Austria

Gina, me, and Brian in Solden!

Ski World Cup in Solden, Austria!

Our fabulous apartment building in Patsch, Austria!

Alpine Zoo View. The animals were lame, but check out this view!!!

View from our apartment...Bode Miller saw the same view from his apartment right below us!

Here's a not so quick breakdown of our first European Adventure! Austria!!!

Friday! Beautiful day in Patsch. After a long night of travel, I did a little shopping with Gina and Scott before Brian headed out for a snowboarding adventure. But it's not fair to say we did a little shopping: Gina shops every day for lunch and dinner for 20 people! We filled up two carts of food and got a lot of strange looks from the locals. (no one does that much shopping in any country of Europe!) Gina is quite the trooper for having to do all that shopping on a daily basis! Not a whole lot of storage space and small kitchens makes dinner planning for 20 quite challenging. But I'm quite impressed with how well Gina adjusted over the month and she did a great job for those kids. During our stay we got to enjoy two delicious meals with the team and coaches! The rest of the morning was very relaxed: Brian rocked the Austrian Alps, we played in the sandbox and in the yard, had a picnic, and took great naps! When Brian got home we headed into Innsbruck, on the bus, (it's great to try the buses in all the countries we visit) and had a delicious pizza dinner, with suckers!!!

Saturday: Gina and Scott had to head into Munich to take a student to the ACT Testing Center there so Brian, Penny, the kids, and I decided to adventure to the Alpine Zoo! "We can take the bus into town and walk to the zoo...it's not much further than the restaurant we ate at last night. But let's take the extra stroller for Elise, it wouldn't be fair for her to walk to the zoo, around the zoo, and home. Too much!" Too much indeed! What the map of Innsbruck failed to indicate on that short distance past the restaurant to the zoo, (from the bus station) is that the short distance is STRAIGHT UP! Did I mention that the zoo in Innsbruck is named Alpine Zoo? It's the highest zoo in the world!

Unfortunately, the distance above sea level is the only thing that zoo had going for itself. It had a big, tired, sleeping bear, a lot of small cats, and a crow! Yes, they caged a crow for you to see at the zoo. We did get to see some good cows, pigs, and goats at the petting zoo part and looked at some nice moose, but overall it was not a very thrilling zoo experience. The view was incredible though and worth the marathon up-hill walk. Innsbruck is surrounded by beautiful mountains and it was an incredible, clear, crisp autumn day and we really enjoyed the views and the weather. Plus, the kids got to play on the death-trap, I mean playground while we finished lunch.

Off to home and bed and relaxing evening at the apartment building!

Sunday: After learning that we woke an hour early because of Day Light Savings Time, we delayed our departure to 7:00 AM, which was actually earlier than planned but nevertheless a good time to leave after waking at 6:30 when we thought it was 7:30, for the Solden, Austria! Brian and I snowboarded the Alps there while the Ski World Cup Opening took place. US Skier Ten Ligety came in second and that was pretty awesome to see and hear live! Everyone was going nuts and it was a very cool environment to be a part of when people are cheering for their country! It was wild and we had a great time boarding on the Alps while the whole thing was going on. I kept pretending that all the cheering from the crowds was for me and not the world class skiers that were also going down the mountain! :)

Monday: Gina and I snuck away to the mountains and did some great boarding and skiing. We had a beautiful day that was cut short for our flights. But I loved getting out with Gina on the hill, snowboarding one more time in the beautiful Austrian Alps, and just being there! It was an incredible day. It is such a beautiful amazing country!

As we dangerously rode to the airport in a cargo van with all 5 of us in the front seat: Gina driving, me in the middle holding Celia, and Brian next to me holding Elise, we struggled to get into the airport because of the festivities being held there to celebrate Austria's National Day, Declaration of Neurtraily. We were stopped by the police directing traffic because Gina wanted to drop us off and be on her way...(and not have to navigate the streets of Innsbruck in this big-ass van with no windows and limited visibility)...the cop understood what we were trying to do and let us through, totally unfazed by the method of travel with our two small children! The irony comes into play when my screaming 18 month old is told that she can't just sit on my lap on the airplane but MUST be strapped in with a seatbelt extension. She was very unhappy. We made it so far that day with horrible, illegal, unsafe travels. Why did all the rules have to start post-bedtime with a tired, tired lady? :)

But overall, what a great trip! The ladies had a fabulous time with "that boy", Owen and "his grandma" Nanna. Patsch is a beautiful, quiet Austrian village just outside of Innsbruck. There was a gorgeous steeple church right down the street from our apartment and the view of it at night was fabulous. They had spotlights on it and with the mountainous background, it was so picturesque and peaceful. The weekend as a whole was so relaxing and rejuvenating. I loved spending time with Gina and her family. There is nothing like being with old friends and we spent a good amount of time sharing the challenges of motherhood, marriage, and just life in general. I feel like a whole new person plus snowboarding super star! Two great days on the mountains will do anybody good. Except for all the times that I bailed! Note: the T-Bar is not really made for snowboarders!

Hope everyone is well!