Last Day of Skiing and Back to Landshut

We got an early start today, swapped my boots for a larger pair and were back on the slopes. Today, the weather was divine: sunny but still cold and the snow was freshly groomed. We worked our way to the sunny side mountains and skied around there most of the day. We debated how many Quanods were in the Micheal Bublé song (Manueal was right with the 3), Nic and Manual tried to sing Winter Wonderland, but I ruined their fun by singing a lot of Schnappi (http://www.schnappi.tv/neues.php). We went to a close by Alm for lunch (I had Germknodel) then we skied until we darkness was absolute. Later, we headed back to Manual’s favorite Alm where we ran into a bunch of Bavarians. Manuel thought they were Swebbish at first, which would have made it harder to be their friends. They were totally rowdy, and when I tried English, they all started laughing and told me to take the bubble gum out of my mouth. Manuel explained that Germans have this idea that Americans talk like their jaw is stuck, but this is still better than how the British speak. I somehow earned the nickname Mr. Chicago, and an accompanying song where the only English I understood was “May there always be a Mr. Chicago!” I think they were calling Nic John Wayne, but I was totally confused by the whole affair.
Again, another night skiing venture down to the “Hut” where we watched Tomorrow Never Dies in German (at least it wasn’t Viva La Bam, which is a horrendous show and is on way too often here). Manual’s dad arrived; we helped him settle in before heading out to check out the town nightlife for our last night here in Kitzbürg. We went to a Highway, a bar where we there were some people who “Weren’t bad looking for Austrians.” Are Austrians supposed to be hideous or something?
After a long drive back to Landshut, with a quick stop by a Austrian castle where Manual reenacted the Bavarian invasion, we had a huge lunch/dinner back at the Schatner household before heading to the castle tour in the city. The castle tour will be told in the form of a short narrative in the a few following entries. Some names have been changed in order to protect their true identities…

SKIING!!!

First day of skiing! Plenty of pictures were taken, much to the chagrin of Nic and Manual, and a few will be posted. I rented a pair of massive parabolic Atomic RC8s and a pair of Salomon boots. The skies were awesome, not too fast but perfect for the snow conditions and totally fun. The boots, on the other hand, didn’t really fit right but it didn’t bother me too much. Nic got some off-pist double tipped skies, so he spent a significant percentage of the time on the slopes skiing backwards. Visibility was low, but that just meant there was no one else on the slopes as far as we were concerned. We were able to careen reclassly around the alps like the stupid Americans we were (we co-opted Manuel into this group). The slopes here seemed MUCH larger than what I am used to, also, there are far fewer safety precautions and no ski patrol to speak of. The sunsets and it gets pitch black around 3:00, so we worked our way over to Manual’s favorite Alm for a huge “lunch.” It’s a tiny hut, hidden under the snow that features some awesome food that makes only one meal a day necessary. I had schnitzel and this crazy soup with ham. We ate way to much, and didn’t need dinner until 11, but we made our way down to the car in the dark, and had did some ice driving (Manual should be a stunt driver, I can’t believe there are no dents on the 7).
We gambled the night away with this dice game called Metch, then hit the sauna for 3 cycles.

Bavarian Ridiculousity

Things don’t always go as planned, but at least everything has a silver lining. Missing our train provided the silver lining of an extra day in Paris and 30 euros back in Nic’s pocket. Unfortunately the silver lining was masking uncomfortable seats and a sleepless night-train to Munich. We were in a packed compartment with ridged seats: as one side of my body fell asleep, I shifted positions to make sure that half didn’t atrophy.
Thankfully we arrived in Landshuft bright and early Monday morning, with our Transporter in his new 7 series was waiting to deliver us to a ridiculous Bavarian Breakfast. We raced our way to the Palais Schatner, skidding and slidding down the cramped streets, to be welcomed by the senior Schatners and Thomas. After settling in and having 2 heavy (but heavinly) Bavarian meals, Thomas gave us a tour of Landshuft, which was highlighted by his ex-girlfriends’ houses.
We met up with Manuel at a café and had yet MORE food and hot chocolate before heading to the movie 11:14. This was one insane movie, starring Hilary Swank and a large cast. It was a series of crazy dark humor convergent stories that all revolved around the time 11:14.
The next day, we headed to Munich for Manuel’s classes and to meet up with Thomas. We spent a lot of time touring Munich with Thomas, only to have Manuel show us landmarks and ask, “What did Thomas show you if he didn’t show you this stuff?” The answer: his ex-girlfriend’s places. Thomas actually showed us a lot of the major shopping areas, as well as the impressive BMW pavilion.
We headed out to Kitzbürg that night, which is only an hour outside of Munich. The “Hut” they have there is no “Hut” at all, and is rather larger than the majority of the surrounding buildings. We settling in quickly, looking forward to our first day of Austrian skiing!

Au Revior Mon Cheri

The Paris program is officially over. I am currently drowning my sorrows in fine Austrian snow along with loads of Bavarian food and drink with Manuel and Nic. Niki and Katie accused me of not acknowledging the sadness of the end of our program, but I believe that we have so much to look forward to now. I can’t wait to see my family back in the city and show them my personal Paris, as well as plenty of smaller gatherings of friends in the city. I know we can’t recreate the time we had in Paris, but the memory is will do for now.
Writing this has depressed, so I am going to eat massive quantities of snitzel and drink Rattler with Manual and Thomas.

Random Thoughts

Did Jesus have a Bar Mitzvah?
My mind tends to wander when I am working on a paper.