Day 1 - Another full day of travel ahead, but very excited to be heading into the alps for a White Christmas :-) Said a quick farewell to Tarena, who is heading back to the UK for Xmas with some friends. I've really enjoyed having her company for these days in Paris & we've promised to keep in touch. She will always be welcome "in the guest room" of Burrellian Manor. I might not have found "love" in Paris but I centainly fell in love with Paris.
The scenery on the way was beautiful, was nice to see some French country side, even though it was rather foggy. It turned out to be a wise move to train it to Austria, as I found, out through other annoyed passengers, that lots of flights around Europe had been cancelled or delayed. As the really comfy train headed into the Alps the scenery changed dramaticly, the mountains rose seemingly out of no where & as we passed through a long tunnel at one stage the world suddenly turned white. Ohh Yeah ! this is what I came here for, snowcovered mountains, deep rocky gorges with raging rivers, cute little villages & fields of white. I was in awe of the beauty, once again, that I have seen on this trip.
Met an older American couple on the train after the change in Zurich, coldest station in the world so far, & they suggested a nice 500 year old hotel, that they had stayed in before when in Innsbruck. Arrived & checked in as they had a few vacancies left. Innsbruck looks lovely but it was dark when I arrived so can't tell you much. Made some plans after speaking with a few more people, to head to Stubaier Gletsher for some skiing tomorrow (link: http://www.ski-innsbruck.at/panorama.php)
Should be a Christmas day like no other I've ever had !
Merry Christmas to all my family, my life long friends & the multitude of new ones I've recently made. Love & Cheers, Andrew :-)
Day 2 - Christmas Day - Headed out just before 9.00 & caught the bus up to the the top of the world. As we made our way up, up & up the snow got thicker & thicker the surrounding mountains higher & higher, the scenery more breathtaking, literaly, as I was going higher than I´d ever been before, after each tunnel or bend in the road. Tiny little mountain villages speckled the countryside & real Christmas tress heavily laden with snow were everywhere. We made it to the top & left the warmth of the coach, WOW - both amazing & incredibly cold, about -10. Checked in at the ski school, hired my gear & was on the slopes, snow ploughing & making turns within the hour, my instructor was rather impressed :-) Had a spot of lunch & headed out to tackle the slopes on my own. Bit off more than I could chew when I headed up on the chairlift, so took a few photos & headed back down for some more realistic practice. Was all over way to quickly & caught the last bus of the day back to Innsbruck.
Met up with some fellow travellers, staying at the same hotel, that I had chatted to yesterdaz & headed out to have Christmas dinner with them. It was a good hearty Austrian feeast & the company was excellent. Finnished the evening with some gingerbread, chocolates & wine back at the Hotel.
Day 3 - After a great sleep had breakfast
