Week Two: Hiking in the snow.

Another week in Austria. Boy German is hard. Two weeks and I still understand almost nothing.

So what is an Austrian day like, I have been asked by many friends. Well, it is like an American day, only eight hours ahead and with more German and more wurstel. I wake up at 7am, which is not that early; yet my body still refuses to get up at that time. I don’t know, it must be the last lingering affects of jet lag. I am sleeping well enough, but still feel like it is the middle of the night when my alarm goes off. Austrians do not use sheets. They sleep with a down comforter only. I spent my first nights feeling terribly foolish, figuring I was supposed to have brought my own sheets.

Breakfast is incredible. Every morning I stumble downstairs to a table with a spread of various meats (ham, salami, beef, prosciutto crudo, turkey, wurstel –many varieties of bolony), cheeses (brie, swiss, gouda, and so much more), and fresh breads (rye, sourdough, wheat, and white). It is all I can eat. Angelika, my host, boils me a fresh egg I eat hot. There is also butter and homemade jams. To drink: Orange juice and really good berry herbal tea.

The great news of the week is that I finally got out and went hiking. The bad news is that I almost killed the elders. For those of you who have gone hiking with me see if this sounds familiar. We planned to hike up the mountain to the peak right above my house the day before the trip it snowed. It snowed a lot. The mountains got like 16 inches. I figured the mountains were not these large cliffy things right above my house, but the larger things towering above these cliffy things. We immediately hit snow and mud. Both grew deeper the higher we got. The trail grew steeper, well I guess vertical. We found ourselves skirting drop-offs on wet rocks, and fording the creek repeatedly. It turns out both elders are afraid of heights. They kept asking me if this was really a trail or if I was taking them deep into the woods so know one would hear them scream when I kill them.

This doesn’t sound familiar to anyone does it? No, I didn’t think so. Anyway, the elders and I had a great time and look forward to more hiking together, but without the snow and mud.

Next time: An Austrian/American Easter, where I learn the Easter Bunny is not real.