Now, back to Salzburg for the final final Austria post! Although I was very sad to say goodbye to everyone, I didn't have long to dwell on it as the next day I was going skiing with my host family! We were headed to Wagrain again, where we'd been skiing the weekends before, but this time as it was the Semesterferien (February half-term) we were going to be staying the whole week. As I'd already had a taste of the Austrians intense skiing schedule, I went to the shop in the day before we set off to stock up my personal snack collection, as I knew I'd need all the energy and sustenance I could get to keep up with their pace. We packed up slowly, picked up the kid's friends who were coming along as well, and drove the hour into the mountains. This time as there was another family coming later in the week I didn't have my own room and was sharing with Nani, the daughter. We went to bed early so that we could make the most of our first skiing day the next morning.
After a traditional Austrian breakfast involving lots of meats and cheeses, although I still think it's a little early in the morning to be doing with all of that, we walked to the ski lift. I had bought a pass for a 15 year old again, so half price skiing for me all week! We had a fantastic day of skiing, although the kids were constantly putting me to shame as the flew past me. We drove home and had a quick turnaround (ie. no time for a nap!), before we went to meet up with 3 other families for dinner. The mountain roads we were driving up got higher and higher, and narrower and narrower, until we could drive no more. At this point we got out of the car, and continued our journey to the restaurant by CHAIR LIFT. Yes. Never in my life have I had a to take a charlift to a restaurant before! We had individual ones and they didn't look the most sturdy, but we all made it to the top, which is all that matters. I went for a real Weiner Schnitzel, which is made of veal rather than pork, as I knew that this would be my last one in Austria. It was really yummy, but the best part of the meal was definitely the way home. Instead of taking the chair lift back down, there was a whole pile of sledges outside the restaurant. Yes, we were sledging back to the car. Jakob, the son, and his friends had come prepared with sparklers to attach to the back of their sledges, which looked pretty cool in the dark. As this was my first time sledging I, unfortunately, didn't quite get the hang of how to break or go round corners so had my fair share of crashes. Towards the end they had also mistranslated a sign for 'decline', to 'incline', so I naturally thought, "Oh, I'd better speed up here", only to turn the corner and find a huge downhill slope to the very bottom. At this point it was too late to break, so instead I had to abandon ship right at the end before my sledge crashed into the snow wall marking the end of the course at high speed. Everyone said my face was a picture, and apart from losing control at that point, it was so much fun!!
The next day, Monday, we again had a great day on the slopes, and the other family arrived in the evening. We chilled and played some games in the evening, but didn't get up to much as they were busy settling in and unpacking. Tuesday 12th February, Shrove Tuesday (pancake day), is called Faschings Dienstag in Austria, and it's got a lot more of a carnival feel to it than in England. We saw quite a few people dressed up on the slopes, including a couple in cow onesies, who looked hilarious just casually going down the slopes. In the evening we all wore Fasching Masks when eating our dinner, and although we didn't have any pancakes, I suppose we had the next best thing, tortillas, as we had fajitas for dinner.
On the Wednesday as we were skiing, an Austrian song called 'Schifoan' came on while we were on the slopes. It's a really famous song, and is about someone who basically never wants to stop skiing, and is happiest when they're on the slopes and the sun in shining. At that point I really felt like I was living the Austrian dream, skiing every day, having a house on the most beautiful lake plus a weekend house in the mountains. I mean, what could be better?! Another lush day of skiing and quick turnaround in the evening (no nap!!), before heading out to dinner with the other family that were staying. This time the restaurant we were headed to was not accessible by chairlift, and so the only option was an hour and a half hike, and quite steeply ascending at that. As if 4 days of hard skiing isn't enough for the Austrians! I completely surprised myself and ended up 3rd to the top, and before even sitting down I'd made sure I'd ordered myself a (large) beer! I ordered a Grillteller, which is basically a big plate of mixed meats, and have to say that after the hike and skiing I wolfed most of it down. After a couple of beers, the waiters brought out the Schnapps, and had even filled shot glasses with lemonade for the minors. Luckily we didn't have to walk back down though, as the family said that after seeing how much I enjoyed the sledging on the first night, they wanted to take me again before I went. We walked around the side of the restaurant, and sure enough there was a shed full of sledges. We each picked our sledges, and as this time I had experience on my side, we decided it was a race to the bottom. I had much better sledging tekkers this time, and when the host dad tried to overtake me was even able to hold him off by pushing him onto the edge for a little. As the walk was so far up, we had about a 20 minute sledge down, which was so much fun, and I really feel that in England we could do with a bit of sledging in our lives!
Thursday came far too quickly, and it was already my last day of skiing. It was also Valentine's Day, so before heading out to the slopes I got to open the lovely card that Steve had sent me from England. As it was the last day we went to the Krapfenhutte (essentially doughnut hut) and spend an hour or so there with our Krapfen (and schnapps again!!) before heading home. My last day of skiing was over, but in the evening we had planned to go to the Nachtpiste, which is where the ski slopes are open in the evenings once or twice a week. We went home for a quick snack and then out again. Although I kept up with the Austrian skiing pace for a week, I reckon I was nearing my limit and I'm really not sure how they do this for a prolonged period of time! We bought an unlimited pass so that we could ski into the night, and it was really fun to ski on a floodlight piste and a very appropriate way to spend my last evening in Austria, I thought. We came back for a very late dinner, and before the children went to bed, I gave the family my leaving gifts. I'd made them a photo collage with a collection of the memories over the last 5 months, and a big box of After Eights, as I thought something British would be a must. We swapped photos on our computers and said our farewells. I stayed up with the parents playing their favourite game of picture scrabble basically. I'd had beginners luck earlier in the week, but after a week of skiing I was too tried to think tactically As they've already planned a trip to London for next year when I'm home, and I have an open invite to return on their skiing trips, I know for sure that we'll keep in touch and see each other again.
On Friday morning I was up early to catch the train back to Salzburg, as they were dropping me off at the train station before starting their day of skiing. We said more morning goodbyes, and then the host dad drove me to the train station. All week we'd been playing Assassin which is where everyone is given someone else's name, and they have to kill this person. To kill someone, you have to give them something, and they accept it, without anyone else seeing or hearing. I'd been very wary all week to not accept rouge packages from anyone, so was still alive on Friday morning. My host dad and I were carrying my stuff into the car, when he asked me to take some papers so that he could open the car door, and I, foolishly, did. He then had a huge smile on his face and was like, "Dann bist du tot", meaning that he had killed me :( I got the train back to Salzburg and spent the afternoon finishing packing and tidying my room, before I got a taxi to the airport for my flight home. I even bought some Mozartkugel for my family as a present at the airport, how very lucky they are!
I had mixed feelings about leaving. On the one hand, I felt ready to go as I always knew my time would be limited in Austria and I was looking forward to the new adventure and challenges of Barcelona. However, on the other hand I had really made a life for myself in Salzburg, both with my host family and friends, so it would have been very easy to stay for another 5 months. In any case, I know that I'll be back and that Salzburg will always have a special place in my heart.
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| Last view of the mountains. |
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