Skiing the Alps ~ Finally did it!! (check!)

One thing I have dreamed of since I learned to ski at the age of 5 . . never thought possible . . . kept trying to get my family on board with the idea . . . will forever cherish the memory . . . SKIING THE ALPS IN EUROPE!!

I had to move thousands of miles away and to a different continent but I finally did it . . . got my dad to come visit me and ski the Alps for Christmas!  Oh what fun we had! Oh the beauty! The Splendor! The vastness!  I probably will never be able to paint a picture pretty enough to describe it in words . . . kinda like when you take a picture of a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  A picture just doesn't capture what you are seeing through the naked eye.

On December 17, 2013 I was able to finally check a pretty high item off the ol' "bucket" list.  Dad and I headed up to ski the Jungfrau region of Switzerland.  Although not even half of the lifts were open yet the three combined ski resorts offered almost too many lifts to take for one day!  I think we did it though . . I think we hit every single one that was open.  This was only possible by the fact that we didn't want to stop for any reason other than attempting to capture the beauty on a photograph and therefore only stopped to share a bottle of water and eat a nutrigrain bar apiece for lunch. Dad kept making statements such as "This is AMAZING", "This is UNBELIVEABLE!", "I can't believe I am skiing at the base of the Eiger!", "Look!  It's the Eiger!" etc. etc. I have to say, I have never skied at the base of glaciers before and it was pretty stinking awesome!!

The EIGER!!

The Jungfrau ski region contained 214 kilometers of slopes against the backdrop of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. It is a combination of three ski resorts all connected allowing us to ski from one to the other . . and back again. The three resorts are Kleine Scheidegg-Männlichen, Grindelwald-First and Mürren-Schilthorn.  The Jungfrau is the highest summit at 13,642 feet and is know as "The top of Europe." According to Wikipedia, "Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and is considered one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps."  Yup . . that is where we skied! :-)




Not more than a few weeks later I was able to ski the Alps once more . . . this time in Austria AND Switzerland with my buddy Sammy!  We were able to take a bus from one of the Army bases nearby . . . boy was that an experience!  We arrived at the bus stop at 12:30 AM only to freeze our deriers off until the bus showed up around 1:00 AM.  There were only four females on the trip (including us) and the chivalrous military gentlemen allowed us the get on the bus LAST!!!  What in the world?!??  They all rushed to the bus pushing and shoving . . like a bunch of 7 year old children!  When we were finally able to board the bus we were met with the smell of alcohol (although strictly forbidden) and a rowdy bunch of males.  Sigh . . . we made it through the 7 hour bus drive and arrived at Ischgl, Austria.

Ischgl is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol and its ski resort is connected with the ski resort of Samnaun, located across the border in Switzerland. We were literally able to ski back and forth in between the Austrian and Swiss Alps . . how cool is that?!? With both of these resorts combined, it is the largest skiing resort in the Alps. Its 238 km of groomed runs are accessed by over 40 mechanical lifts including cable cars, gondolas, detachable chair lifts and some T-bars. (The T-bar was one lift we were not planning on taking . . we were forced!  Ohh boy . . I am not good at T-bars)  Again, the beauty was amazing!  At one point me and Sam popped off our skis/board and sat down on the tip of a snowy cliff to enjoy the sights along with some well deserved snacks.  We ended up taking a lunch break this day (as the runs were so long and wonderful that we were plum worn out and needed to rest the poor knees) and the lunch was fantastic! We shared a plate of some sort of pancake casserole served with apple sauce and a plate of noodles that reminded us of really, really good mac'n cheese.

 

 

If I had to compare the two resorts I would have to say that Ischgl/Samnaun was definitely larger than Jungfrau but the views were not as majestic.  Don't get me wrong, they were still amazing and beat any views from Tahoe . . . but there is just something about skiing with glaciers to your back.  Both resorts had pro's that the other did not have . . .they were both wonderful!  Since this is my last winter here in Europe I am attempting to hit the slopes a few more times.  YOLO, right Sam??

European Christmas Markets, how I will miss you!

One of my absolute favorite things about living in Germany is the Christmas season . . . boy do they know how to celebrate properly!  The fall season may be skipped completely (no thanksgiving, no apple cider stands, no decorations) and other well know US holidays may be M.I.A . . but not Christmas!!  It is definitely a wonderful time of the year here in Europe!

Almost every "large" village hosts a Christmas Market every year.  Some of them are certain weekends only, some start at the end of November and continue through January, and others are only for two or three weeks before Christmas . . . but they are lovely indeed!

We have been to multiple markets in the last two Christmas' here spanning Germany, France, Czech Republic and Austria.  Most of them are comprised of multiple "booths" set up displaying everything from handmade scarves and mittens to Christmas ornaments and art pieces.  They also have some of the best, if not very healthy, food items around.  Both years we have traveled down to Rothenburg O.d.T. to enjoy the "half-meter" hot dogs.  There is also Gluhwein a'plenty (a hot mulled wine drink) and an alcohol-free cider for kids (as well as those that do not drink alcohol . . ahem).  Clayton enjoyed the Nutella crepes a little too much (at least one or two a market).  There were pretzels, cookies and candies galore! Potato spirals and a cinnamon/sugar bread roasted over a fire that was almost to die for! Needless to say, we did not go hungry.

 

 

The "all too famous" Nutella crepe

 

 

 

 

 

Kinder-Punsch (our substitute for Gluhwein)

 

 

Candies!! 

 

 

 

 

Delicious "half-meter" hot dogs

 

 

The atmosphere of the Christmas Markets is one of holiday cheer and warmth.  Many have Christmas music playing softly or the occasional live musician playing a universally recognized Christmas song.  Some have outdoor ice skating rinks while others have live nativity scenes.  All have a beauty that can only be captured by attending one in person. 

Here is a small re-cap of some of the Markets we attended this year:

Bernkastel-Kues ~ a small medieval city located on the Moselle River in Germany.  At first we thought the market was rather "small" and even asked a shop owner, "is this it??" . . . we then felt a little stupid as we started exploring the small alleys and cobblestone pathways.  The market kept going and going!  

 





 

Castle lit up on the hill above the city . . beautiful!

 

 

Eguisheim, France ~ Located in the Alsace region in north-eastern France.  In May of 2013 this little village was voted the "Favorite French Village."  It was not as highly populated as other markets we had attended (of course we also were there during the day and not at night) but it was so quaint and beautiful! 

 

Frankfurt Germany ~ one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Germany!  There has been a Christmas Market in Frankfurt for over 600 years!  It was huge!  We went on a Sunday and there were thousands of people attending!  It was definitely an experience!

 

Prague, Czech Republic ~ We visited the Christmas Market in Old Town Square on Christmas Day . . . it was stunning! St. Nicholas Church was absolutely wonderful! Live music greeted us as we entered and the enormous crystal chandelier in the center caught the attention of everyone present. The Church of Our Lady before Tyn is the main attraction in the square and it hard to ignore.  Unfortunately the 14th century Gothic church was closed and we were not able to enter at the time.  The Astronomical Clock was also a focal point and we watch as it came alive at the strike of one o'clock.

 

 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany ~ Home to one of the most romantic Christmas Markets in Germany and known for it's medieval setting.  The cobblestone streets, half timbered houses and stone walls securing the city take you back to another place in time.

 

 

(half-meter hot dogs)

 

So in conclusion, I would just like to say that I will miss these dear Christmas Markets and the joy and warmth they bring when I return to the states this next November.  This is one part of "European Living" I will miss the most . . . there are many parts I will not miss . . ie the trash system, the speed cameras, the gas prices, all stores closed on Sundays, no good Chinese food, the conversion rate of the dollar to the euro . . I digress . . this is another post entirely . . .

 

Salzburg, Austria

While on our "Christmas" tour of Bavaria we decided on a little visit to Salzburg. The main highlight of this trip was to see the Hohensalzburg Castle . . . as well as the lovely Christmas market I was told about. We used our handy-dandy GPS to get us into the country but had no idea where to go after that. There were no clearly marked signs for Hohensalzburg Castle and we ended up driving in circles for about 30 min or so. We finally parked in the first place we could find at the base of the mountain and figured if we kept walking up we would eventually find it. . . and we did!! It was a little deserted as it was the day after Christmas and it was raining, but we were able to eat lunch as well as visit several rooms inside the fortress which were more like a museum of various items that would have been found during that time period.

 

(view of the Alps from inside the castle)

 

 

(Salzurg city)

 

 

(another view of the Alps)

Hohensalzburg is one of the largest castles in all of Europe and construction originally began in 1077. It was built atop the Festungsberg mountain (of which we managed to walk both up AND down) and has some interesting history. In the 19th century, it was used as barracks, storage depot and dungeon before being abandoned as a military outpost in 1861. It also served as a prison during World War I.

 

We then walked down into the city center for the fabulous Christmas market. It was huge!! My husband bought me a smallish ceramic mushroom for our house and we were able to visit the Salzburg Cathedral. We then walked all the way back to our car on the other side of the city. . . we must have walked about 4-5 miles that day. . .no joke!! I just asked Clayton! (he keeps me from exaggerating too much)