Skicircus
Update from Innsbruck, Österreich
After navigating through blogspot in German- yes the language of all the websites change while I'm over here- I have finally figured out how to log in (anmelden)... Even the facebook ads are in German:
On 19 September I left Vail with my parents and headed off to the land
of yodelling, frolicking in the hills, and weinerschnitzel- of course!
After a long 2 days of traveling I finally arrived in my new home,
Innsbruck! I was greeted by towering peaks and 40cm of snow. For us
Americans that means something like 16 inches.. Not bad for September,
and I was already getting pumped to ski. From there my parents and I did
a little bit of traveling in the Austrian state of Tirol. We first went
to Alpbach, then Höchfilzen, and Gerlose. All three were gorgeous ski
towns, but as far as I can tell every town in Austria is a gorgeous ski
town and there is a lift on every hill, so it makes no difference where I
am as it is all wunderbar! In Höchfilzen I was lucky enough to shred
their rollerski track... yes I did say rollerski track!
Yes
I am wearing lederhosen! My German friends are wearing Dirndls
(traditional decorative dresses in Bavaria and Tirol)- I'm a big fan!
The
next day classes were suppose to start, however, due to some scheduling
miracles (all class meetings on Wednesday and Thursday!!!!), I managed
to have my first class on Wednesday the 5th of Oktober. It was the
longest summer ever, but I'm not complaining. Since then I have been
attending the occasional classes, and been exploring Innsbruck and
Austria during my long weekends!
Morning skiing at the glacier..
Train
Station and sign. Pay special attention to the route name top and
center, just right of OBB. I feel it is a most fitting description of my
semester here.
Me with the Dachstein in the background.
Miss you all and can't wait to see you in January, but until then keep up the good work and I'll do my part here in Austria!
Update from Innsbruck, Österreich
After navigating through blogspot in German- yes the language of all the websites change while I'm over here- I have finally figured out how to log in (anmelden)... Even the facebook ads are in German:
Yeah
pretty cool. Mein Deutsch is getting a little better here everyday, but
I fear my English is getting worse, so it could be problematic when I
return in January.
It's been a while since my last blog post so I'll give a rundown of my journey thus far.
On 19 September I left Vail with my parents and headed off to the land
of yodelling, frolicking in the hills, and weinerschnitzel- of course!
After a long 2 days of traveling I finally arrived in my new home,
Innsbruck! I was greeted by towering peaks and 40cm of snow. For us
Americans that means something like 16 inches.. Not bad for September,
and I was already getting pumped to ski. From there my parents and I did
a little bit of traveling in the Austrian state of Tirol. We first went
to Alpbach, then Höchfilzen, and Gerlose. All three were gorgeous ski
towns, but as far as I can tell every town in Austria is a gorgeous ski
town and there is a lift on every hill, so it makes no difference where I
am as it is all wunderbar! In Höchfilzen I was lucky enough to shred
their rollerski track... yes I did say rollerski track!
The cow above was one of many (approx. 400) my mother took a picture of. Why she likes cows so much... ?
But
yes there are tons of cows with pretty bells that make lots delicious
milk (@Chris Stock). Maybe I'll bring one back so that the Elliot house
milk dispenser doesn't constantly run out.
The
picture to the left is atop a peak in Aplbach. Note the cheesy sign that
the study abroad office wants me to hold. Clearly, I'm "Outside the
Yard!"
From there
orientation began and I met my group from New Orleans. They are a pretty
cool bunch, so it's been fun hanging out with them. During the first
weeks I also met tons of international students from everywhere as far
as Brazil and Taiwan to as close as Sud Tirol (~30km away in Italy). It
is amazing how international Innsbruck is and I am constantly making
friends from all over the globe, so it is tons of fun.
Earmuffs Chris and Scush...
During
the last day of orientation I ventured over to Münich to experience the
famed Oktoberfest! I may or may not of had some beer and enjoyed the
Gemütlichkeit (english equivalent of a cozy feeling of happiness
experienced while drinking or being with friends) of the Hoffbrau Haus.
Yes
I am wearing lederhosen! My German friends are wearing Dirndls
(traditional decorative dresses in Bavaria and Tirol)- I'm a big fan!
The
next day classes were suppose to start, however, due to some scheduling
miracles (all class meetings on Wednesday and Thursday!!!!), I managed
to have my first class on Wednesday the 5th of Oktober. It was the
longest summer ever, but I'm not complaining. Since then I have been
attending the occasional classes, and been exploring Innsbruck and
Austria during my long weekends!
The photo on the left is of Emperor Maximilian
who ruled the once expansive Austrian Empire from 1486 to 1519. Below is
a cow decorated for an Almbtrieb (the Austrians have a huge Fest to
celebrate bringing the cows down from the mountain pastures at the end
of every summer).
As far
as training goes, it has been really great over here. Between the
hikes, rollerskis- on actual tracks- and cool runs, there has been no
shortage of training.
Some highlights include
running a half marathon in Söll, bounding up the Norkette, and most
importantly SKIING on the Dachstein Glacier with the Swedish marathon
team Exspirit!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to train with team Exspirit
from Thursday until Saturday in Ramsau. I got there about noon on
Thursday, so that day we just did an easy afternoon run. The next day we
got up on the glacier and joined the entire Eastern Block with some on
snow training for the upcoming season. When I say the entire Eastern
block, I'm being serious. Roughly 150 Russians (still can't figure out
how they are all on the national team, but they all had the race suits
on and were super legit and even more scary), a bunch of Ukrainians,
Poles, Estonians, Czechs, Slovaks, Turks, Belorussians, and of course
all the Scandinavians! I had never seen so many world class caliber
skiers on one 5km loop, so it was an amazing experience for me. I tried
to ski around with the Swedes, but their "easy" pace is roughly my level
2+/3, so after 2 hours of fighting to stick with them I was about ready
to go into hibernation. That afternoon we had an interval session
4X9min threshold with 1min max efforts between minutes 3 and 4 and 7 and
8 in each interval. Once again I tried to stick with the big boys, but
after 2 minutes of pushing it an promptly blowing up, I was struggling
to fend off the girls. So so fast. The next day we did some classic
skiing and then hit up the world renowned Ramsau rollerski track.
Talking to both the Swedes and the Austrians, they all assured me it was
the wildest loop they have ever rollerskied. Needless to say it didn't
disappoint: 30 mph downhills, crazy banked S-turns, and a bunch of
padded trees that did little to boost my confidence.
I also had the pleasure to run and hang out with former Harvard skier Dave McCahill here in Innsbruck. Great times!
Me with the Dachstein in the background.
Last but not least... a barbed wire toilet seat??
This quite literally scared the s*@t out of me!
Miss you all and can't wait to see you in January, but until then keep up the good work and I'll do my part here in Austria!
Tschüss,
Tony
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