A Café with Cats! Oh, and the Prater, Albertina, and Beethoven, Too

I would say that last weekend was thoroughly successful. For starters, the Wake group was rendezvousing at the Schweizerhaus in the Prater for a final lunch on Saturday. Although I'm not happy to see them go, it was a really nice final get-together and everyone was in great spirits. Not to mention the food and beer are definitely must-trys. Their signature meal, the crispy Hintere Schweinsstelze, is essentially a giant fried pig knuckle. It looks a little something like this:

Photo curtesy of the Schweizerhaus

Weird, right? Perhaps even gross? Oh no, no no no. This thing is utterly delicious, and not to be tackled alone. That, followed by some Schweizerhaus beer chocolate, a skee-ball horse race, and bumper cars, made for a fine afternoon.

But that wasn't all. I also went to the Albertina that afternoon as it was one of the final days of an Impressionist exhibition that I wanted to see. I decided to get a yearly pass, too, which for students is only 30€ - at normally 8€ a visit for students this means I only have to go three more times and it will have paid for itself. I plan on going to the Albertina more than three times in the next year. Plus I get a discount in the gift shop, and they tend to have pretty good offerings. I may have already taken advantage of that perk as well.

But wait! There's more! After getting my dose of artistic culture, I headed for a café nearby that I had read about having just opened: Café Neko. Okay, it's been established by this point that I like Viennese cafés. However, what I don't think I've mentioned as of yet is that I also like cats. I like a lot of other things as well, however, when I found out that two of the seemingly unrelated things that I like were combined, well, how could I not check it out? Yes, this is Vienna's one and only cat café. They had to go through a lot of work to get all of the health regulations approved, as you might imagine, but apparently this is a very popular concept in Japan and Takako Ishimitsu and her husband decided to take on the project. So, if you would like a cat with your coffee, there's only one place to go and hang out with five furry new friends.

But just when my day couldn't get any better, a glance at my phone told me it was time to pick up David for dinner and a concert. He had made reservations for us at Texas Steak House near the Stadthalle. That was about as good as I expected it to be, but afterwards we went to the Konzerthaus for a performance of some Beethoven pieces by the Belcea Quartet which was formed in 1994 by students from the Royal College of Music in London. They played Beethoven's String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18 no. 5 and his String Quartet in B major, Op. 130, with the Große Fuge, Op. 133. The playing was very good, very clean, very enjoyable. I was also quite enchanted by the venue. I've been inside the Konzerthaus a number of times, but always in the Großer Saal, the great hall, until Saturday night. The Belcea Quartet was playing in the Mozart Saal, a powder blue room with stained glass behind the stage and delicate gilt scrolling around the ceiling. I think it's been below my radar in the past, but I'll have to make an effort to be aware of what's playing there in the future.

Also included in the weekend, although not on Saturday: Anna and I went to see The Sound of Music at the Volksoper on Friday night. Interestingly, it was all in German, except for perhaps five lines sung or spoken in English, and very good, but very truncated; there was practically no development between Maria and Georg. However I was pleased and a little surprised to see that there was a full audience that night, even if many of the viewers were children (and loud and distracting ones at that - something I feel the Viennese would never tolerate if it was just a handful of children, but I suppose it being a whole crowd of them they just didn't bother to quiet them). Still, it was interesting to watch. The singing festival at the end was very in-your-face Nazi, too, with a giant swastika behind the von Trapp family as they sang, soldiers at attention stationed throughout the audience with guns, and a group of Nazi officials spotlighted in one of the boxes as attendees. Very un-Austrian. It was all very entertaining to say the least.

My one other discovery of late is Mayer am Pfarrplatz, a Heuriger associated with the Sky Bar. Also a restaurant (Pfarrwirt), it's in a little nook in the 19th district (but not near Grinzing or Neustift am Walde, the two Heurigen-heavy areas of Vienna). As far as I can tell, the only difference between the two is that you're in the 'restaurant' if you sit inside and in the 'heuriger' if you sit in their garden. This is some of the best heurigen food I've eaten so far, though the prices reflect that a little. Everything I tried or noticed anyone else had ordered was rather simple fare but very well prepared to bring out the flavors. It looked like it would be hard to go wrong with just about anything you ordered there. I'll definitely have to go back, and soon I hope.

And Yesterday I was Back in Texas...

I have recently made friends with my tailor and have gone out for drinks with her and her boyfriend a few times. Her boyfriend just happens to be part of a band, Die Wilden Kaiser, and they were playing at a Dorffest, essentially a village party, on Sunday. Manuela invited me to come along so I really couldn't pass up the opportunity. We got there relatively late, around 4:00pm - the party started at 10:00 - and everywhere I looked there were brown leather pants and dresses with aprons like The Sound of Music. And beer. Lots of beer.

We made our way down the main street (uh, the only street in the village? Quite possibly.) until we caught sight of her boyfriend. They were set to go on stage in about ten minutes, so we grabbed a drink and found a table near the stage and waited. There were plenty of people milling about, but when Die Wilden Kaiser started playing I looked behind me to see that people had flocked over. Although I think I understood about 3% of the words (I have a lot of trouble understanding German music), apparently they take traditional Austrian folk music, the songs everyone grew up hearing their grandparents sing, and give it a bit of a rock twist. However, the best part was that within a song or two everyone started dancing. And, what kind of dancing? A slight variation on square dancing and two stepping! Seriously, I could have been back at a dance hall after a rodeo - guys in button-up shirts, hats that had a strong resemblance to cowboy hats except that they were a little floppy, and tight brown leather pants instead of jeans (but really, it was almost like they were just still wearing their chaps), spinning girls in country skirts and pigtail braids around to some good ol' 'country' music, or girls getting together in groups of four and doing a sort of square dance, surreptitiously looking over their shoulders to see which guys were watching. And of course everyone was drinking beer.

Even the kids were dressed up in traditional wear. There was an especially cute kid that just loved the band and kept sneaking over to watch after every time his dad pulled him away. He even had a bandana around his neck! Come on, does it get any more country?

Unfortunately I didn't get to stay long because the Wake group was putting on a "Schubertiade" that evening - essentially a final mini-concert. I got to hear a fabulous performance by Nick of Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 28, among other things. A bit of a change from the rock folk music, but it was all really entertaining and everyone did a fantastic job. I'm glad that I got to attend both events!

Whitney in Wien

Whitney was in town for a business trip last week and was able to extend her stay for a few extra days, so I got to show her and her boss around. It was great seeing Whitney because I only ever get to see her for one dinner a year. She's not exactly family, but close enough. Unfortunately for the most part I had work or class during her free time, but I did get two great half-days with her.

I had already given her advice on where to go and what to see close to the city center, so the first morning that I got with Whitney and Leslie I took them out to Schönbrunn. I figure that's definitely a must-see, and since it was a little further out it was easier to get there via car. It was a little overcast and chilly that morning, but there weren't too many tourists there. We started with the abbreviated tour through the palace, hoping that the weather would improve a little over the next hour (no cigar). However the palace was, as ever, informative and interesting to walk through, and I think that both of them really enjoyed it. As an aside: the postcards in that giftshop are some of the better ones I've seen in Vienna (we were of course ushered through there before we could exit).

We then wandered the gardens a bit, although we didn't climb all of the way up to the Gloriette. I just adore the grounds of Schönbrunn, though; it's always so pleasant walking along the tree-lined paths and letting the dappled sun splash across your face and shoulders... Not that there was any sunlight streaming through the trees this time, but that's still something I enjoy. A lot was just blooming, too, which made the walk especially nice. I was also impressed at how much Leslie knew about the various types of trees we came across.

After strolling for about half an hour I took them to Schönbrunner Stöckl, the Czech restaurant that David had taken Anna and me to which is right at the corner of the Schönbrunn grounds. We had a great lunch and I introduced them to Radlers, a beer-lemonade drink which is especially popular in the Bavaria region during summers. Unfortunately after that I had to get back to work, but we figured out a good itinerary for the rest of their day before I left.

Saturday I was also able to spend some time with them, so after work in the morning I headed over to their hotel. We had discussed going out to the Zentral Friedhof, the Central Cemetery, if the weather was nice, which it was, so we decided to start out there and work our way back towards the center of Vienna. I had gone out the previous fall with my Dad, but we never did find the graves of the musical masters, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. However this time around I bought a map, a great 20¢ investment, and we wandered down the surprisingly scenic lanes until we found them.

Conveniently most of the great composer's graves were all situated in one plot, so we saw Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Gluck, all of the Strauss brothers plus Strauss Senior, and a cenotaph for Mozart even though he's actually in a mass grave somewhere in the nearby St. Marx Cemetery.

Mozart and Beethoven, respectively

Although the cemetery only opened in 1875, there are some beautiful gravestones and it still has a very old feel to it despite how well kept-up it is. We didn't even begin to see all of it even though we spent well over an hour there because it's one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Morbid as it may sound, I would love to get back out there and just wander aimlessly down the shady curving paths. I'll just have to make sure not to get lost and end up there permanently.

I took them back to the Naschmarkt after that, figuring they could pick up a Viennese delicacy or two and just enjoy the experience of wandering through the stalls and getting some free handouts. We stopped for a quick snack at the Zotter chocolate shop and I helped them choose a few things from the various stalls to try and to take home. I had to get back to work after that, but gave them a few more recommendations for their last evening there and said my goodbyes to Whitney until I see her again over Christmas. I think they had a really good trip, tough; I definitely had a blast showing them around!

To Tide You Over...

Cafés. I know, been there, discussed them. But there are just so many in Vienna, all with very distinct personalities, that I really would like to pay tribute to as many as I can. Besides that, I have also found the best gelato in Vienna. Actually and factually the best.

Café Diglas

There are actually two Café Diglas's but according to Günter the one on Fleischmarkt in the first district is far superior to the other. Once you go past the display counter through the entryway back through a narrow room with tables along one side and into the back area, it's actually a charming little place with lots of nooks, though very little natural light. However the tortes more than make up for it.

Café Korb

Near Stephansplatz, this is definitely a non-tourist joint straight out of the 60s. The waiters still wear tuxes and give table preference to the regulars while turning away the obvious tourists. Oh, there's also the gentleman's bowling ally in the basement (though when you can actually bowl I'm not certain), coupled with the very modern-styled restroom. Their desserts are really good as well, particularly the apple strudel. Or for a light after lunch bite, try their seasonal asparagus soup.

And while we're in this part of town...

Eissalon Tuchlauben

Yes, just catty-corner to Café Korb is Vienna's very best gelato shop. Not only is this perfect summer day treat more creamy here than at any other gelato in the city, it's also the only one (that I've found) which mixes things in with the gelato Cold Stone-style. Well, at least they do with the cookies and the fruit flavors. Just go here, you won't be let down.

The Landtmann Chain

Cafés Mozart, Museum, Landtmann, and... the others associated with the Landtmann chain are doing what I imagine is a spring special at the moment with a whole selection of strawberry desserts. I've tried this one, a chocolate strawberry torte, and the strawberry pistachio slice, both of which are amazing.

Go, my friends. Get out and experience these delights!

Anna Karenina Take II

I went back to the last performance that the Staatsoper was putting on of Anna Karenina this season and thought it was even better this time around. The soloists were Dagmar Kronberger (Anna), Eno Peci (Karenin), and Shane Wuerthner (Wronski), the same that were supposed to dance the premier except for Eno Peci's sudden illness.

Probably no small part in the increased appeal came from my improved seating. I was at orchestra level this time around rather than in the balcony like last time. Being eye-level with the dancers, I could really appreciate their synchronization and movement. I also found the final scene before Anna commits suicide much more powerful and really liked the blinding light as she jumps in front of the train; it wasn't the same seeing it all from above and I thought it was much more dramatic and eerie to have her disappear into the light rather than watching her fall through it. I still can't help but wonder, though: what do the conductor and orchestra think about the few parts where there is a soundtrack playing rather than the musicians? I imagine I would be slightly irked if I were them, but not being a musician I know I actually have nothing to support this opinion. The dancers as well, what do they think? This choreography is certainly more aggressive and physical than any of the classics; is dancing to a soundtrack more challenging, or is dancing just dancing, no matter the 'music'?

All in all it was a great night. Still, if the man in the third level, right, second box from the end never ever comes back to take seven pictures with his flash on during a performance again, I won't be upset.

Curtain Call: Wuerthner, Kronberger, and Peci

Frohe Ostern!

Happy Easter everybody! I wish I could say that I was writing to you from somewhere wildly exciting, and I would be, except that just about the entire continent of Europe is overcast this weekend with a good chance of rain. I wanted to go here:

but Logarska Dolina, Slovenia will have to wait for better weather. I opted to stay in Vienna. Not that Vienna isn't wildly exciting, of course. Where else would I get to wander through Easter markets? Since I never did make it out to the Christmas Market at Schönbrunn Palace, I decided I definitely shouldn't miss the Easter market that runs daily from the 24th of March (at least this year) through Easter Monday, 10:00 - 19:00.

There was almost a hint of sun trying to break through the clouds this morning, so to take advantage of a guaranteed window of dry I headed out to Schönbrunn. The market really only covered about a quarter of the main courtyard, following the line of the eastern wall, which surprised me a little, but what it lacked in size it made up for in interest and folksy charm.

The first thing that struck me was the amazing smell which pervaded even with the scent of rain lightly on the air. I could tell immediately that there were lots of baked goods, as well as other things that seemed distinctly Easter-y, like honey and lavender. I also noticed how much entertainment there was for the kids (note the far left of the above photo - two boards that you slid your feet into where everyone had to coordinate to walk). You could also give stilt walking a try, or if you weren't feeling up to that you could just follow this chicken around (the picture doesn't really show it but there's a trail of kiddos).

The stands themselves were as diverse as those at the Christmas markets, and most of them were themed, as you would expect.

There were plenty of non-themed stands as well (note the critters), including some gorgeous Polish ceramic dish ware (I didn't know Poland was known for its ceramics, but the woman was very proud of importing it from there) and some letter writing and desk supplies made in Budapest. I might have indulged the wannabe old-fashioned writer in me.

I can hardly go to Schönbrunn without at least taking a quick peek at the Gloriette, so I detoured around to the back of the palace as well.

Even without everything in full bloom yet, there's something about this view that always puts me in a better mood, even if I'm already in a good mood. I took the opportunity to test my new camera with panorama capabilities as well.

I think I still need to tinker with it a bit, but it has a lot of potential. I also noticed something I hadn't ever picked up on while galavanting around the palace gardens before: some of the trees that line the walkway actually grow sideways.

Maybe that's not quite accurate, perhaps they're only trimmed, but I suspect that they've been trimmed thus for so many years that they've been trained to just start growing that direction. I like to think that I hadn't noticed that before only because every other time I've seen it has been in summer or fall when all of the branches are sporting a full array of leaves. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Although spring is well on its way in Vienna, the greenery and blooms are only just coming out at the palace, perhaps since they do so much landscaping there. I'm glad that it's not all in full bloom yet, though, because I would hate to have missed that and now I'll have an opportunity to catch it. Fingers crossed I'll get to see everything on a warm sunny day!

Still, it's hard to complain with what's out there right now...

Eine Melange, Bitte

It probably comes as no surprise that I have remained adamant in my kaffeehaus hunt. Although I am beginning to settle, I've made a few more discoveries since January.

Café Bräunerhof

Large, tasty portion of eggs, good atmosphere, central location, and friendly waitstaff. No internet.

Café Tirolerhof

Also conveniently located - behind the Staatsoper, comfortable seating, nice service. Again no internet. In my defense, I went to both of the above on recommendations from people who said they had had internet access there.

Prince Coffee Club

Photos curtesy of Stadtbekannt and PCC, respectively

I rather liked this place. Giant and chocolaty mugs of hot chocolate, good munchies, at the Hoher Markt, a little on the hipster side, but I found myself able to be quite productive there. Too bad they closed last month.

Café Sperl

Yes, I know I've mentioned Hitler's Haunt before, (and one of the film locations for A Dangerous Method and Before Sunrise), but I have since discovered their Sprelschnitte. This is a new favorite treat. Maybe if I make friends with the waitresses they'll give me the recipe when I go home. Hey, a girl can dream!

As You Might Imagine

Spring has arrived in Vienna. The weather here has been gorgeous. It's been incredibly pleasant to be outside with all of the flower beds around the city having been replanted, the greenery actually becoming green again, forsythia blooming. I like spring anywhere and Vienna is certainly no exception. I even have a new favorite gelato shop, Eissalon Tuchlauben at Tuchlauben 15, caticorner to Café Korb.

Happy April everyone!

Not the best quality, but taken with my phone on Heldenplatz last night.

Anna Karenina

Saturday I went to the Staatsoper's premiere/revival of Anna Karenina. Boris Eifman choreographed Leo Tolstoy's classic and set it to excerpts from Tchaikovsky's music. The Volksoper (with dancers from the Staatsoper) had put this production on before, the year after its world premiere in St. Petersburg in 2005, and this was its first return to Vienna. Unfortunately Eno Peci had a sudden illness so they had to replace the three leads with Ketevan Papava (Anna), Kirill Koulaev (Karenin), and Alexis Forabosco (Wronski).

I found a very good article, complete with pictures, from the last time Anna Karenina was in Vienna, and although the dancers were of course different, I thought this was a wonderful description of the ballet. So, if you're interested in such things, enjoy:
Volksoper: Boris Eifman's Anna Karenina

A Day of Skiing in Semmering

Semmering. It's where all of the Viennese go if they want a skiing day trip. It's about an hour's drive from Vienna, likewise by train. I've been itching to ski again since our trip to Salzburg, so I rounded up Will and Mel, the couple that invited me to their Thanksgiving dinner, for a Sunday of skiing.

Now, there's not much to the town of Semmering, so before I even realized we were really in the town I saw the ski slope. We drove right up to the base and found a great parking spot. Skis rented. Lift passes purchased. Check and check. We were ready to hit the slopes.

Well, sort of. It must have been mentioned in passing before, but I didn't really realize that Mel wasn't much of a skier. In fact, she wasn't a skier at all. She had never tried it before. Will's a snowboarder, so he wasn't exactly helpful on that front, either. But, hey, it's not like I was missing out on any fantastically thrilling runs by sticking on the beginner slopes, so I spent the morning teaching her how to ski. I've sort of helped out with giving pointers and whatnot, but I've never actively taught someone to ski before, so that was new and kind of exciting. I took her poles and perfected my backwards skiing technique, trying to get her to imitate the angles I was making with my skis (aka "pizza" and "french fries") and following my path when I turned. I was actually amazed at how quickly she picked it up! Not that I have much of a basis for comparison, but I thought she did really well.

There was one main lift to the peak from the base with beginner runs branching off one way and the intermediate runs (and one advanced, which was closed because most of the snow was melted), going down the other 2/3 of the mountain. We made quite a few laps of that before stopping for lunch at a warming house at the top of the lift.

You can't see them in the above picture, but to the right of this warming house there were a lot of sun bathers...

We had a really good, filling meal with a great view of the valley and distant peaks. Mel also tried a specialty her students had told her about: a giant dough ball filled with apricot marmalade (have I mentioned how much Austrians love their apricot?), soaking in a kiddie pool of butter, and dumped on with about two inches of poppyseed powder. For as odd of a combination as that sounds, it wasn't too bad. Not exactly something I would find satisfying, but I was happy to try a bite of it since she got one.

After lunch we made another run down, then asked about the sled (or 'sledge', as the British apparently say which the Austrians have adopted) option we had read about. We had noticed a lot of people going up the lift with sleds and saw the track curved around from the top to the bottom. Apparently it was also lit up at night. We paid 6€ to rent a sled, Mel and I dropped our skis while Will made another run, and we were off.

Now, I full admit that I am not much of a sledder, so I decided to let Mel take the, uh, reins on this one. These things really should come with instruction manuals. Perhaps because we were still in our ski boots, Mel was reluctant to use them as our brakes and I wasn't any more knowledgable about the best way to steer, so we ended up creating a sort of leaning method which would start to make us move one way or another on the track until we came upon hairpin turns and would go careening into the snow drifts on the sides and topple off. Well, we can't say we didn't try, and the themes along the way were interesting (and I imagine had the potential to be quite psychedelic, perhaps even horrifying, at night if you had had a few drinks). We were slightly more successful when we switched drivers halfway down and I attempted using my feet to steer, but we were still a little battered and pretty exhausted by the time we got down.

Will and Mel then made a run (apparently much more successfully, which Will thinks may have been influenced by a more significant weight difference between them, too) while I spent the final hour or so skiing the intermediate slopes. Nothing to write home about, but they were almost completely empty so I could really cruise.

Afterwards we weren't really hungry and the après ski scene wasn't really happening, so we decided to try and find a café in Semmering. We'd heard it's supposedly a really scenic little town with a lot of history, and we had seen a glimpse of at least one interesting thing from the slopes - a neat house on the side of a mountain.

We weren't successful in the slightest in finding a café, but there were definitely some other interesting finds, such as the old Südbahn Hotel. Mel was explaining how, much like the Vanderbilts in the US, there was a man who really fathered the rail system through Austria, but eventually it was taken over by the government. I read up on this more when I got back. Apparently Johann of Austria (1782 - 1859), member of the House of Habsburgs, was impressed by the steam engines he saw in his 1815 travel through England and made a huge push for the expansion of the rail lines throughout the Habsburg's empire. Of course, when they fell, the government took over and this Southern Railway is now operated by the ÖBB, Austria's Federal railway operator. Anyway, Johann of Austria built this hotel along the Southern Railway; I bet it would have been quite something to stay there!

There were also charming wooden houses with lots of detailed painting.

However, since we never really did find a café, we hit the road back to Vienna, stopping off at a gas station with a Landzeit 'Autobahn Restaurant'. Will informed us that these are essentially the Cracker Barrels of Austria (complete with gift stores). We ate some quick waffles with chocolate sauce, then continued on our way, making it back to Vienna by about 6:30. Not a bad day at all, if I do say.

I think I'd really like to go back out to Semmering in the spring sometime and wander around the town and see if I can discover some more of the Südbahn Hotel's history. Steffi, my cellist friend, played a concert out there last summer and had highly recommended it, and if I recall correctly even said that you could still go in the hotel. I'll need to look into this for sure.

Bis bald!

Driving Smart

The car that I normally drive was in the shop for a few days. In its place I was given a Smart car. I could park anywhere with it. The mpg (kilometerage?) was fantastic. I still sat surprisingly high off the road. I hated it. The car was wholly minimalistic. It didn't even show you how many kilometers you had travelled unless the car was off. The car didn't start if it was locked. You couldn't unlock the car from the inside - you had to actually open the door. You couldn't see exactly how much gas you had because there were five little bubbles indicating gas level that were either black (full) or clear (empty), so there was no hand indicating exactly how empty you were. The car was neither automatic nor manual, but a strange mix. You could switch into 'manual' if you wanted, but there was no clutch. However, if you drove in automatic then every time you accelerated enough for the engine to need to move into the next gear, it did so with a hideous lurch that felt as though you were driving manual and it was your second day learning how to change gears. It was susceptible to the slightest breeze on the highway. You had to rotate the volume dial nearly half way around to hear a perceptible difference in the radio, but if the news came on then the radio automatically increased threefold in volume. There was no window defroster. The windshield wipers only had one speed.

I think it's safe to say that I will never own a Smart.

Skiing Großarl

(This is Day III of our weekend ski adventure. Go to my German page to read about Day II skiing in Jenner-Königssee.)

Sunday, 26th February, 2012 - We had packed the night before, so we woke up at 7:00 to make the most of the day. We had talked a lot about it the night before, and as much as we had enjoyed skiing Jenner-Königssee, we decided it would be worth it to drive to one of the other mountains nearby that didn't have free rooms. After all, we had a car, so there was no real reason not to go. After fairly extensive research, we had settled on Großarl, Austria. Added bonus that they were expecting 7cm of snow overnight. We trooped down to an even better breakfast than the Saturday's because we were each given a piece of cake along with the usual spread "because it was Sunday" (likely because it was a Lent Sunday). We then loaded up and headed out for the hour long drive to Großarl, which included a mountain pass that was more than a little questionable. But we made it, no problem, and were soon being directed into a parking spot by a little old man with a fluffy snow cap. Not only was the parking conveniently at the base of everything, it was also conveniently free. We wandered mildly aimlessly until we saw a potential rental store and got geared up for the day. Both days rentals were 26€, though the lift pass here was 40€ compared to the 20€ at Jenner (though with the extra bit off). Still, not nearly as expensive as I had expected. We dropped our superfluous stuff back in the car and in no time at all were in another pod up the mountain - this time a six man outfit.

Again, pretty dang good view. They had an interesting sort of midway station where you could get off if you wanted, though the pods continued to move, although more slowly. I suppose similar to any other lift with a mid-station to get off at if you want, but since I've never been in pods before, I found it interesting.

For the most part, I liked the pods - they protected you from the elements, they were warmer, it was easier to talk, and for those that don't feel secure on ski lifts, these ought to make you feel a little safer. However, the big (and rather irksome in my humble opinion) drawback was that you had to take your skis off every time.

Unfortunately when we hit the top, (well, the 3/4 mark, but the top of this particular lift), Erica realized that her boots were too big, so she had to take the lift back down to the bottom to get another pair. Abby and I took the opportunity to find the one advanced run this side of the mountain and just did that over and over. The snow on that run was better, though we went off to the side of the run and skied through the powder the whole time, so that was pretty perfect. Oh, and as predicted, Großarl did get their 7cm of snow the night before. There was even still a little bit of snow drifting down.

A quick note on skiing difficulty in Europe: Unlike the four grade system we have in the US of green = easy, blue = medium, black diamonds = advanced, and double black = expert, European slopes use three grades to distinguish difficulty. Unless you're in France, where of course they would do things differently (a mix between the US and European systems). So, you have blue for beginners, red for intermediate, and black for advanced. That's it. And, contrary to popular belief that I've heard quite a few people say, I would argue that European "advanced" is NOT more difficult than our blacks and double blacks in the US. I would assert that European reds and blacks both fall into the US black diamond category, but that double blacks can be way more challenging than European blacks. Maybe not everywhere, I don't know, but in no way did I find the black "challenging", and from the reading I've done it seems that double blacks in the US include runs that would be way steeper than a lot of the runs you'll find in Europe. Looks like I'll have to do some more skiing to find out!

So after skiing over our powder find enough times to make it look like a groomed part of the slope, we went back to one of the restaurants at the top of the main lift we came up. We found a table and met up with Erica, who had managed to get another pair of boots and make one run in the mean time.

The restaurant was a classic! There were pictures and paintings of cows on the walls, the light fixtures were all the giant cow bells used in the German/Austrian festivals where they bring the cows down from the mountains for the winter, and everyone was having a good ol' time. One thing I noticed, since a lot of people walking around had their jackets off, was how many people were wearing back braces. Not only elderly people, either. Some were kids, most were in their middle ages, and a few were old, but I'd guess that 5 - 10% of people had on a back brace, like the kind you see motocross riders wearing. Maybe that's a growing trend in the US, too, I wouldn't know, but it was something I had never seen before.

After lunch we decided to give the other side of the mountain a go, so we skied down to a lift that would take us to the very top. It was snowing a bit heavier by then, and as we got nearer the top (we thought), it actually turned into a complete whiteout.

We got off at the top completely unable to see anything in any direction that we looked, so I did the best I could to navigate us in the direction that I thought the other few black runs were. I literally couldn't see a thing, which was a really odd experience and made me realize how much I rely on my vision when I ski. This was good training in being totally relaxed and letting my legs respond to the slope, I suppose. I stopped every now and then to check that there were two non-white blobs following me, and eventually we got low enough that there was some visibility again. I think the the wind and no tree protection at the top there was just nothing to provide any relief from the onslaught of snow.

We somehow missed the black run we were looking for, so we took another lift back up to try again. We missed it again and this time ended up somewhere else completely, but we figured we needed to get back up to the top of the mountain somehow so we could get back down the side we had come up. Oddly enough, once you hit the top, if you went down one way you were on the Großarl side, but if you went down the other side of the slope you ended up in a completely different resort, Dorfgastein. We realized that the last lift up would be closing soon, so we figured out where we were on a map, figured the best place to get to where we needed to be, and headed out. Unfortunately when we found the lift we needed and got to the top, we didn't see any signs for the run we wanted. To complicate matters we were again on a part of the mountain which was more whiteout than not, but we got directions from some passing skiers and went on our way. Abby and Erica were a little less than thrilled at this point. They were worried we'd be up on the mountain after it got dark and poor Abby was freezing since she was using make shift ski clothing, but I knew where we needed to get to and had a very good idea of how to get there, so I was able to keep us going. Lo and behold, ten minutes later I had us back on one of the runs that would take us to the bottom of Großarl. About fifteen minutes later I had us practically skiing up to the door of our ski rental shop. And they were worried we were going to be stuck on the mountain!

We tried to join the Après Ski scene that was going on in a circular tent with a circular bar in the middle, but we literally could not move, so Abby and Erica took their beers into the hotel restaurant next door and we all ordered a light dinner (and hot chocolate for me, our ever responsible DD) to kill some time. Abby's train didn't leave Salzburg until 9:00 and we didn't want to make her wait there for hours. On the other hand, it was an hour's drive back to Salzburg and then Erica and I had three hours back to Vienna after that. We ended up leaving Großarl around 7:00, and after a quick goodbye at the train station, parted ways.  Luckily we now know that we're both in Europe, and relatively nearby, and will both be here for a while, so we're planning a few excursions this summer.

The drive back to Vienna was relatively uneventful, other than hitting a ten minute patch of pretty heavy snow, but we got back in one piece, I dropped off Erica, drove back to Bisamberg, unpacked a bit, then passed out around 1:00. Long weekend, but so worth it! I can't wait to hit the slopes again and I really really hope to get out at least once more this season.