Recovered and out exploring
Dairy farm in the middle of town
Man we were beat last night. Laurie went to bed and I stayed up a little longer so she could get to sleep before I started snoring. I found myself waking up to a page full of gibberish and type where I fell asleep while typing leaving half a page of the letter “k”. We slept something like ten straight hours. I’m much better today.
We are staying in what is called a “gaste haus”, what would be known in the states as a b and b. It is not large like a hotel, but has around 6 rooms. The owners live on site and they cook and do the day to day running of the place. They are a couple in their 70’s and are wonderful hosts. 
Our room at Gaust Haus Ahornblick in Mayrhofen , Austria
When we checked in last night they showed us around and explained where everything was. Then they brought us a shot of schnaps and we were told that it was customary in Austria for the hosts to bring a drink to arriving guests. Who can argue with a custom like that?
While we were what could be considered walking wounded, we wanted dinner before turning in and wound up at a great Italian restaurant perhaps a hundred yards from where we are staying. We had truly superb food, drinks, and spent an hour chatting with a young couple from the UK in town “on holiday”. 
The town square and church
I love cafe culture in Europe, sitting around outdoors under heaters and talking about the world with folks you just met. It’s common here and we’ve done it many times before. It gives a different perspective than your own to travel destinations and the world in general. I don’t see it much in the states but we wind up in the middle of it often when we travel over here.
When we can no longer keep our eyes open, we come back to the gaste haus, brush our teeth and pass out. We needed sleep….and this morning we woke up pretty much on Europe time. It’s the end of the day and we’re still doing okay. 
Laurie at breakfast
Our room is very nice, and when we woke this morning we went to the breakfast room which is right beside our room. We had a normal Tyrol (the region of Austria we are in) breakfast which consisted of fresh bread, cold cuts, several types of cheese, coffee, juice, soft boiled eggs, and yogurt. It was quite good. While lingering over breakfast we decided how we would spend our day.
We decided that we would not ski today. While there is snow up on the mountain, there is no snow down in the town. It’s rather warm actually. We plan to explore the town and get our bearings, have leisurely drinks and snacks, shop for souvenirs, figure out when and where to get on the lifts, and rent our ski equipment. 
The view from our balcony
I will freely admit that if there was monster snow, I would have went out first lift this morning, but there are no storms and no new snow. Consequently, I don’t feel bad about taking a day. It has been warm here, and reports are that the snow up top is “okay”. Not fantastic, not terrible, quite skiable, but not like we had in Chamonix two years ago. It was also nice to take a break.
We walk through a cute Alpine town, buy trinkets, get shampoo (the room did not have shampoo), and have a nice lunch. We wander a bit more, do some photos, and visit a farm right in the middle of town. While odd, it’s cool that the town and the farm are able to coexist. We wander neighborhoods and look at the cool Alpine houses. 
I'm a car guy...and am using my wife for scale. It's a Clubman Mini.
Around 3 p.m. we go to the place we have decided to rent our ski gear to pick it up. It is called “Sport Wegscheider” and is around 75 yards from where we are staying. If we look out the window of our room we can see the ski shop. The staff are incredibly friendly, help us select proper gear, fit our boots, and they gave us a discount as we had contacted them earlier.
I used to work in the ski business when in college. I can tell when someone is going through the motions and just wants your money. This was definitely not the case. The staff took the time to individually measure our feet instead of just asking us what size we wanted. They discussed boot fit, told us where to ski and where we should skip. They also had the best prices in town. If you’re coming to Mayrhofen…….these are the folks you want to rent from. Five stars. 
Laurie and the crew at Sport Wegscheider. Top notch!
We take our skis back to where we are staying. They have a ski room where you can store your gear and it has a boot warmer/dryer. You hang your boots on it and put your skis in the rack, leaving lots of space in the room you are staying in. If your boots get wet during the day, they’ll be dry tomorrow and warm when you put them on. It’s such a nice setup.
We go back into town and have drinks at the restaurant from the previous night, which as I mentioned before, was awesome. We chatted for over an hour with a young German couple about our lives, the world, travel, etc. Our evening chat with them (and the young UK couple the night before) was such a wonderful way to spend part of our day. 
Ski room and boot dryer where we are staying
We opted to try another restaurant for dinner which was…..okay. We should have stayed at the other place and just had dinner. Sometimes you choose well….sometimes you don’t. We call that a tactical error.
Pay attention to the photo gallery at the bottom after the story of our day. We’re headed to bed now, with plans to ski tomorrow. Goodnight everyone! |
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