Bonne Année

  Happy New Year people!  So, I know my blog has turned into a sad desert of emptiness.  Good news though, I have made a new year's resolution to make this forgotten tumbleweed into something near awesome.  I can't go all the way for complete awesomeness yet because that would just be too much pressure.  In the upcoming weeks I hope to fill in some of that wide open space that fell blank, so there won't be a lot of timeline continuity to start.  Pretty sure all you hungry hoards can deal with that though.  To start I thought I would share about J and I's mini-vacation to the Austrian Alps.

  We left for Munich on the day after Christmas.  Because we are crazy, we had to get up at 3am after staying up way too late on Christmas with some friends and family.  After the bus, train, plane ordeal we finally made it to Munich around 8am.  Here our Russian friend, who invited us along on this ski trip in the first place, picked us up.  At this point all I want is a nap, but our friend had maybe a better idea.  Right off he says "I advise that you not delay in drinking a beer".   Weeeelll, twist my arm.   So, this will be my new way to greet people visiting J and I in Paris.  I might take it up a notch with some wine.

A quick pit stop in Munich.  Here we are watching the Glockenspiel in action.

  Our Russian friends had been to this area for skiing before and they had booked us at a little out of the way mom and pop hotel in Austria.  This place was crazy adorable.  The owner shook all our hands as he greeted us in.  They also have an restaurant that cooks fresh caught trout for dinner.  It waaas amazing.  Well, except for the bones in the fish, I'm horrible at picking those things out...I'm slightly convinced there is still one caught in the back of my throat.  Anyways, the hotel was located near several different ski resorts and off we went!

Me, looking into the abyss.

  That might be better said as of they went!  See, I am new to skiing, I only learned a few years ago and have had minimal experience since then.  Once we got up to the top of the mountain the idea of skiing down it grew more and more terrifying in my mind.  After finally pulling together some determination, J escorted me to the baby hill.  Here's where I truly flipped out, full on panic attack.  I couldn't even feel my knees under me.  It was a hot mess for sure.  So as soon as we reached the bottom I frantically ripped off my skis and decided a day drinking in the lodge sounded like a good idea. 

I picture from the top!  I made the trip with the help of ski lifts ;)

  Luckily for me, the trip wasn't all skiing.  We visited a swimming pool/sauna center in the mountains.  The swimming area was extremely cool.  They had an inside and outside portion.  Outside, there was a heated pool and extra heated jacuzzi portion.  Swimming and floating around with mountain peaks dotting the sky was truly an awesome experience.  The sauna, on the other hand, was a learning experience!  Zoinks!  Turns out J and I should have read up on the rules of sauna before we went...let's just say that now we know!  We also had the chance to walk around Munich a bit, eat tons of German and Austrian delicacies (shnitzel galore!),  and even made it to Neuschwanstein. It was a great trip and even though there were some language barriers with a few of our Russian friends we had a great time and got to meet some truly kind people.

J and I at Neuschwanstein.

  Well, I hope this starts to satiate my hungry followers out there!  I am aiming to post at least twice a month, but maybe more.  So, hopefully you will hear from me again soon!

~L