St. Anton, Austria

November was a probably the most travel intensive portion of our year abroad.  4 days in Italy, 12 in Egypt, 4 in London, 3 in Luxembourg, 9 in Paris and the last in Switzerland and Austria.  All were very enjoyable, yet it was intense period with dozens of transitions that left each of us a bit frazzled.

We opted for the train from Paris to St. Anton, Austria.   Our family loves trains; stress free except when you have to unload 6 huge bags and at least as many handbags with kids wanting to help and having only a few moments to actually accomplish the feat .  As I mentioned earlier, our kids love schlepping bags.  One really cool thing that they fight over is who gets to pull the roller bags.  While this might seem helpful, before said bags can be rolled they must be carried down the steps of the train and on to the almost always crowded platform.  Since these two rollers are so heavy, I’m the only one who can lift them without causing personal injury and so there is always about 60 seconds of chaos when unloading.  A fine balance requiring lots of shouting, lots of apologies to fellow passengers, and trying not to lose a kid in the river of people disembarking.   It is quite a comical site as we make a small mountain of luggage and kids in the middle of the platform, blithely ignoring those people who scoff at our apparent rudeness whilst they swarm around us and carry on their way.  I call it the “Moses effect” and it will undoubtedly be used effectively yet again.  So the train doors shut on our tails as we landed in the cold alpine air of St. Anton.  The stop was about one minute and I felt that the train disappearing in the distance must contain some critical belongings of ours that would be lost forever but alas we made it with all gear intact.  Skiing here in the Alps for a winter had long been at the core of our travel plans, so it was a bit of a relief to have “arrived”.   

St. Anton is the so called “cradle of skiing” in Austria.  Skiing was first documented here in 1895 and the world’s first ski club started in 1901.  In the 1920’s and early 1930’s a famous local named Hannes Schneider developed, documented and taught many of the techniques that are still in use today.  The region is called the “Arlberg” and is a series of alpine villages in and around the main pass between Innsbruck to the east and Switzerland to the west.  The bases of the mountains are around 4500 feet and the highest peak is over 9000’.  The area is simply huge (120 lifts, 5000 feet vertical, infinite options for off piste.  Here is a more detailed overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankt_Anton_am_Arlberg

Traci and I both skied here in the early 90’s and it is fairly similar to Whistler/Blackcomb in international flair and terrain yet different in that it has the real, Tyrolean charm that is hard to imitate.  There is a nearby hotel that was built in 1490.  Every restaurant is lined with wood and has a realistic charm.  Locals speak enough English so that it is easy to be here, yet there is no doubt we’re in the world of Germania. 

We’re renting a 3 bedroom daylight basement of a chalet that is ski-in/out.  It is owned by a lovely British couple who have a 7 year old daughter and an 11 year old son.  They live here from September through June and their kids attend the local school.  We couldn’t have found nicer owners/landlords.  They are incredibly generous and have made our transition into the town as seamless as possible.  Their kids are great and it has been nice for ours to have some time with other kids.   
 

When we arrived on Nov. 30^th there was absolutely no snow and the temperatures weren’t warm enough for consistent snow making.  Last year they had a dismal season so I was guessing that La Nina has an inverse effect here.  Despite the lack of early snow (and the availability of the best skiing of the year before the holiday crowds) it is fabulous to be living in a mountain town.  We were able to focus on some neglected math and writing.  Most importantly, we were able to go hiking up the ski hill.  We forced the kids on about a 2000 vertical foot hike one afternoon.  On the way down we came to a large fixed snow making gun.  This thing was huge, the mother of all snow making guns.  So I asked the kids to pray to it for snow and they (as always) dutifully replied.

 

On December 5^th, the locals celebrated what is known as the Krampalar.  On this evening, St. Nicolas and these devilish looking creatures parade through the town and scare the kids and many parents silly.  The tradition is something along the lines of St. Nicolas goes to the kids that have been nice while the Krampalar visit and whip the naughty ones with sticks.  I can’t imagine this ceremony going over too well in uber politically correct and sensitive Seattle.  It really is just a bunch of local guys who probably spend most of their day in the local pub then put on these amazing costumes and scare the crowds as they parade through the small town.   Oh and as the parade started, it began to snow.  Over the next few days we received about 18” of snow which along with colder weather allowed them to open for skiing as planned on the 8^th.  We’ve been skiing each day since, and the kid’s prayers have been exceptionally effective.  A few days ago we received about 30” in a huge storm.  More snow is forecast before Christmas.  We’ve skied some amazing light powder and the crowds haven’t been too bad.  As much skiing as we’ve done I think the kids have enjoyed more time in the snow around our place, playing for hours each day with the owner’s kids. 

We spent one day skiing at an adjoining area called Lech.  Beautiful little village where the rich and famous and royal of Europe like to hang out over the holidays.  I think Lech makes Aspen look like a shantytown.  We had great snow and sunny weather.  After a fun morning of skiing, we stopped for lunch at a mid-mountain restaurant.  I should have walked away after seeing the furry chairs at the outside tables. The sun was shining and there were the ladies dressed to the 9’s waiting for their husbands to join them from skiing.  There were other skiers and their outfits probably cost more than all of our gear for a family of 5.  I felt like a bad parent for not having my kids dressed in fur-lined Bogner outfits and not having a nanny or two present to dote on their every need.  After being seated for a few minutes, Traci and I came to the realization that our kids, and most of our family are loud, really loud.  The scene went something like this:

Waiter brings menus.  Kids ignore them.  I gasp at the prices but then, as often throughout this trip, I’ll justify thinking we’re only here once.

Traci:  Kids, what do you want to eat?

Halle (really loud):  Do they have PB & J?

Hayden (over-talking Halle, way louder):  Did you see how much air I caught on that jump?  That was HUGE (really loud)!

Traci:  Be quiet please you’re shouting.  We’re in a fancy restaurant.  Even though we’re outside you have to be quiet and respectful.

Sydney (calmly):  I think I’ll have the Goulash Soup.  Hayden and Halle you need to decide what you want to eat.

The waiter arrives to take our order and brings bread...we request a few more minutes.

Brian:  Halle what would you like?  Please don’t kneel in the chair with your ski boots on.

Halle:  Do they have PB & J?

Brian:  No honey just what is on the menu.   How about Spaghetti Bolognaise?

Traci:  Hayden please don’t eat your bread over your fancy fur chair.  Keep it over the table and over your plate.

The waiter arrives to take our order and observes the bedlam.  I like his bow tie….wait…he’s wearing a tie. I take a second look at the prices.

Hayden (really loud):  Did you see how much air I caught on that jump?  That was HUGE (really loud).  I’m going to hike up and take that again?  Order me a pizza please!

Brian:  Great idea.  May I have a beer please?

I catch looks from people at adjoining tables.  Their brief amusement at Hayden’s jump effort is quickly outweighed by their remembering how quiet and peaceful it was before we arrived.  Waiter seems to be providing exceptionally fast service to us as if sending us a message to move it along.  Our food arrives incredibly quickly, as fast if not faster than any McDonalds drive-thru.

Brian (loudly):  Halle please eat your spaghetti over your plate and not over your chair!

Hayden (loudly):  Ah I didn’t hike up far enough and get enough speed.  Can we take that run again?

Traci:  Please be quiet and eat your food so we can ski some more.

Halle (loudly):  Can I go to the bathroom?

After finishing with more chatter, the kids and their ski boots clomp through the inside of the restaurant (even fancier) to the bathrooms while I wait to pay the bill.  Only $130.  I try to mentally calculate how it could have been so much and then I take second note of the carnage that was our table and realize that there is greater than a 50% chance that the white fur chairs took a greater hit from hot chocolate, bolognaise sauce, pizza sauce, soup or a ski boot. I dare not look down to confirm my suspicions.  Rather, chin high I quickly sign and walk as fast as safely possible in my ski boots to put on my skis….confident that when Traci and the kids arrive we can all ski off more quickly than our waiter or any of the other patrons that might give chase.

I’m proud to say that we have 3 great powder skiers.  Barely  60 pounds with her ski equipment on, Halle is nonetheless determined to keep up and at her age has already acquired the insatiable desire for and joy of skiing light powder snow.  Hayden and Sydney just rip and power through everything.  We can barely keep up.  I was hoping that we could have the kids participate in the local racing program but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be possible.  Nonetheless, they’ll get more time on skis this winter than at any other of their young lives so I have to think that their overall skills will continue to improve.  I’ve attached a video which is rather cute.  It’s a strange black and white/sepia scheme as I somehow messed up the colors when first taking video and 5 months and a lot of free time haven’t been adequate for me to fix. 

All for now. We are very much looking forward to having a few friends join us for a few days in January and February. We’ll miss being with family and friends for Christmas but are looking forward to enjoying this winter wonderland. Merry Christmas to all!

 

 

 

The key to a successful marriage.  When your wife is buried with her head downhill in 3' of powder and completely stuck:  1:  Take her picture.  2:  Promise you won't put it on the blog.  3:  Help her turn her skis down hill and get up.

Looking East from our patio



"The Hills Are Alive....."



Praying for snow



A Krumpus right before he tried to get them



Confronting a Krampus



Haus Pinchbeck where we are the basement dwellers (still very good living...no complaints)



Halle laying down some nice tracks



Then climbing a tree in the afternoon for some rest



Sydney showing that jumping off of just about anything is cool



Hayden not to be outdone



Halle with some speed.   A good father marks the jump with his poles.

Waiting for the train to Innsbruck...Not sure when it will arrive



Innsbruck at the top of the local ski jump



Nordic ski jumping



Sydney pausing in the knee deep powder



Halle ripping it up



Hayden goes deep in his Seahawk inspired free-ride outfit



Traci poaching the kids lines...she is supposed to stay back and sweep.

London Luxembourg and Paris

Back to the civilized world.  What does one say that can be entertaining or intriguing after spending 4 months in the relative bush?  While there are a few subtle attempts at humor, for the most part our last few weeks have been delightfully boring and civilized.  The Janssen family caravan arrived at London Heathrow on a late flight from Cairo.  After 4 months on the road it was an amazing treat to be in an English speaking country, or “fancy English” as Halle calls it.  We were able to easily find a train, our hotel, etc., and all by ourselves.  Ah the joys of independent travel.  A great friend once described his “top 10 showers”, made memorable by being at the end of particularly long hike or other situation where one is lacking the opportunity to bath for days or weeks.  Much like a shower after a 3 day climb of Mt. Rainier, the shower in our London hotel after several days on a fishing boat in Egypt was absolutely exquisite and definitely a lifetime top 10.

I’d been to London on many occasions, having worked for 4 months about an hour west of London early in my career.  Still I was absolutely enthralled by the city.  Rather than my memory of most Brits being pessimistic and complaining, I was shocked at how incredibly nice every person that we met was.  People went out of their way to be helpful, compliment the kids, offer us advice, etc.  Absolutely unbelievable.   The kids loved taking the Tube (the London subway) and mastered reading the maps and catching the correct train.  We walked for miles on several sunny days with temps in the mid 50’s.  We met up with several friends (The Malone family living in London for a year) and Greg Chapman who is working for Amazon in Luxembourg and was in London on business.  It was great seeing these folks, especially since they must have taken pity on our traveling circus and treated us to great meals, wine and some adult conversation.  It was so great to see Christmas lights, get a coffee at Starbucks, shop for basic supplies at known stores, and have confidence in knowing we were ordering.  In addition to enjoying the small pleasures of life, we were also treated to two incredible guided tours.  The first was at the British museum where our guide Lawrence (a 6’7” archeologist) enthralled the kids with animated stories of ancient civilizations throughout the world.  Using artifacts from around the world, he explained how different early civilizations were, but how alike they all were too, especially when it came to violence.  We decided that the worst culprits were the Aztecs.  They loved to sacrifice and torture.  If you get stuck in a time machine don’t dial in the Aztecs unless you’re extraordinarily well-armed.  Our second tour was a fabulous 3 hour history of the Tower of London by a woman named Viv.  It was a pleasure learning so much from 2 people who absolutely loved their work and were able to share their knowledge with the kids.  The museums have provided great insight into the benefit of our kids directly experiencing many places in person.  They have a fascinating recall of Greek and Roman and Egyptian gods.  The guides have been impressed and each museum visited reinforces what they’ve seen. 

London really delivered for us.  The kids loved their first theater experience (The Lion King).  It was a good safe bet and it was magical for Traci and me to see the unbridled joy on their faces at some of the amazing scenes and music.   Hayden and Halle joined me for a trip on the London Eye, the world’s tallest ferris wheel.  The lions were inappropriately tackled and touched at Trafalgar Square (Oh that little fence is made to keep kids out?), Westminster Abbey was fascinating with its rich history and graves of so many makers of history, the security in front of 10 Downey street was impressive (yet the guards were super friendly), and an old lady walked out of the front of Buckingham Palace escorted by a guard and I told the kids it must have been the queen although at a hundred yards away it almost certainly wasn’t (unless she travels incognito in a Toyota Rav 4).  At the end of 4 days we could have easily stayed and enjoyed another week.  Fabulous, fabulous town.

Next stop was Luxembourg to visit with our great friends Greg and Erin Chapman, with their kids Mackenzie (12), Sam (10) and Ben (9).  Greg is working there for Amazon and it was great to see them all again.  Hayden was in hog heaven, hanging with 2 boys and enjoying at least 4 hours per day on a rip stick or razor scooter.  The Chapmans were delighted to receive gifts from Venice, shorts and aprons depicting specific anatomical features from famous statues.  We walked, talked, watched movies, took long runs, played with their dog Oprah, and laughed with the kids.   After 2 days and 3 nights, we snuck out in the morning and left their house in pure disarray.  Under the cover of night, like fleeing hobos, we jumped a train to Paris.  It was a high speed train which was pretty cool.  I’m guessing we were traveling around 150mph and we arrived in Paris in 2 hours. 

In Paris we stayed in the fabulous apartment of the Frink family.  The apartment is located in an incredible, central location off the Luxembourg Gardens, and there we were joined for the week by Traci’s parents.  As in London, we pretty much enjoyed a lot of places that were the appropriate combination of activity and kid-centricity. We climbed the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, and the Arc De Triomphe.  We walked dozens of miles along the Seine, did some simple shopping on the Champs  Elysees.  We toured the Louvre, Hospital Invalides, the catacombs and Sacre Coeur and its adjoining streets.  We also enjoyed home cooked meals most nights.  I think the highlight of our week was being invited to the home of Heather and Peter Knox for Thanksgiving dinner.  Traci and Heather have been friends for what I shall very delicately say is about 4 decades.  While looking forward to the traditional meal, I was dreading trying to help procure the essentials when I am such a French language neophyte.   After a quick perusal of the local grocery store and several meat markets I came to the conclusion that Turkeys are outlawed in France, probably because of a very strong Duck and Chicken unions.  I was pretty much set on pizza or chicken for Thanksgiving dinner.  Then Traci scored an invite to the Knox’s.  That was seriously good work.  Peter is a gourmet chef and while I don’t think he would admit it, he prepared a spread that had to have taken several days, and having been in Paris for a few years he had obviously learned how to say “turkey” in French and more importantly learned where to procure said bird and even more importantly knew how to prepare it along with about 15 other dishes and every conceivable beverage that was never in lack of going dry and all were kept warm in one oven and presented and displayed perfectly.  Wow.  Super fun to see them and their kids and to be the recipients of such amazing hospitality.

Off to work off some of the calories from the past week by escorting Traci on a run along the Seine.  Not bad living.  November 30^th we depart for our winter haven in St. Anton, Austria.  Our current plans are to spend 3 months there before heading east in March.  That may change a bit depending on the weather.   La Nina is a nasty little brat from my current perspective.  While I loved her last winter, it seems that while the pacific NW mountains are getting buried, Europe is suffering for snow.  Currently there is no snow but the forecast next week looks promising.  Regardless we have a great apartment rented and are looking forward to life in an alpine ski village. 
 

We’ve been fortunate in the timing of our travels.  We escaped Greece just as major public employee strikes started happening.  We left Rome the day before the Italian equivalent of the occupy wall street protesters looted and burned areas around the Colosseum and then days later Rome was hit with horrendous floods.  We left Egypt a week after riots re-erupted and 40 people were killed (although I’m sure that had we been there it would have been safe anywhere away from Tahir Square).  I’m not a believer in cultural equivalency;  I’m glad that we were able to experience to wonders of many of the places we’ve visited but I’m looking forward to at least 3 months of the wonders of western civilization. 



Happy Bus in London with Nelson's column at Trafalgar Square in the background




Building we passed on the way to the British Museum where Anesthesiology was started



Our guide Lawrence at the British Museum, explaining how Aztecs disemboweld their victims



Rosetta stone at the British Museum



For the Harry Potter fans



Inside the Tower of London where Anne Boleyn, Jane Grey  and several others who weren't the correct flavor of the month were beheaded



Tower of London and guide Viv

Tower guards and their new prisoners



On the London Eye....the huge ferris wheel.  Where's Sydney?



Trafalgar Square.  What fence?



Lessons learned from Africa



What's a phone booth?  Thought I'd get a picture of these famous antiquities before they are completely irrelevant



Diagon Alley or a likely source thereof



Westminster Abbey and the rewards of their scavenger hunt

The Chapman family in Luxembourg sporting our gifts.  They are so proud



Sam, Hayden, Oprah, Ben and Halle.  Luxembourg is dog crazy. This is on the way home after lunch at a restaurant (and of course Oprah joined us IN the restaurant as well)



"That was funny....that car just about hit us!  Huh huh huh let's do that again"



Greg and Mackenzie taught Halle and Sydney how to play Lacross



Movie night

In Paris.  Notre Dame in background.  60 degrees and sunny.  Not bad for late November.



Doc White.  As a father he taught his kids about spitballs. As a grandfather revenge isn't so sweet.



With Traci's parents at the entrance to the Louvre



Mona something



Scarred for life visiting the bones of 6 million Parisiens in the Catacombs



Uncanny resemblance

Janice trying to figure out the public toilet, then being helped by Travis.  Toilet 1, Grandparents 0.



Peter Knox as Hayden and Halle go for seconds on Thanksgiving



Zander, Hayden, Halle, Sydney, Heather and Allegra



Our Hosts Heather and Peter Knox



An after dinner Thanksgiving walk along the Seine



Napoleon's Tomb



Traci and skippy cleaning dog poop from their shoes.  Halle finds happiness in everything.