Enough said! We had such a wonderful time in Austria, for several reasons. Not only was the experience of the snow and returning to Bee’s homeland enough put a smile on both our faces, a very beautiful and unexpected ring blew her right away too....
We arrived in Salzburg (Austria – finally!) to -10C, ready to start our five day snowboarding adventure. After a Schnitzel, Stiegl (Austrian beer) and a good night’s sleep we boarded the train to Bad Gastein, part of the Gastein Valley. The scenery we passed was absolutely beautiful; snowy mountains, snow on wooden houses, snow lightly falling, footprints in the knee deep snow.... you get the idea! After checking in to one of Europe’s Best Hostels (and it was), we dumped our stuff, hired our snow gear, got the 10 layers on and we were off!!
Now, we probably should now mention that Bee had never snow boarded before. Gerard, well, his only boarding experience was in the early uni days on a boys trip, wearing a full body suit, stackhat and somewhat of a daily hangover... Two amateurs let loose! And we did well, slow and steady, fall and pick yourself up, slip and slide. But gradually there was an improvement and we can actually say we were having a blast! The breathtaking scenery also made it light work, nothing like we have ever seen – making Mt.Baw Baw (our only other skiing experience) look like a little mound of man made snow (or ice - take your pick)!
The combination of purely being in Austria, being at 2000m with breathtaking landscape made it the perfect place for Gerard to be the true romantic that he is. Bee was caught totally off guard but of course did not hesitate in her answer (actually she did hesitate with ‘Your shitting me aren’t you?’). We shared a bottle of Moet & Chandon and had a lovely Italian dinner to continue celebrations. A special mention must go to the old Italian Austrian waiter who congratulated us by informing us his third marriage of 18 years recently broke down – what a heart warming thing to say to a newly engaged couple! On a brighter note, Bee did score us a couple extra shots of Jager by flashing her ring around so that kept the party going (or finished it – whichever way you look at it!!) The next day we did find out that both of our crushes - Andy and Megan Gale had called stumps but, as they say timing is everything. Jokes aside, we are both so happy and thank everyone for their congratulations on our engagement.
The thrills and spills of Bad Gastein continued, as did the sore and bruised body parts! The Thermal Pools were a perfect way to relax those aching muscles, the warm water and array of saunas doing wonders. Nude saunas, by the way – now that was interesting!
We got through our snowboarding week relatively unharmed, with minimal tanties (including a couple ‘face fulls’ of snow from some cheeky teenagers) and with tears of both sheer pain (Bee) and overwhelming joy (Bee). We boarded the train back to Salzburg happy but tired, ready to meet Alex and Happy, sons of one of Bee’s Mum’s friends. Strolling around the streets of Salzburg, drinking mulled wine and beers at the Christmas Markets, catching up on life at a local bar – what a perfect way to finish our Part 1 of Austria! Who would have guessed what was around the corner in Vienna....
