This quick ski trip with my dad served as a transition to begin my time in Prague. We traveled two long days from Texas to Munich, after having to change our flights super last minute. From Munich, we rented a car and drove for two hours to Kitzbühel, Austria. Although there is a train station in Kitzbühel, Dad wanted to drive on the autobahn- the German highway without a speed limit (in some spots). When we arrived, we quickly checked in at the hotel and walked to a shop nearby to rent ski gear for the next three days.
Skiing
The first day of skiing was snowy and cold. It took a couple of runs to adjust to the lack of visibility and remember how to ski again. 🙂 Only a few ski lifts were open due to the weather, but we still managed a great ski day.
The weather on the second day was much worse than the day before. We waited until the afternoon to ski, hoping that more ski lifts would open, and the snow would lessen. Unfortunately, we only skied down twice before it was uncomfortable and unsafe to ski anymore.
On the third day, we had bluebird ski conditions. The sun came out, and we could see the surrounding mountain range. At the top of a lift, there was an interesting Cool-Whip-like snow formation, made from the previous days’ snow and wind. We skied most of the day and even found a short slalom course that we raced down. (Dad’s skied faster than me by 0.6 of a second; he was too scared for a rematch I think.)
There are a few differences between skiing in the US and in Austria that I noticed. My family’s favorite ski resort is Wolf Creek in Colorado, where the slopes have interesting names, such as Charisma, Flim-Flam, Star Wars, QuickSilver, and Summer Day. The runs are colored, green, blue, and black to identify beginner, intermediate, and expert levels. There are many places to ski in between the trees on the edges of runs. In Kitzbühel, the runs are numbered and colored blue, red, and black for ski levels. Nobody skied in between the trees, and often it was blocked off. There were far more places to ski in this resort than in Wolf Creek, and we enjoyed exploring different parts of the mountain. I had a blast skiing, and I am hoping to ski the Alps again.
Town
When the ski lifts were closed on the second day, I spent the morning meandering around the town center while Dad worked in the hotel room. The buildings were brilliant colors of red, yellow, blue, and green– it looked like a typical, European village in winter (which it was). I initially couldn’t figure out a way into the Church of Our Lady, but I found some tourists and followed them to the entrance. The church artwork was beautiful. My favorite piece was the painting of St. Peter before his crucifixion because it reminds me of a painting and a favorite quote of mine, “Quo vadis, Domine?”
On the last day, Dad and I wandered around the town looking for a place for dinner. Our indecisiveness caused us to venture past the main town square and into the residential part of town. We eventually picked a small restaurant called Holzer’s. Our waiter was friendly and welcomed us as if we were regular guests. We ordered traditional Austrian cuisine, including oxtail and an apricot dessert. Dad likes to ask the waiters where they are from to start a conversation. I was surprised that none of the waiters we talked to were from Austria; they were from Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy. At Holerz’s, our waiter was from Russia, and he was thrilled to meet some fellow Russians.
On the last day in Austria, we ate breakfast at the hotel and drove the car to Munich to catch a train to Prague!
kira vesta 
One thought on “Kitzbühel, Austria”