Austria and Skiing
We left just after breakfast from Munich so that we could beat the traffic down to Austria. The weather was perfect so we didn't have to worry about and snow on the roads. Driving on the Autobahn was no problem.
The rental car gave us a few moments of fun. The previous renters had been in an accident and the passenger's side door was dented. While driving down to Austria we put the window down to take a few pictures of the Alps. The only problem was that the window got stuck! We put Jennifer's coat in the window to keep the wind out since we still had another 45 minutes to 1 hour to drive.
The roads through the mountains in Austria were perfect. They get alot of snow there in the winter and the definitely know how to keep the roads clear. We pulled into the parking lot at Sport Mayr, where we were staying, and the scenery was amazing. The skies were clear and you could see mountains everywhere! The husband and wife run a ski shop and have a number of apartments that are rented out during the ski season. There was a Mercedes dealership next door and, since our rental car was a Mercedes, we brought it there to get the window fixed. Outside of the US there are many compact and sub-compact Mercedes on the market. The people spoke little English and I'm not as fluent in German as I once was (there is only so many words that you can pick up from Hogan's Heroes) so I was on a cell phone with the rental car company and had the dealership talk to them....the window got fixed and we didn't touch it again!
We checked in with the tour operator, Tyrolian Tours, to arrange for our lift tickets and the ski school classes for everyone. Jenn and the kids all took classes. Jenn for 3 days and the kids for 5. It was great seeing the kids learning and progressing throughout the week. The started on a little very mini-hill on the first days and progressed to the main hill by the end of the week when there was a race for the kids.
There was fresh snow for the first few days. We got perhaps 1.5 feet of snow during the week. We were all tired at the end of the day and would go back to our condo, get in our relaxing clothes, and hang out. On New Year's Eve we were all in bed early. I woke up at 11:45 PM and heard some fireworks. I stayed up and could see fireworks in all directions for the next 30 minutes or so. It was loud (I'm amazed nobody woke up) but it was still great to watch.
One day when the kids were in ski school Jennifer and I took a tour bus to Innsbruck. Our first stop on the way was to the Swarovski Crystal factory and headquarters in Wattens, Tirol. They didn't offer factory tours but did have tours of the Crystal World, containing displays of Swarovski crystals in very artistic arrangements. It was hard to contain ourselves in the factory shop!
We got back on the bus and continued onto Innsbruck. The bus tour guide offered alot of historical information of the Tirol (map) region. For example, the roofs of the churches in Tirol are either green or red. The color depends on whether they belong to the diocese of Innsburck or Salzburg.
The bust dropped us off in the old town of Innsbruck, which is closed off to traffic and has become a public thoroughfare. Many of the shops had displays of nursery rhyme scenes above their doorways. It was very neat to look at. Our only "touristy" stop of the day was to St Jakob's church in the old town section. The church was also designed by the Asam brothers from Munich.
Everyone had a great time during this vacation. We would be tired and sore every evening but we loved it out on the slopes skiing, watching the ski shows that the school instructors would put on at night for us, and sitting in the lodge having hot chocolate.
A definite must do!