Serfaus

I know snowboarding in the Alps is pretty amzing, but I still found myself wishing I was hiking. I didn't complain though. We stayed at a cozy little hotel owned by the sweetest Austrian family.

 Some days were so perfect I thought I must have been dreaming. I kept having those "Oh my gosh I'm in the Austrian Alps!" moments, and at first the family thought it was weird, but they got used to my random moments of uncontrolled smiling. Okay, I think I smiled for the whole week, but there were moments of extra smileyness.

 Then there was the inevitable hotel silliness that comes when you share a room with two girlies.

 There were a couple of days when the fog and clouds were so thick we couldn't tell up from down, and it was a little bit scarry, but the threat of falling off the side of a mountain can be quite thrilling.

 This is the motto/ catchphrase of the three ski resorts. It means "Because we enjoy it."

 I enjoyed it.

 This is a bad picture of traditional Austrian architecture. It is totally normal to paint on the buildings. The big painting on the left side is the family crest of the people who own the hotel. I think that's pretty darn cool!

This was such a cool vacation! On the last day I stayed out until the lifts closed (I wanted to do this every day, but the kids got too tired, and sometimes cruddy trails-as are common at the end of a busy day- are best enjoyed with others), and followed the trail groomer down the mountain for the smoothest ride of the week.

I previously wondered if Austrians spoke a different dialect of German. I asked an Austrian (when I was in the U.S.) and she said no. That was a big fat lie. They have accents that sound like an Irish person speaking German, and when they speak their German, it is like listening to a Swiss person speak German. It's nearly unrecognizable. I don't know if that's true for all regions of Austria, but Tirol definitely has it's own unique version of German.

You might think after such a busy week I would be chillin at home for the second week of school vacation, but no. I will be traveling to Holland with my dearest Au Pair friend (she's from there). I like to keep it fresh.

I send all my best back home!

Liebe,

Karynne