It was a truly wonderful Christmas because we got to spend it with some friends from home! Our friend Alicia, from Charleston, and her friend Nikki have been traveling all over the world for the past 9 weeks (Hawaii, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Bali, Dubai, Amsterdam...) Peter, from Sullivan's Island, SC, is working on an oil rig off the coast of Holland so he joined us too!
They met us in Innsbruck, Austria and we had a blast!
Alicia and Nikki were excited to try authentic Austrian cuisine so we went to many local restaurants.
Background info: In Charleston, I mostly ate what I labeled a "Meegan" (pronounced like Vegan with an M) diet. This consists of fruits, grains, veggies, seafood, nuts, coffee/tea, wine and chocolate. I chose these foods for many reasons, mainly because I enjoy them and they are ideal for my digestion and overall health according to Dr. Peter D'Adamo's book "Eat right for your blood type" Anyway, my point is that I have not been strictly "Meegan" since moving to Europe since I plan to try everything at least once.
I usually don't crave meat so when my friends tried the wienerschnitzel (breaded and fried pork), I opted for the rahmschnitzel (noodles with rosemary cream sauce). At one point, I attempted to order a healthy option but the "green salad" was covered with bacon wrapped cheeses and fried potatoes. So I decided "when in Rome (or Innsbruk) ..." and proceeded to consume mass quantities of cheese - cheese dumplings, cheese noodles, cheese potatoes, mushroom cheese toast, pretzels with assorted cheese dips, cheese strudel...
By day 3, my stomach was killing me and I didn't think I would survive to open my presents from Santa. It probably did not help that I chugged 2 liters of accidentally purchased "Classic" (aka carbonated) water which really put my stomach in a tailspin. While Skyping with my mother and groaning about my excruciating abdominal pain, she quickly retorted "did you forget that you are lactose intolerant?" Well, good thing for Cindy's medical expertise and ability to diagnose the cause of my anguish. Looking back, I realize this was another reason for adopting the "Meegan" lifestyle I had come to love. Lesson learned: limit dairy intake
However, this will not deter my plan to eat fondue when we go to Switzerland for New Years Eve
On a brighter note, we had an amazing time skiing & snowboarding on a nearby mountain. The conditions were perfect and sunny! The ski resort (Aximer Linzum) was not very crowded so we did not have to wait in any lines.
The slopes were steep and I was rusty. The Alps have amazing lodges on the mountains that serve delicious warm beverages and goulash. Xmas techno music was bumping too! The Europeans dominated huge beers and Jagermeister at the top of the chairlifts and trams(huge train/cable car) and still made it down alive. It seemed risky to drink given my novice ski skills and general tolerance so I refrained until after we finished.
After a long exhausting day on the slopes, we enjoyed "Apre-ski" (post ski cocktails and celebrations)
We stayed in a condo in Vols, Austria that we found on www.airbnb.com
Travel tip: highly recommend this site when you need a room, condo, or house instead of a hotel, it will save money and you can have a kitchen and more space than a typical hotel room
The view from our condo was spectacular (see below)
Vols is a super small town so we didn't have much to explore but we did find a bar with darts, foosball and an entertaining Austrian game called "nailing"
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| Nailing |
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| Alicia was great at "nailing" |
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| Notice Scoot's in deep concentration- tongue out like MJ |
We were determined to find a Christmas tree for our condo and lucky for us we met a generous Austrian bartender named Bart who was willing to donate a lonely and perfect tree!
we carried it home
On Christmas Eve, we decorated the tree and cooked a delicious dinner!
I'm so glad you had a wonderful Christmas with friends with a proper Christmas tree. I'm going to your Mt. P house this evening for some post-Christmas fun with Mical & Julie. I've been told that I can wear my shoes into the house. I probably won't though so Scott take breathe a sigh of relief. And I won't use a paper towel, even if it's offered to me.
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Wow what a fantastic Christmas! what a great environment, the views look amazing. I couldn't imagine a better place to be for the holidays,,, maybe except for Switzerland! Say hi to Gimmekwald for me.
ReplyDeleteHahaha love that Christmas tree!!
ReplyDeletePlease tell me you were actually all county for tuba playing.. I wish I had known this in high school! This all sounds amazing, food, drinking, christmas trees and friends from home! Love, Jealous in New York.
ReplyDeleteMeg, the mountains are GORGEOUS!!!! And look at you and Scoots smooching! You must be preparing for your trip to Italy with all that PDA; either that or you've adopted some fun ways to stay warm. I think it might be more than I ever saw here in the sunny south. Haha. Love you both.
ReplyDeleteI had tears in my eyes yet again from laughing... this is so insanely fantastic. so pumped for you both and glad you are living it. i can't wait to visit and meet the fellow Serb, and perhaps Bart, and crew. Love you all!
ReplyDeleteMegan... I'm loving your blog! I'm glad you had a merry Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful 2013!!
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