Skiing, Schnitzels, Snow and Surprises

I got a lovely surprise in the post yesterday! A Christmas parcel from my wonderful relatives in Canada!

Some Christmas bits (candles, TISSUES!, little decoration, gingerbread men), socks... such fluffy, warm socks! Lilac pashmina with little sequins. Those little snowmen are HAND warmers! Have you ever heard of something so amazing!? You push their bellies and they warm up to about 40 degrees, and then after you just put them in hot water to soften and you can use them again! And of course, hot chocolate (the cone shaped thing) WITH mini marshmellows and choc chips.

And what perfect timing too! After the snow-less weekend that Munich had, and the tiny bit of sun that managed to pierce through my coat as I cycled to the store on Sunday to buy flour (banana bread craving), I can confirm that the snow has returned.

It must have started at the early hours of yesterday morning, and has been plummeting down since. So it's back to stockings under jeans and walking to the train station. Sigh. The cycling was so nice.

I don't have fur around the hood of my coat (I thought this was silly until I realised it's purpose) but luckily I found a sweet little beanie in France that has a little peak to stop the snow from blinding me. I know what you're thinking, "Robyn, you're so fancy!" Well, I try :)

We went skiing in Zauchensee, Austria, this weekend. And as much as I was dreading the 6am wake up ON A SATURDAY, I did it. What fun! I was reunited with my original Learning-To-Ski buddies, the South African National Ski Team for short, and my confidence returned. That, and I took my ipod this time. (Doesn't music just make the biggest difference in you life?)

So off we went, on actual slopes. Away from the kiddies slopes. Hooray! Success! Until it got to 3pm and my belly was full (schnitzel :) ) and my legs were sore they wouldn't co-operate. And we were at the top of a very long, very bumpy slope. Well, we just had to keep going.

I'm not sure I have ever been so happy to get to the bottom, into my uggs and onto the bus.

I couldn't walk on Sunday. I really couldn't. But my lovely said 'hey, let's go for a swim at the olympic park,' and my curiosity seemed to win. (Hadn't been there before). I'm not sure if it was the beautiful sunset over the exhibition hall that we witnessed, or the promise of eat-as-much-as-you-can ribs at Chicco's after. Or the cocktails. But I did a few lengths, made it through dinner, and fell asleep long before The Snoring started. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz