Snow and sun for Christmas and New Year 2013/2014

Yesterday, we finally located the rest of our photos from last Christmas. Time to summarize what was a great break in spite of full trains, a stomach bug and plenty of snowy crash landings.

Ronja: Train! Etch-A-Sketch! Matt: Are we there yet?

You would think after so many years of train travel, we would have mastered a simple trip from Bavaria to Austria. But sometimes you learn the wrong lessons. Train travel is flexible right? You can be spontaneous, book at the last minute, reserve a seat, whatever, relax. Well, this was the last Saturday before Christmas. And apparently a few other people had the same idea of going on holiday. No reservations. Forget it. So we took a chance and took regional trains for much of the way and then held our breath in anticipation for the train to St Anton. It wasn't completely smooth but we somehow managed to have seats throughout the journey. And the highlight was meeting a lovely long-emigrated Irish woman on her way to Konstanz. One of those days that got off to a rough start but then just kept getting better. A short bus ride later and we were very happy to have reached our destination of Lech.

A view taken somewhere vaguely near St Anton, on a grand tour during Matt's ski course. He was forced into it as a Christmas gift, but very glad in the end.

There are no photo illustrations, but most of us were hit by a stomach bug while there. I (Matt) was fortunate enough to get it at the beginning of the holiday. A good way to take it easy afterwards was to hit only the beginner slope with my two year old. In the face of much skepticism, I had rented her skis. Regular viewers of the blog may remember that we tried to get Ronja excited about skiing whilst in Großarl (Family hotel in Großarl, and lesser known hospitals in Austria pt2) under very trying conditions. And to be fair, she is very young. But was it worth a try?

Getting used to the boots and the helmet

And a short time later, she was fully equipped and giving it a go

By the end, even the once skeptical 'Opa' was a valuable teacher

But what we never quite mastered was the bending of the knees

Of course, there are many other things you can do in the snow. Tobogganing, walking, cross-country skiing. The last one required some special equipment. That is, we didn't expect our two-year-old to cross-country ski the whole way to the next village.

Hold on tight! Wait, are you awake?  

It's a long way down from there - let's hope Opa knows what he's doing  

The Mann ohne Bauch...

Carousel  

Far too proud (from memory, this is indeed before the fall)   

Christmas away from home is certainly not the same. But it had something to it.

Present time

Santa pays a visit, and some of the children aren't too sure what to think

Especially this one. How did Santa know she needs to get better at staying at the table during dinner time?

Christmas Carols. How they managed to make their fingers move in that cold is beyond me.

So many presents and excitement, Ronja was soon finished for the evening without having opened them all. So the next morning it was time to continue...

There was of course one more party to be had: New Year. It's hard to explain how big a deal 'Sylvester' is in Austria in Germany. And it's hard to explain why lots of people dipping bits of raw meat in a tub of hot water, hoping to get the same ones back, is a good idea, but complainers are likely to go hungry, so dig in...

Fondue