Autumn and winter in one place

Winter is coming and as usual we drive to the Austrian mountains on the first weekend of November. First of November is a holiday and we we take an extra day off to be able to enjoy the long weekend.

I packed my bags the night before so we don’t lose any time. It’s interesting how the car is packed full even though we are away only for 4 days. The car was packed full for the summer vacation too and we were away for 3 weeks then. It’s still autumn so I pack normla clothes and running gear and workout gear but since we are going on the mountains I have to pack my snow clothes too.

I work until noon on Wednesday and we drive as soon as possible. The drive is smooth and we packed sandwiches so that we don’t have to take long breaks. We have to arrive to the hotel until 18 o’clock, otherwise we don’t get any dinner. Food is a good motivator to step on the gas. We arrive at 17 o’clock and the lady at the reception recognizes me and greets me with a huge smile, it’s our fourth time here. We go to our room, I booked us a large suite which was just renovated and I think that we are the first guests here since the tv is not connected properly.

We have enough time before dinner to go to the store and get new skiing pants, the old ones fit too tight. Might be a sign that I should step up my diet and exercise.

After a four course dinner it is best to rest the tummy. I forgot to bring the Fire TV which we usually take on trips to connect it to the tv in the room and watch our favorite tv series. This suite is too huge and the tv is too small anyway so we just watch on the iPad until we fall asleep.

There is a storm since two days and the storm continues also on our first day. The skiing are is closed dure to the strong wind, 80 km/h. We don’t notice it down in the valley, it is warm and sunny. We decide to visit Zell am See, unfortunately it is the holiday so all the stores are closed. The pedestrian area in the inner city is empty, no people in sight. We walk along the lake and when the wind gets too strong, in fact so strong that it almost blows me away, we decide to go to a coffee shop for coffee and cake.

We drive back to Kaprun and walk around the small town, climb the hill to the castle but hurry back to the hotel when the rain starts dripping.

The weather is nice on the next two days but I don’t ski so I go on a walk every morning after breakfast and go to the hotel pool for a swim in the afternoon. I get it into my head that I want to draw so I buy some supplies and take aYouTube. Lass on how to learn to draw. I don’t think I am too bad though and it is fun. It’s nice to just relax for a couple of days but it passes by so fast that it’s time to pack again.

We get up early on the last day and take the ski lift up to the top of the mountain one last time before driving back home in the afternoon. We have to make up for the first day we lost due to the storm. I spend the morning video chatting with my mom and brother until my phone battery dies and my hands are frozen. When it gets cold and the sun disappears behind the clouds, I retreat into the apres-ski bar and sip on a mulled wine until it’s lunchtime.