Starfishy's Photo Journal: 2007

Monday, January 15, 2007

January 14th (Sunday)

Beach toys also make wonderful snow toys!

January 13th (Saturday)

We had a wonderful time playing and walking in the snow today.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Storm, storm, storm! Can we all say storm? I thought the best photo I could hope for today was the breakfast table being set... still missing the cherry tomatoes, pickles, farmer's yogurt, tea pot, coffeee... but you get the idea. I think every breakfast in Austria centers around the bread basket which definately includes those rolls you see on top and sliced black bread, misc. breads underneath. Sometimes we have soft boiled eggs too, but basically it is cold cuts and cheese!

A-ha! But by afternoon we did have small patches of blue sky and I was able to take this photo of the mountain. Skiing in the morning was difficult at best - high winds tended to stop us all in our tracks! Visability was terrible (one of my classmates actually went out before class and went completely off the trail by accident!). We had to stay on a fairly easy trail simply because it is the one with a chairlift that has a bubble to protect against the weather (which, by day 5 of skiing was just FINE with my leg muscles!). But - ahhh, the snow was fresh, deep and powdery (and of course - just the perfect conditions for broken legs, as our teacher was sure to point out - so be careful, and careful we were!). And the reward for being dressed and on the slope came in the afternoon when the weather broke and there we were - skiing on fresh snow in the glorious mountains!!!!

In the meantime, Little Boy stayed home from ski school to play at the house (he also skipped yesterday afternoon because he declared he wanted a nap rather than go back after lunch!). But - in the afternoon DH brought him to the "awards" ceremony and all the kids got ski medals and photos that the ski school had taken earlier in the week. He is soooo proud of his "first" ski medal! LOL. Our son was sound asleep by 4 pm so my DH and I went to the beer tent to meet my ski mates for a drink at the end of the week (Omi was left in charge of the sleeping babe), but alas, we must be getting old, because finally we have someone to watch our son and we left within 1/2 of an hour as it was soooo crowded and noisy!

Jan 11th (Thursday)

How did skiing go today? Well, we did - steep slopes and moguls - which of course, means I fell - more than once. But, I bounced back up each time laughing. And - my ski teacher really does push us - lots - and keeps an eagle eye on us - so I am learning. Unfortunately, one of my class mates broke his thumb. Here's a photo from the top of 1 slope - right where everyone meets their group (because for some reason you always seem to get seperated in the chair lift lines) and takes photos - smile - then go a few more feet and meet a slooooope!!!! End of smile, LOL!

Taking the T-Bar to get to where I want to be at the end of the day - big sigh of relief - I am tired! But happy - despite my falls, it was great fun! Please be slightly impressed with this slightly blurry photo because believe me, taking a photo while on a T-Bar is a slight challenge!

Jan 10th (Weds)

Beautiful, isn't it? Even more beautiful is that it is an EASY slope, phew! Not so sure I could face the top of a steep slope today - truth be told - it rained, yes rained yesterday so the slopes are very icy in the morning. Carve, carve, carve - ohhh my leg muscles, but my ski instructor has very little pity. What's up with rain in the winter??? Thankfully, I took the afternoon off to go to my son's Kinder-Fest... (see next photo)...

His ski school had an afternoon of Krapfen's (think jelly filled donuts, but not quiet as sweet), plus hot punch for the kids, followed by pig-pile sledding down a hill on a tube - here you can see me with my son (front and center - can't miss my retro pink snow suit - my son is in green) - we are waiting in line to get him on a tube. 1 adult and about 3-4 kids per ride. He had lots of fun! And you know what, so did my DH and I!!!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Jan 9th

It gives me a happy thrill to look at these photos - my 3.5 year old son at ski school. He says it is "kind-ov fun" and he "sort-ov likes it" - already learning how to talk like a teenager! 1st photo - he is on a moving sidewalk that brings him up a little slope. He is holding an orange tube that he sometimes skies down with - holding it between his legs. Holding the tube helps keep his knees together and skis together so his legs/skis aren't going in every which direction. 2nd photo - he is skiing down without the tube.

Jan 8th

To the top! I had to turn around in the chair going up to get the photo of the chair going down. Taking photos on a chair lift is a bit tricky - first off - I am holding onto my ski poles for dear life because I certainly don't want to ski down the mountain without my poles (although there are skiers who do, I am not one of them)!. Then - there is the matter of getting my glove off (and also not dropping it) and extracting my camera from the zippered pocket... in the meantime - I am keeping an eye out to make sure we aren't so close to the top that I have to start getting ready to get off! Taking all of this into account - I am fairly pleased with these 2 photos. I am in the Austrian Alps - and thankfully there IS snow because so many places don't have snow right now.

And a photo of my 3.5 year old son - waiting to be picked up for his very 1st day of ski school!!!

Monday, January 8, 2007

January 7th

I took this photo out of the car window as we were buzzing along at about 110 km, so it is amazing that I even was able to capture this tiny shed. The country side is dotted with these sheds - they look loosly constructed with every other slat missing so lots of air flow. Know what they are? They are hay sheds. Lots of fields still have them - but as farmers are embracing the plastic wrapped hay bales (and who can blame them - I think that this was a great invention in the farming arena!), hay sheds are going by the wayside - either from disrepair or even removal to make more room for crops. On the other hand - yesterday I saw many sheds with recent repairs, so maybe after a period of absense the farmers are using them again - maybe not for loose hay, but something else? One of these days I will ask DH to stop so I can get out and take some great photos, but at the speed - by the time I see something interesting and then my brain communicates to my mouth to say I want to stop - well - we are well past the shed!

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Jan 5th

I don't think I've ever seen sliced bread here in Austria - you buy your bread by the loaf and slice it at home. A bread slicer is a common kitchen appliance (it's just like a meat/cheese slicer) or at the very least - a good quality bread knife!

I get a kick out of all the tiny cars we see - this one is a display in a ski shop. Cute, huh?

Jan 4th

The lights still look pretty at night.

Jan 3rd

Downtown Graz. I am always facinated by how much "bicycle parking" there is in the city - people ride bikes everywhere!

The trams are very popular. My 3.5 year old son likes the different paint jobs - a favorite being one that has fish painted all over it. Me, well - I have a fondness for the original green ones... plus they don't have funny paint all over the windows so you can actually see out!

The Christmas decorations are starting to feel a bit out of place... but at least we have bright blue skies today! No cars are allowed downtown - just the trams, so there is no traffic noise - when you stop and listen you can hear hundreds of footsteps echoing on the sidewalks.