It's hard to believe that we've been here for over 4 years now. This marks my 100th blog post! I feel like I should do a giveaway or something. But not quite there yet. Instead I change the layout a bit. Let me know what you think.
We were in Austria two weeks ago for our 2nd annual sportferien (ski holiday). We ended up returning to the same place we skied at last year since we had a great time. This time hubby even upgraded our apartment hotel with a bit more space and a full size kitchen. It's funny most people stay in places smaller than they are currently living in when they travel, we tend to stay in places a bit larger. It affords us the luxury of cooking our own meals if we want and relaxing after the kiddos go to bed.
 |
| The line to the car train and lots of snow |
The trip started out a bit shaky as there was quite a long wait time at the car train to take us through the mountains. Last year we were able to go skiing during the off season since Ali wasn't in school. This year we were forced to go during the 2-3 week window that every other canton and surrounding country has their sport holiday. This meant an 1.5hr wait at the car train for a 20 minute ride through a dark shaky tunnel. This also meant our trip which is normally around 3.5hrs took closer to 5 hours. We are fortunate that our kids are great travelers and have leap pads to keep them occupied.
 |
| Couple time! |
It was a bit later than expected when we arrived and of course the first thing the kids wanted to do was head downstairs. They'd been talking about the warm pool for weeks and couldn't wait to jump in again. Which we did while hubby went and enrolled the kiddos in ski school but somehow missed the grocery store before it closed. Luckily there is a great pizza place next door and we brought enough rations from home to stock our kitchen for a day or two. On Sunday we all set out for our first day of skiing. I must admit I was not looking forward to getting two kids prepped for ski school and carrying all our gear (ski's, boots, poles, helmets, etc) from our apartment to the bus stop and then to the lift and up the gondola. Last year we had one less set of gear since Miles was not yet old enough to ski and instead enjoyed the kinderbetreuung (day care) at the mountain top resort. And although the first day was a bit stressful, it went pretty smoothly there after. Since we had been last year, they had built a really nice ski depot at the base of the gondola. This was great as we could dump all our gear at the bottom every day when we were finished and not worry about schlepping it back and forth from our hotel. They had super nice lockers equipped for 2 adults and 1 child's ski gear and luckily Miles' gear fit in it just fine also. They were heated so stuff didn't get stinky.
 |
| Miles 1st day of ski school |
Alison started off where she left off last year which was on the mountain. Whereas Miles started where Alison started last year - in the Kinderland ski area - a separate area next to the resort for kids just learning how to ski. I was worried about how Miles would take to the skiing since he is small for his age and not quite as athletic as Alison. He did great and actually enjoyed it. He only complained a little (OK a ton) each morning getting all his gear on. Once we got the kids situated in their separate areas for ski school, we took off to enjoy a few runs as a couple before we had to return to pick them up. Alison's ski school consisted of 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon for 4 days. Miles did ski school 4 mornings and then went to the day care after lunch.
 |
| Ali with her ski teacher and 2nd place medal |
After lunch on Day 2, we found Alison hanging with her classmates, minus her teacher about to get on the big, high, chair lift that went up to one of the higher red runs. I was a bit shocked to see her there as I wasn't sure if she was ready for that or not. She had never been on a chair lift quite so big and quite so high and quite so by herself. But that is the thing with kids and skiing, they are fearless and they just do it without thinking about all the things that could wrong. We waited around and hopped on with her for her first big chair lift experience. She said later that day that they went up several more times by herself. The next day she was off doing steeper red routes and even skiing all the way to the bottom of the mountain with her class. We would sometimes see her skiing while we were coming down a run or heading up on the chairlift, it was quite amusing to see what they were up to or where they were skiing. Thursday was the downhill slalom course race where she competed against her other classmates. I was at the bottom and fumbled with my camera so missed a bit of it. She did great and ended up getting 2nd place, another medal to add to her collection. Later that day the ski school held an awards ceremony in town that was really nice. Although I have to admit that Miles and I bailed out before the awards were given as it was freezing cold that day. Even Miles class had a small race on his last day which was super adorable. Miles best line came the day they were teaching him to "pizza" on his skis. He was not wanting to do it stating he doesn't want to go slow, he wants to go fast.
 |
| Sledding |
Our days were spent frantically getting 2 kids and ourselves ready in the morning and off to two separate ski school areas, a couple of hours of adult skiing, eating lunch when we could find a table, getting one kid off to ski school after lunch and one to the day care and then heading back out for a bit more skiing. We had to pick up the kids around 3:30 each day and we often headed back to our hotel to swim in the heated pool. Two afternoons we went sledding as there is a really great 7km sled run from the top of the mountain. Erik and I would ski down to the bottom and drop off all the gear at the locker, then rent two sleds and head back up to collect the kids. That took a bit of coordination but was so worth it as the kids loved it. The sled run was thrilling and physically challenging at the same time.
 |
| Ice Palace |
We took one day off on Wednesday as I think we all needed a break. (Mainly me as I was super sore from skiing and being a bit out of shape). A good friend told us about an ice sculpture area close by, along with ice skating she thought Alison would like. We lunched across the border in Italy at a lovely place we found on our way out last year. That particular day, it was snowing hard in town so I can imagine it was snowing quite a bit on the mountain. We visited Sur-En about 30 minutes away and although small, Alison and Miles found the ice sculptures very cool. Just like Frozen. Close by was a 3km ice skating loop through a beautiful forest with art and sculptures. Erik pulled Miles on a sled while I ice skated with Alison. She couldn't quite get the feel of it, even though she had a week of lessons last year. She sure kept trying, even after numerous falls and I was proud of her. Toward the end Erik was pulling both kids on the sled. The path was different than a regular ice rink as it had some slope to it both uphill and downhill which proved tricky. At one point I was pulling Miles on the sled and ice skating down a small hill. The sled (and Miles) got ahead of me and it scared him a bit. So I had to crash to stop us both from careening out of control. It was all very comical although Miles didn't think so. I also learned that falling on hard ice hurts the bum much worse than falling in snow on the slopes (which I did several times). Let's just say my tush hurt for a week afterwards and I only fell two or three times.
 |
| Ice skating & sledding |
On Friday, our last official ski day, we put Miles in ski school in the morning and went skiing all morning with Alison. We let it be her morning of showing us what she learned and going wherever she wanted to go. She immediately took us down the mountain on a red route that I found quite challenging earlier in the week. I was again in a bit of shock and awe at the fearlessness of our little girl. It turns out she is a bit of a speed demon, like her mommy and like my daddy before her. She was just going straight down the mountain, ski's in pizza shape as fast as she possibly could go. I could barely keep up with her at times. Maybe next year we'll work on the back and forth turning lesson.
We really enjoyed our week in Nauders. We love the
hotel where we stayed, it is small and quiet and the staff are super nice. Not sure if we will go back again next year as I actually think Alison would be bored since she conquered just about all but the black diamonds routes. We are considering heading back for Easter since it falls a bit earlier this year.
 |
| This place is amazingly beautiful |
 |
| My cute hubby |
 |
| Enjoying the Austrian soda - Almdudlee |
 |
| Local cuisine - wine, cheese, brot & wurzen |
 |
| A bit wind & sun burnt |
 |
| Chair lift selfie |
 |
| Miles about to race (he's # 10) |
 |
| Our last day selfie - love her expression |
 |
| about to sled - Miles wants to fall off |
