, which is on the other side of the mountain. Sound good ha. The slopes here are uncrowned and with all the fresh snow we’ve had I have been able to get the best powder rides of my life. In one ride I was lucky enough to get the second track down which went for about 2 km, untracked fresh snow in front of me. This must be the best feeling in the world, it almost feels like flying and I love it, well I’m sure skydivers and base jumpers would have something to say about that, but that’s a bit extreme for me. I took some pictures of the tracks, I got to do this run twice that day. Everything came together, two days of snow, followed by a sunny day and a day off for me, doesn’t happen too often. The only down side was that there was a 15 minute hike out of the valley to the gondola.



BOTTOM



Amelia has also learnt to ski in the meantime, we are so proud of her. It took quiet a lot of tears and persistence but after 2 weeks of ski school she skied in a race, slalom between flags, and came forth in her group. I have also learned to ski and have been about to go up with her and ski down which has been a long awaited dream come true, to be able to ski with my kids. We are still waiting on Melanie to be able to join us as she has been very busy with work and been too tired to ski with us. Hopefully soon. Noah will have to wait till next winter as he is too small but if you’ve seen the video of him skiing on Facebook you’ll know he won’t have too many problems.

By the way, I’m writing this blog today sitting here at home, while Mel and the kids are at school, and not boarding because it -15 outside and too freaking cold. I’m also airing out the house cos there’s a foul and mysterious odor coming from somewhere and I’m freezing.









Edelweiss and Lederhosen

No Mr Snowman!  Don't jump!

Pretty napkin arrangments!

 The first time I heard this word was in the Sound of Music and I never knew what it meant.  But now I know it’s the name of a white flower native to these parts, so there you go!  It’s also the (former) name of the hotel where Maciek is a waiter. It was changed just before this winter season.  I told you I’d include some pics of him in Lederhosen so here you are, although if you were expecting the short ones with long socks and braces you’ll be sorely disappointed – perhaps if he was to keep the job through summer we might be entertained by that look but it’s not to be.

There have been some busy times but mostly it’s been quiet which means most of the time he’s standing around twiddling his thumbs, and practicing his knee slapping and yodeling (not!)  He’s been struggling with the language.  For example, there’ll be 5 customers at the bar having banter with the other barman, and Maciek just standing there like a pratt.  Wouldn’t be too bad if there was work to do, but there wasn’t.  And groups of people standing together laughing and talking while Maciek is tidying a table and when he looks up at them they are all looking at him smiling, so he’s not sure if they were having a joke at his expense or what, but I’ve experienced that myself and it doesn’t feel very nice.

There’s a little hut outside, a small bar, where he’s been stationed a couple of times, and a group of mostly German tourists are gathered drinking the evening away after their ski.  He’s doing his best to look like he’s enjoying the Deutsch Discotheque even though he knows none of the songs nevermind the words, and all the while making up prices for the drinks as no-one has given him a price list and when he’s asked no-one knows anyway!  Apparently it’s 3 euro for a beer, and 3.80 for pint of coke! 

It’s holiday season, so lots of tourists from all over – mostly Deutschland, then Nederlands, Slovakia, Italien, some car rego’s with a European Union ‘B’ on them (what’s that – Bulgaria?  Is that still a country?  Or has it been changed to something like Bulgavian Democratic Republik of Bogsdanodan, or maybe it’s just ‘Britain’ by itself because it’s not as Great as it once thought it was?), one or two Frenchies, and lots from all over Austria, and of course UK.  It kind of gives us free reign to speak English as we can just pass as tourists and we have an excuse!  There have been a couple of bus loads of English school kids staying at the hotel on ski trips which at least gives Maciek people to chat to!  One 14 year old lad approached the bar and asked for a packet of cigarettes.  Maciek looked at him and said “how old are you?”   “14,” replied the boy.  “I don’t think we sell cigarettes,” replied Maciek.  “You do” said the lad “coz I bought some yesterday!”  Maciek looked at his boss and asked “Do we sell cigarettes?”  “Erm, yeah, I suppose” replied the boss shrugging his shoulders.  “But do we sell cigarettes to him?”  asked Maciek.  “hmmm” replied the boss nodding his head.  “ok, how much are they?” asked Maciek.  “They’re a fiver, that’s what they were yesterday” said the boy, at the same time as the boss shrugged his shoulders again and began walking away.  And so Maciek sold a 14 year old boy a packet of cigarettes, thinking, if this was Australia I’d be arrested for this!  On another night a group of 16 year olds were sitting around the bar drinking beers.  It’s legal here, to drink beer at 16.  Not spirits, although if they want one no-one’s going to batter an eyelid!

Maciek shouldn’t feel that bad really.  The head chef is Iranian, the assistant chef Greek (not a word of English or German), the chamber maids are Hungarian, the receptionist is from Stuttgart and most of the others are German or Austrian too.  Quite a multicultural workplace!  And on the upside, at least he’s not as knackered as he was when he was tiling, and he gets fed, so I don’t have to cook!

...and a Happy New Year!

Sparkly Noah

After Peach and Monika left us the B & B was very busy preparing for its next guests – Aunty Sue and Uncle Frank with little Curly!  They arrived later than expected due to snow and traffic (busiest week of the year for tourists – I like them, they make me feel less of a foreigner!) but were able to relax and unwind when they got here after a long day of driving.  They brought some lovely pressies for Noah and Milly (clothes) and for me (junk food!) and we enjoyed a couple of schnapps after dinner and after a good night’s rest at the Inn they were on their way again, along the snowy roads back to Italy.

Noah has been very ill with tonsillitis and then Amelia woke up with conjunctivitis (lovely!) the day before New Years eve, but thankfully all was well in time for the party at a friend’s place in Going.  A kid friendly bash on New Years Eve is always a welcome event and gave us a rare chance to get out and socialize, and Paul and Analissa have a beautiful traditional style Austrian house right next to a Lift!  They can ski down right into their back yard!  We had a great evening, champagne and yummy food and fireworks out the back (it’s not so much a back yard as it is the bottom of a hill that stretches up as far as you can see and keeps going up the mountain).  Yes, fireworks.  All sorts.  You can just buy them from your local shops, as many as you want, and set them off wherever you like!  From our fellow Aussies we hear Shock! Gasp! Horror! As this is illegal in Oz.  Probably because it would cause too many bushfires.  Not to say that it’s not equally as dangerous here as all the buildings are made of WOOD!!  Unfortunately couldn’t get any good pics, it was too dark.  It was nice too to catch up with friends who moved back to the UK a couple of months ago and Amelia had a fab evening running around and playing with her friend Lilly who she can actually talk to!

Way passed bedtime for Noah Milly and Lilly

Normally on nights out Maciek and I share the driving – he drives there and I drive back (hang on a minute???).  But there was no way I was going to be negotiating those roads with the heavy snowfall we were having.  So Maciek lucked out, and I enjoyed my fair share of Champagne and Quality Streets (I’d forgotten about them!) hoping it would numb my nerves for the drive home but I was still white knuckled clutching my seat as we slid about not unlike four wheel driving on the beach at Lancelin.

Curlys winter best

We arrived home about 11pm, put the kids to bed, and enjoyed a 180 degree panoramic fireworks display from the balcony at midnight.  With the sound bouncing off the mountains it could have been mistaken for an air raid!  It was a great way to end the night.  Best wishes to everyone for a fantastic 2012!!

Meerrry Christmas!



Against all odds due to this time of year being the busiest for the tourism industry Maciek managed to get both Christmas Day and Boxing Day off work!  We were very grateful for this.  Our friends Peach, Monika and their little boy arrived Christmas Eve in the afternoon, and after collecting Maciek from work in the evening we enjoyed a meal together and a few drinks.  The evening of the 24th is when Austrians celebrate Christmas (we were used to this as this is also tradition in Poland, and our friends also celebrate this way too), and Christkind comes to decorate the tree (oops – we did ours a month too early!) and leave presents for the children.  We know he’s been as he tinkles a bell as he leaves to let you know you can bring the children in from their “evening stroll” or in our case “little play in the playroom with the door closed”!  Amelia and Noah are especially lucky as they get Christkind AND Santa!  Apparently there is a bit of debate going on here at the moment as things are becoming more commercialized and Santa is making more of an appearance, about who brings the best gifts – Christkind or Santa? – and not many an Austrian is too happy about it!  Not really sure who Christkind is actually (apart from translating to Christ Child), my questions have been met with looks of confusion and shrugging of shoulders and ums and ahhs.  A star or an angel maybe?  But nevertheless I think this is where our Kris Kringle/Kriss Kindle/Kiss Kringle/Secret Santa comes from!!

Christmas morning, after a delicious omelette courtesy of the Lady of the Manor (me) we took to the beginner slopes for some sledding and mucking about with the kids, and then Maciek and Peach took off for a long awaited (11 years) snowboarding session together. 

The Grander Schupf

I need a weeee!!!..Sam

In the evening we took the advice of a friend and had dinner at a beautiful place on the mountain called the Grander Shupf, a traditional Austrian chalet style restaurant, even more magical with Christmas decorations and lights.  Situated 1km up the mountain, it made for a scary drive up especially since the snow had turned icy and the road was steep and winding.  Luckily we didn’t cross with another car coming down, as if we’d have stopped we would have been stuck, and would have had to reverse all the way back to the bottom.  Driving up a road like that is one thing, reversing down one is another!  We were shown to a quiet table tucked away opposite a lovely open fire, and being Christmas I had the duck (no turkey to be seen) with dumplings and blue cabbage.  Maciek and Gordon had it too and we couldn’t believe our eyes when our plates came out filled with what looked like a whole duck, sitting beside 3 little dumplings and a blob of cabbage!  Tasty though, got my fill of protein that’s for sure!  Another fun thing about the place was the fact that you can slide to the loo!  Yes, there’s a slide down to the loo’s, and small kids playroom!  My friend Sam was very close to laddering her stockings as she had about 5 goes (her excuse is that she had to show her daughter that it wasn’t scary!)  Then it was back to our place for desert and Bailey’s coffees, and musical statues played by the grown men with Amelia controlling the music which came from her new ballerina jewelry box that played Swan Lake when it was opened!  Very amusing.  And they weren’t even drunk!

P.S  Pics are not so great due to Maciek breaking our camera a week before Christmas (he won’t admit to it) and us having to buy a cheapy one to replace it and not having time to work it out yet!

In town

Peach, Monika & Yannik

Let it Schnee, let it Schnee, let it Schnee!!

Schneeflockes here, schneeflockes there, schneeflockes everywhere!  There’s even a guinea pig in Amelia’s classroom called Schneeflocke!   He’s white, in case you hadn’t guessed!  It started snowing 2 weeks ago and apart from a couple of days here and there it hasn’t stopped.  It first started snowing Tuesday lunch time and didn’t stop until Wednesday night (a massive dump, as Maciek says).  Needless to say, being the first major snowfall of the season I was a bit (an understatement) nervous about driving.  But I put on my brave hat and tried not to think about it, only to have my confidence shattered when I couldn’t even make it up the driveway!  Wheels were turning but we were going nowhere except sliding towards the stone wall!  So we didn’t make it to school that day.  I’ve had some practice since, so even though I’d rather not, I’ve been driving a fair bit, and confidence is slowly growing.

It’s been about 2 degrees during the day and minus in the mornings.  Wednesday was -13 on the way to school, the coldest yet!

Our house, left, top balcony

Amelia had ski school this week in the afternoons.  She’s not much of a fan, but I think it was more to do with the instructor than the skiing.  The hardest thing was keeping Noah entertained for almost 2 hours in the snow at freezing temperatures.  But it ended today with a little race (which I didn’t think she’d do, so very pleased!) and then a presentation at a café in town with medals for all the kids!  She’s very proud of herself!

Maciek started his winter job last week as a Lederhosen wearing non-German speaking waiter /bar tender in a hotel! (photos to come) He starts about 11am and finishes at 7pm so I have to collect him (more practice for my driving – at night time too on unlit streets!) as the conditions are too bad now for riding his bike, and he’ll ruin his Lederhosen.  He’s enjoying the late starts (as am I with the extra help getting the kids ready for school) as he gets to snowboard before work.  He’s enjoying it but finding it very challenging as not only is it something he’s never done before but he has to learn it in an environment where he can’t understand anything and the German and Austrian customers are a bit baffled with this man who’s wearing Lederhosen speaking with an Australian accent saying ‘Ich sprechen kein Deutsch!’  The Austrians also have a habit of keeping you in the dark and then wonder why you are standing around with a confused look on your face!  He says he gets through by laughing to himself, shaking his head, and asking the question ‘what the f am I doing?’ which keeps him going through the day!

In town

Looking forward to Christmas.  We have friends coming to stay with us which will be nice.  Not sure if the tree is going to make it though.  It’s looking a bit ‘over it’!  We’re constantly sweeping up the needles from the floor.  And we’re a bit over being laughed at too, for putting our tree up at the beginning of December.  It’s tradition here to put it up and decorate it on the 24^th.  At least that way it won’t die before Christmas day! 

It looks magical here at the moment.  Just like a postcard.  And the sun will be coming out on Christmas Day!

“Frohe Weihnachts und ein gutes neue jahr” to all!

XXXX