If it is already so cold outside, I would rather prefer for it to be snowing as well, wouldn’t you? As we don’t have any snow yet, I thought, I would publish this older post for Throw Back Thursday – here’s what winter fun I have in mind:

This was in January 2008 (my God, it’s crazy how the time flies!). We had no kids and did not even realise just how much free time we had on our hands. Indeed, you don’t really value something you have until you lose it. I can definitely say that most of my free time is lost, at least for now.

My husband can ski pretty well, but I (being not a sporty person at all and somehow existing with a virtually zero feeling of balance) never even learned. So for that trip we chose a place with plenty of easy slopes for a freshman like me. What can I say – one of the most vivid memories from that trip is feeling like a cripple and aching all over. I guess, that was my body telling me that, just maybe, I was not that fit after all.

Of course, such tiny detail as physical incapability could not distract me from the main reason of our visit to Bad Hofgestein – the Alps. Standing on top of the mountain, breathing in the fresh air, looking at the beauty below – it just left me breathless and in awe. It might have partially been due to my fear of heights, but I bravely told myself to forget about such meaningless things as phobias (thankfully, spiders, my other cause of fear, were nowhere around, so that left just one phobia for me to battle with).

Two instructors, who in turn undertook such a difficult task as teaching me how to ski, were amazingly patient people. I think, they acquired the right level of patience while working with 3 year old students. Always taking it easy, never complaining, even after I rolled down the hill towards one of them and we slowly but surely rolled further down together in a pile of hands, legs and skis. Not a harsh word, just a cushioning effect and a helping hand to get up later.

Trying to understand what he means by ‘balance’ and how I could bring that ‘balance’ onto my left leg..

Younger and more talented students:

Not feeling particularly optimistic about this trail.

That’s better:

Thanks to such a great training, I was finally able to follow my husband down the mountain along some of the easiest trails and felt like a hero at that.

All our days were filled with skiing and all evenings were rather quiet with some hot chocolate and gluhwein to follow. However, Bad Hofgestein is also famous for its thermal spas, so if you visit, try them out as well. We just wanted to spend most of our time skiing or just rolling in the snow, because – why not?