Next was Innsbruck and this meant skiing. Really good skiing. In Spring. Oooh yeh!
The hostel I was staying at organised for a lift to the ski rental place and soon after I was kitted out and ready to go up the mountain. Unfortunately there was a catch. There was only 5 mins to get to the bus stop for the only shuttle bus up the mountain and the directions the guy had given me to get to the bus stop were wrong. Not that I knew it at the time. So 15 mins later when i actually found the bus stop the bus was long gone. It was handy then that a kiwi chick called Harriet had also missed the bus so I had someone to cry with. It was even more handy that she spoke German and had a rough idea of how to get up the mountain without the shuttle. So she managed to lead me up the mountain via 3 different kinds of public transport and I had a ski buddy for the day. Without her i very much doubt if I would've got up there. Suffice to say that the skiing was sick and havin someone to share it with was pretty good too.
The next day I planned to go up to the big resort, Stubaier, but once again managed to miss the bus. Not because I was late this time but because I trusted a bunch of yanks who told me the bus didn't go past the stop I was at (it did). So I walked about 8 blocks across town, in ski boots, at break neck speed hoping to make the bus. We didn't. And it became quite clear to me that ski boots aren't designed for walking. This time we were early enough to get another shuttle up to one of the other resorts so it wasn't quite so bad. This resort, Axamer Lizum, was where the olympics were held in '64 and '76. So it provided some pretty sweet downhill skiing. The runs were really steep and fast, even the blues (green in oz). And to go with this there was some good powder off piste. Had a ball!
Finally, on the 3rd day I managed to get the bus to Stubaier. I couldn't help but laugh when the yanks didn't. I'm glad I made it too because it is well and truly worth visiting. It had everything. Mad runs, fresh knee deep powder, timed downhill run, slalom run, board park and a 10km run were all included in one massive resort. I had an absolutely awesome time and would head straight back here if I ever go back to Innsbruck.
I headed straight from Innsbruck to Vienna for a night and I didn't miss the bus! And it was actually a train. Easily the most expensive train ever. Vienna was was a nice place to visit but I wasn't that keen to stay for long. I finally met the thousands of aussies I was told would be in Europe. It was good to be able to talk to someone who knew what cricket was for once. Vienna, though, had nothin on Innsbruck.
