From the Eastern Kingdom

This week was different. Christian is growing up. He can ski with us now. And he is darn good. Parents- start your kids early. We started him at 3 years old and I am so glad we did. As a mom, kids can be really draining on you- but when you suddenly can ski with them, yes, well, now I feel we have truly arriven at a happy place in life.

 St. Johann in Tirol. I love Tyrol, however you choose to spell it. They have technically belonged to many countries and empires- but when push comes to shove, no one can fight the Tyrolean mountain people. They kill their enemies with avalanches.

the dramatic ascents of the Austrian Alps

And Tyrol will always make me think of WWI and the deadly fighting that happened here. But what a peaceful place now.

 And what a beautiful young girl, Natali has turned out to be. And she is always taking everything in stride. Christian's constant "Natty fell, but I didn't" never even got to her. She just laughed.

My mom, much to our surprise, celebrated her 62nd birthday on skiis. 13 years after breaking her leg in a skiing accident, she decided to forget her fear and, as she said, "If I die skiing with my grandson, at least I will die happy".

There were of course fights here and there over beautiful women.

But age old rivalries between the Montagues and Capulets were resolved. 

And why is it that Mr. and Mrs. Capulet

look younger than Romeo and Juliet?

 Did it ever occur to you what a strange name Juliet Capulet is?

Terrible moments

turned into good moments very suddenly and for no apparent reason

And I got a break from it all when I was allowed to try randonée skiing. I made it nearly to the top of Kitzbüler Horn with the skins on my skiis keeping me from sliding backwards. I removed the skins and (should have) skied down like normal. The guy at the rental shop had not adjusted the bindings to fit my boots, so I had to telemark ski down (I had always wanted to try that, too) without the back clicked in.

view from our window

looking down on St. Johann