Austrian Alps

Happy New Year friends and family!

After a busy Christmas period filled with Maas family get-togethers, including tons of new food and tractor-pulled sled-rides, Georg and I have escaped to the Austrian Alps with his siblings and friends. The 8 of us have been hitting the pisten every day. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous with lots of sunshine (Germany has been under clouds for the last month at least and I am loving (!!!) the days of sunshine here) and slightly below freezing temps.

This is my first "real" time down-hill skiing and I will honestly say that it is absolutely terrifying. I have wonderful teachers (Georg and Christoph-the boyfriend of his oldest sister) who have many years experience on the slopes and they are being great with my fearfulness of the slopes. I am absurdly scared of flying down the hill without control of my skis...something that has a small chance of happening, but none-the-less... We have been practicing on the blue (easiest) slopes and I am definitely getting better, but skiing is still extremely stressful for me and not much fun at this point.

Therefore, today I have taken a break from the snow and explored the local village. I found some cute clothing shops, a beautiful church and the local cheese factory!! Mmm...cheese-tasting! I also went on a self-guided tour through the factory...it is pretty interesting, but would have been better if all the machines and techniques could have been explained. I had a wonderful nap and have been reading my fantasy novel and drinking tea this afternoon. Ahhh....now this is completely relaxing!

We have been staying in a cute Austrian-Alp-style apartment-house. We are on the 2nd floor with a huge 3-side wrap-around balcony over-looking the other side of the valley, perfect for the amazing fireworks we saw on New Years Eve. As in Germany, the Austrians all privately buy fireworks and set them off from balconies, streets, yards, etc. and so fireworks could be seen throughout the valley...it was absolutely amazing! There are 3 bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, so no bathroom lines in the morning!! The sexes have been taking turns cooking a warm meal in the evening. We bring sandwiches up to the slopes for lunch.

I will have to make sure I post about the amazing Austrian dishes I have been trying...they are delicious. :)