As the last vestiges of winter were being drowned out by songbirds in Germany, Molly and I strapped on our skis / snowboard for one final winter plunge in Stubai, Austria.
Though we normally travel solo, this time we went with 20 folks from the Bavarian Ski Club and had a blast (The club handles all the booking, provides food, beer, transportation & ski lift passes for even cheaper than we could have found on our own.)
The rolling green hills and pastures near our hotel were a stark contrast to the snow that blanketed the ski area just a few thousand feet up. And though the blue runs were more friendly to us than the Swiss Alps in February, we didn’t leave without our fair share of bumps and bruises.
By comparison, the Swiss Alps knocked us out, but we scored a judges’ decision victory over their kid-sister Austrian counterparts. (Molly even conquered a red run without shedding a single tear.)
Europeans have a different approach to skiing – everything seems to move at a slower pace. Don’t get me wrong, people and even pint-sized pipsqueaks still whizz past you, spraying snow while you’re recovering from a head-first spill, but after a few runs, most relax for a beer in a lawn chair and soak up the sun.
So we sat back, sipped hot chocolate and worked on our tans at 9,000 feet. It was the perfect transition for our trip home to Honolulu. Hopefully the pre-tan (burn) we got in the Alps was enough to welcome our freckles back for the next two weeks.
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