Well, our time in St.Anton has finally come to an end and as we figured, it has flown by pretty quickly. The snow has been great and we have had some great ski days. We are told it has actually been one of the best years for snow in a long time, so I guess we where lucky. Work has recently been more manageable for Joel, and Scott has enjoyed being unemployed for the last month or so. Scott started his job earlier so when his parents came to visit he quit with what he hopes will be enough money to keep traveling. Scott's family arrived the first weekend in March. Their week started off with great skiing during the day followed by a celebration of Alex's (Scott's younger sister) 19th birthday at night. The rest of the week had mixed weather but skiing still happened most days. It sounded like everyone had a blast in St. Anton and it was nice to see some familiar faces.
Because Scott didn't have to work, his mom decided to stay in Europe for an additional week so that they could spend some quality time with each other. So they rented a car in Zurich and decided to see the sights of Switzerland, covering a lot of ground in just one week. All in all they were able to see the sights of Zurich, Burn, Neuchatel, Fribourg and Montreux. Of all the cities Montreux was a definite favourite, as it is situated on the beautiful Lake Geneva with a mountainous back drop and a great climate.
Two days after Scott returned from Switzerland Joel's family arrived for a visit. Because not everyone in his family are skiers they decided to stay in St.Anton for just 2 nights of their 8 day vacation in Europe. This allowed us to have a great ski day with Joel's dad while his mom and sister took a trip to Innsbruck. That night the 5 of us enjoyed a great dinner at Hazienda, the restaurant Joel works at. It was St.Patrick's day so Scott, Joel and Julie figured they had to go out and have a Guinness at the local Irish Pub. Joel was fortunate to get a few days off which allowed him to travel with his parents. The first place they visited was Liechtenstein. There was not much to see there so they also checked out Lake Constance and finally ended up at their hotel right below the Neuschwanstein Castle. The next day they started off by touring the castle.
From there they hit the autobahn and ended in Salzburg. Joel only got three days off so the next day he took the 3 hour train ride back to St.Anton. Getting out of the village was a refreshing change. Staying in a hotels and traveling with family was very different from the backpacker/ski bum lifestyle we have become so accustomed to.
After the family visits it started to feel like our time in St.Anton was coming to a close. The last few weeks have been some of the best of the season. Now that it's spring the weather is amazing. Unlike at home, we have gotten no rain. Our last big dump of snow happened in mid March and since then it has been beautiful sunny days with great spring skiing conditions. At times it can be hot sitting in the sun so it has been pretty nice to pull out the shorts and spend a little time working on the base tan after a hard day on the slopes.
The fact that there are sun chairs and patios all over the village also helped, in addition to a nice patio at Scott's which has been getting lots of use, now known as Gruber beach.
(Above is Joel sitting on Gruber beach beside Alex, one of Scott's Sweedish housemates.)
The nightlife has also been pretty good through the last month. People have been slowing moving out of Scott's house, so the going away parties have been taking place quite regularly, making for some good times. As well, the ski bums are coming out more because the best ski days have unfortunately come to an end.
Joel's restaurant closed on Easter Sunday, a day that was looked forward to by everyone. He got Easter Monday off and then enjoyed 2 days of cleaning. The first of which started at 8 am the mourning after one of the biggest party nights in St. Anton.
We left St.Anton on April 17th, a very bittersweet event. St.Anton has been our home away from home for roughly 5 months for Scott and 4 for Joel. Although there have been some tough days at work the good times will be the things that we will really remember. We have met, partied and worked with some great people and made friendships that will surly last a lifetime. The skiing has been the best we have ever experienced. Choosing to live in this Austrian ski village was one of the best decisions we made for our trip, and will surely be one of the most memorable highlights.
Next stop Venice for the weekend. Then down through Italy, Greece and then over to Istanbul and up through Montenegro, Croatia and into Eastern Europe.
