A White Christmas!

After a week of rediculous fun in Hopfgarten, it was time to leave my new found friends and head to Salzburg where I was meeting Mark, Tim, Shelley and their friends Loz and Johnny... I was so excited to see them! There was just a small issue... I travelled with my big backpack... and I had a bung shoulder. Let me tell you, it was not what I would call comfortable!! It seemed the entire tour headed to Munich, whilst it was only myself and Todd that caught the train to Salzburg. By the time I arrived and said goodbye to Todd, I was wrecked. I was told the walk to the hostel was 10 minutes... with the directions I was given, it was more like 30! By the time I arrived, it was 6:00pm and I was ready for bed. A quick bite of dirty macca's and I was snuggled into my reasonably comfortable hostel bed.

PLEASE: If you are thinking of staying in a hostel and sharing a room with strangers, please take note and do not do the following:

• Blow dry your hair next to the head of a sleeping person, especially when there are hair dryers in the bathroom
• Turn on the light that is right next to the person who is sleeping and then leave the room
• Giggle and talk in your loudest voices whilst someone is OBVIOUSLY sleeping - regardless of the time
• Then get up at 4:30am the next morning (after only being in the room for one night) and spend TWO HOURS clearing out and re-packing your suitcases using plastic bags for everything
• Giggle and talk in your loudest voices whilst people are sleeping at 4:30am

Needless to say I was at the train station super early (after finding the 10 minute route) to wait for Mark and co. When Shelley saw me and started running, that was it.. the water works started... That's when I realised how tired I actually was. After a quick introduction to Loz and Johnny, I got my long awaited cuddle from Mark and got on the train for our 2 hour ride to Zel Em See.

Our accommodation was a cute little apartment that we found on airbnb, and it was situated about 100m from the ski lift. Tim was up that mountain pretty much as soon as he arrived, whilst Mark, Shelley and I engaged in our first snowball fight and explored the town. It was such a cute little town... where Mark participated in another snowball fight with some random little kids. We strolled through the little Christmas markets and enjoyed mulled wine and hot chocolate..mmmm.....

Christmas Eve was spent up the mountain. I was pretty exhausted still from the previous week's boarding, and my shoulder was hindering my progress, so I just cruised down the mountain heel-side . It wasn't ideal, but it was fun enough... to start with.... We stuck to the blue (easy) run, which unfortunately led to a gross goat track that I felt with my butt more than my feet. After a few tears, I finally caught up with Mark and headed home. Mark meanwhile excelled when he went off with Tim... damn it! He just picked it right up!

Christmas morning was spent skyping family and a big breaky! It still didn't feel like Christmas... But we made the most of it. We decided that we would have a big Christmas dinner instead of lunch, and we headed off for the mountain. We started the day boarding/skiing with our respective partners... And Christmas 2012 will always be remembered as the Christmas I through a tantrum that would rival any my nieces and nephews have every thrown. To cut a long story short, I was tired, sore and very grumpy. I didn't want to strap my board on when I went on the chair lift... there was a fair amount of foot stomping and huffing and puffing.. then tears... To Mark's credit, he was so good with me... he didn't get mad, he kind of just let me have the tanty, then laughed after I had finished. It was pretty obvious that I needed to get the board off, and hang it up.... for a year or so....

Christmas dinner was amazing, with everyone chipping in and helping out. If we couldn't spend Christmas with our families... Tim, Shelley, Loz and Johnny were fantastic substitutes! 

Whilst the boys spent the last day on the slopes, us girls headed off to Salzburg to the Sound of Music Tour. I couldn't help but think of my Nanna and Poppa whilst on this tour. I'm pretty sure every time we stayed at their house, The Sound of Music would be on numerous times a day!! It was great to see all the locations it was filmed at.. and Salzburg is a beautiful city.

Once again, the photo's do not do the scenery justice. I can't find the words to describe the feeling of being on top of the mountain. To say that the views were breathtaking would be an understatement. When I took a moment to stand back and really look at where we were, a moment of peace seemed to come over me. Yes, even after my tantrum! The view from the top of that mountain was honestly the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. 

Christmas of 2012 will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life and will not only be known as the Christmas of my tantrum, but the Christmas that we got to spend with amazing company and in an equally as amazing country.