Innsbruck

Today is march 20th, and I’m on my way to Prague in the Czech Republic. This feels like the first time I am liberated to write about the travel. I could have taken some time to myself, but there really was no need and I always felt more interested in doing whatever was happening at the time. Sure I took some time to read or play video games, but there’s something about this time that feels freeing to my mind. The landscape is gorgeous out here. Passing through small towns with traditional churches on hills, fields and stuckow houses, each with a nature scene mural painted on the side. Austria was fun, but the next few days I hope to connect with God on a personal and intimate level. When leaving London I met up with Joel and Steven at the bus stop, then proceeded to Gatwick Airport where we checked in, passed through security, put our footwear through a second security check, and then drank water & ate chocolate. We chatted on the flight with one another, talking about dreams, goals and fun ideas. I read a bit of a book I leant from Aunt Mary-Anne, entitled, Three Cups of Tea. It wasn’t hard to find the hostel, and we settled in well before going out for a walk around the town and a taste of some turkish eats which were recommended. I was an early night. Tuesday the 10th we got up at 7 and enjoyed an all you can eat breakfast. 6 different kinds of cereal, two kinds of bread, some cheeses and processed ham-ish. Also some juice and apples. From there we took the 8:30 ski bus that picked us up outside the hostel and made our way to Axum Litzum. We rented gear and enojyed the day. There was a good mix of terain. There was some steep lumpy stuff through the trees with a few drops and lots of fresh powder The park was fun and there were lots of groomed and ungroomed runs of various difficulties. Visibility was minimal at the top for some of the days, but we also had some really beautiful bright sunny days where you could see the whole town in the valley among many mountains. We all suffered minor injuries, but nothing that kept us off the slopes, just a few tumbles or scrapes. I guess I’ll have to put some of my pictures up, but the guys have the best ones with their fancy dangled cameras. In all we road 3 different mountains, one of which was a glacier. They all had their selling points but we spent the most time on Axum Litzum, which I have not spelled correctly. We road 4 days, took one day off and then road two more days. The plan was to take one day off and then go back for two more days, but the conditions were getting icy and we were not as driven as we were from the start. Instead, we took a day trip to a couple small towns not too fare from Innsbruck. There we did some hiking, passing a bunch of elderly folk, all decked out in their poles, ice grips and back packs. I had some old skate shoes and a skate board, but this only made the trip more interesting. The slopes we walked town were hard packed so we could slide down them on our feet. It was a beautiful day indeed. We ate pretty cheep. Breakfast was free, for lunch I packed almonds and craisens, and for supper we ate microwave dinners, or eggs, or sandwiches and bread. Snacks were chocolate and pepperoni sticks. The spiced meet is good in these parts. The night we came back from the day trip the shops were closed so we splurged for some Burger King. I didn’t feel like holding back, so I got the triple paddy whopper meal. It was € 6.89, but I don’t think I care to convert that to Canadian dollars. We walked around Innsbruck a couple of days, and a few days ago we went to the Sauna. Well, we went for a swim and a Sauna, so we thought, but when we got in we couldn’t find the Sauna, so we asked one of the life guards who directed us toward a door upstairs. We tried it and found it to be locked, with no response from the other side. We then walked down and asked at the front desk, who sent the cleaning lady to take us back to the lifeguard. The Life guard told us we had to pay for the sauna at the front desk and that it was female only day. Well, I guess a few things were lost in translation. Steven didn’t have any trunks so he went home out of it, while Joel and I went for a swim and a few rides down the water slides. A couple days later we returned to the Sauna in hopes of it being mens day. It was not. It was mixed day, and not in the hermaphrodite sense of the word. We were the only young people there. By young I mean under 65. It might have been a bit awkward otherwise, but we adapted well as we took no interest in our surroundings. There were dry saunas and a wet sauna, along with hot and cold showers, as well as a cold pool for dunking in. There was also a pool cut in half with hot water on one side and cold on the other, only knee deep, meant for walking around in a circle. You could spread salt on yourself, but we didn’t know where to put it so we stayed away from that bit. There were also two bottles of oil, one citrus and the other yukaliptus, which both felt very nice on aching muscles, however, as my comrades found out, they did not feel so good when in contact with the nether region. The Sauna was a good idea, and that was about it for Innsbruck. It was a fun little trip no doubt, and I only expect to find more adventure along the way. The bulk of my expences have been spent. Everything from here on out can be minimal.