To Austria and Back

Despite the French Unions' best efforts of striking and slowing down life in Paris, we did indeed fly out on the 20th of October to the fabulous town of Innsbruck, Austria. We made it up to CDG after two long, hot, packed train rides and even got to catch a little of the action:

There was a march of protestors along the airport road and we got to see and hear them profess their unhappiness with the French government over the proposal of the new retirement system. It was a site to be scene; especially the riot police all geared up in the Terminator outfits! I was glad to be on their side.

But moving on to bigger and better things: our vacation. We arrived in Innsbruck late that afternoon and relaxed in our apartment in Patsch, a small town to the south. We got to stay in the same place from last year. It was great to be settled in this beautiful town and listen to churchbells chime instead of police sirens of the city! It was great to be out!

Thursday we hit the mountains with Gina. Wonderful, wonderful Nana Penny babysat the kids and we got to enjoy some great snow on a beautiful sunny day. It was so fabulous and really quite amazing to be on fresh snow in late October. You gotta love Austria! I think I read somewhere that they can ski almost year round!

Friday and Saturday we enjoyed the city of Innsbruck: played at some parks, walked along the river, shopped, and ate delicious strudels!

We learned that all European cities, not just Paris, like to create parks that are death traps for children. This Innsbruck park was no exception. The kids loved it and had a great time trying to kill themselves on different wooden contraptions that were way too high off the ground but very fun to hang and jump from!

Sunday we returned to Solden for the World Cup Skiing Championship Series. Brian and I opted to snowboard again during the competition while Gina and crew watched the super fast skiers. We had another great few hours of boarding and just as we decided to head back and turn in our equipment, a huge fog came through and made visibility on the mountain nearly impossible. Brian and I thought for sure that we were going to die; you couldn't see more than an inch in front of you! I miraculously made it down the mountain by following Brian in his white jacket! (yeah, that was really helpful in a white snow fog!) and not falling on my butt during the slow ski among the 25 or so other people that we also trying to not die down the mountain! It was pretty awesome.

They eventually canceled the second round of the competition and we headed home to the ladies.

Monday we woke to this...

Patsch got nailed with a huge snowstorm on Monday and accumulated at least a foot of snow that morning! It was awesome! Elise and Owen did some nice sledding while I ran to the market for a strudel wrap to make lunch. Our plans to go into Innsbruck for a fancy lunch were shut down in favor of not dying on the road in a non-snow tire car! (Not dying seems to be the theme of this trip except if you're the ladies and Owen at the park!) So we had a relaxing morning of playing in the snow and enjoying the beauty and serenity of Patsch!