Friday, February 29, 2008

Happy February 29th!

Although I've only been in Vienna for half of a month, it feels like so much longer. It's strange how quickly one can become familiar with a huge, complicated city, and how easy it is to feel that the days of unfamiliarity and confusion were eons ago. So yes, you'll all be happy to hear that I'm adjusting and fitting into the city well and am starting to think of my little fifth floor apartment as home. It's so nice to know that I've got a home base to come to every night. I'm not sure how people who backpack through Europe do it -- I'd get so sick and tired of never knowing where I would be spending my next night!

As for our adventures of late...

Last weekend John, Jillian and myself decided that we'd like to hit the slopes before skiing season died away, so made last minute reservations at a Pension in Innsbruck, and left on Friday for the city nestled in the Alps! We took a train, which was about a 5 hour ride. Beautiful, though -- there's no better way to see the country you're living in than by traveling through it by train! We arrived on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend exploring and enjoying the amazing city that Innsbruck is.

On Saturday we left for a little hike through the foothills of the Alps, but somehow became more adventurous and decided to keep going until the point that it would be faster to get to the top of the mountain and take the cable car down than to hike all the way back down. It was a long trek, but six hours later we reached the top -- special thanks to Monika, a wonderful lady who showed us the easiest way to climb up the ski hill! Never will I ever climb up a ski hill in the Alps again... that was a one time deal!

On Sunday we took a bus to Stubaier Glacier, about 45 minutes from Innsbruck, and spent the afternoon skiing! It was worth going just for the views -- behind every hill and corner was a new vista! Needless to say, excessive amounts of pictures were taken. The skiing was fun as well, but I won't pretend that I took it all in stride -- forcing yourself to ski down a mountain after being off skis for six years is no easy feat. But I managed, and don't worry mom -- I didn't break anything!

Also -- Italian food here is super cheap.

Here's links for pictures!
http://uoguelph.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2193161&l=9dfff&id=120807213
and
http://uoguelph.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2193185&l=03ccf&id=120807213

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Wow Suz, sounds like you're having a blast - and I love your writing! It was nice to talk to you for a bit over Skype over the weekend even though it was a rather bumpy ride!
Love, Marce