That time I learned to ski

Among many other things I learned in America that this world and especially Europe is really really tiny. So tiny in fact that when you meet people awesome enough to keep in your life, distance means nothing at all. So since we'd been talking about a ski trip with Teresa and I got a really good offer on plane tickets to Munich last fall I didn't hesitate too long. I mean, I was gonna go bankrupt anyway, why not at least take the most of it, right?
So after asking Christian to join us on this wonderful adventure and weeks of strenuous planning (mostly, I must admit, on C's part) the day finally arrived when I woke up at 6 AM, grabbed my suitcase and took the taxi to the most adorable Tallinn airport. But instead of flying straight to Munich I first flew to Vilnius, where I got to hang out with a bunch of Lithuanian businessmen for about an hour and drink some coffee that I swear was mixed with heroin, because hours later my hands were still shaking from it and I felt I could have run to Germany. I finally touched ground in Munich with a tiny plane that looked more like a toy than a real aircraft and was reunited with Teresa which was oh-so-great, even though she was sort of exhausted and I was still spaced out because of the Lithuanian magic coffee (seriously, do not drink that stuff!) and getting a serious headache. So we spent the next two (?) hours searching for the train station Christian was arriving at and a pharmacy, so I could get some aspirin and finally make use of my German vocabulary (willst du mit mir Drogen nehmen?) Eventually we managed to get everybody into the car and headed towards Austria for our Most Amazing Ski Adventure (with a stop at McDonald's, ofc).
This would probably be the time where I mention that prior to that trip I had been on skis exactly once in my life. It ended 15 minutes later after I'd broken both my poles and twisted my ankle... so I wasn't overly confident. But hey - good company, mountains and stuff, right? Plus I was still hopeful that I would turn out to be naturally good at skiing.. like I turned out to be naturally good at shooting. Never know!
----
Kunagi sügisel müüdi Münchenisse odavaid lennupileteid ning kuna ma kohe üldse-üldse ei olnud valmis leppima sellega, et ma oma uute rahvusvaheliste sõpsidega hüvasti pean jätma, ei mõelnud ma väga pikalt, kui selle ostu tegin. Pankrot ootas mind ees nagunii, miks siis mitte enne veidi lõbutseda, pealegi olime me Teresaga suusareisist rääkinud.
Mingil hetkel kaasasime oma seiklusesse ka Christiani, kes, tuleb tunnistada, lõpuks suurema osa organiseerimisest ära tegi, nii et 29. jaanuari hommikul lendasin esmalt Vilniusesse ning sealt edasi Münchenisse, kus Teresa minu ja C auto peale võttis ja kust me edasi üheskoos Zell am Zee suusakuurorti sõitsime.
Pean tunnistama, et suusaphukus ei olnud minu jaoks just kõige loogilisem valik, kuna ma olin varem olnud suuskadel täpselt ühe korra, palju aastaid tagasi Jõulumäel, kus ma 15 minutit pärast suuskade alla panemist need uuesti ära võtsin, olles lõhkunud ära mõlemad kepid ja pahkluu välja väänanud. Aga noh, elu on seiklus!

Taste of the Baltics: Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian chocolate

Eesti, Läti ja Leedu šoks (Leedu võitis... kes oleks võinud arvata?)

Christian, being the good breadwinner that he is, took a walk to the local bakery every morning to supply us with freshly-baked croissants and rolls. Nom!

Igal hommikul ärkas C veidi varem ja tõi meile pagarist värskelt küpsetatud saia.

First selfie: on our way to Europe's highest waterfall. Hanging out at the backseat, intense Germaning going on in the front. All I understood is that they were talking about neither bombs nor drugs (yes, my German vocabulary is really extensive).

Kui su reisikaaslased eesistmel saksa keelt räägivad ja sina oled sunnitud igavuse peletamiseks tagaistmel patse punuma ja enekaid tegema.

Hike up to Europe's highest waterfall. We didn't make it all the way up because some weird fat goat-like creatures caused a small avalanche and we lost our trail. I wasn't too sad about it though, hiking up a mountain in deep snow is exhausting! There may or may not have also been some snowball fights and running involved. Coming down was way more fun.

Euroopa kõrgeim kosk siis. Me oleksime saanud sinna päris üles ka minna, aga paraku olid mingid veidrad paksud loomad natuke maad enne lõppu väikese lumevaringu tekitanud, nii et rada ei olnud enam näha. Lume sees mäest üles rühkides tuli mul küll tahtmine MyFitnessilt raha tagasi küsida - ma poleks nagu elus sporti teinud! Allatulek oli märksa lõbusam.

There might have been some alcohol involved in the evenings... liquor that tasted like pinetrees. I enjoyed it the first night, after that it did not want to go down anymore.
Austria männiokka maitseline liköör. Huvitav!

 Mixing it with wine, of course.
Ikka veiniga segamini.

I was a little unsure about this situation I guess (hey look, a picture of me that's not a selfie!)

Ma olin veits kahtleval seisukohal.

 The next morning was stunning - view from our balcony.

Järgmisel hommikul oli rõdu pealt hunnitu vaade

 Here come the selfies! I was just a little bit unsure before trying on my skis the first time...
Kergelt kirjandusliku liialdusega nägu enne esmakordset mäele minekut

 Where we skied: I, of course, stayed on the right side, on the thing that doesn't look like a hill at all (I swear it looked higher when you were standing on top of it).
Meie suusamägi siis. Mina püsisin seal paremal pool, mis pildilt (ega ka päriselus tegelikult) ei näinud alt vaadates küll üldse mäe moodi välja, aga tegelikult oli harjutamiseks päris paras)

 So while the others were making the most of their time on the hill and taking the scary ski lift up...
Teised kasutasid aega mõistlikult ja sõitsid suusaliftiga kõrgema mäe otsa...

 ...I was taking selfies (this was actually taken after the first time I got down from the hill without falling).
...tegin mina enekaid - pärast esimest korda, kui edukalt ilma kukkumata alla jõudsin (mis juhtus tegelikult juba teisel korral, kui ma alla sõitsin)

 The weather was perfect!
Oh-see-ilm!

 Hey look, an 'usie'!
Näe, mul oli tegelt sõpru ka!

 The hot chocolate I got as a prize for being so being so brave
Väike kakaopaus keset suurt sportimist - vapruse eest

 At some point I was starting to become pretty confident on the tiny hill, so my much more experienced friends convinced my to try the scary high hill.
Ühel hetkel olin ma oma tillukese mäe peal juba suht enesekindlaks muutunud ja kuigi ma olin kahtleval seisukohal, veensid mu suusaässast sõpsid mind kõrgemat mäge proovima

 And of course I failed, fell down, took off my skis and didn't want to ski at all anymore, so I sat on the mountain for a while before walking down (yes, walking).
Aga mõistagi ma feilisin, kukkusin ümber, võtsin suusan jalast ära ja kõndisin lõpuks mäe otsast alla.

 So I was sad! (damn you, peer pressure :D)
Olin kurb!

 So to cheer myself up I built a tiny snowman...
Üritades tuju tõsta ehitasin tillukese lumememme...

 And drank a big glass of beer :D
... ja jõin suure klaasi õlut :D

And I was happy again! But, being really stubborn as I am, I refused to go back to that big hill again and spent the rest of my time acing it on the bunny hill.

Tuju läks jälle rõõmsaks, aga oma suures kangekaelsuses ma tagasi suurema mäe peale tagasi ei läinudki, vaid püsisin oma tillukese künka peal ja tuiskasin sealt alla nagu tõeline äss.

 That night we set Tallinn on fire..
Tutvustasin oma saksa sõpradele põlevat Tallinnat

... and watched it burn.

And built extra long straws, because.. well, why not.

T ekstrapikk kõrs. Lihtsalt niisama

 The weather conditions were not as perfect on the next day.
Järgmine päev oli veits pilvisem

 But that didn't stop me!
Aga mind see juba ei peatanud.

SUCH a pro! Final falling count: six times, all on the first day and only four of those by accident - first two on my very first attempt of getting down the bunny hill and twice on the hill that I will forever remember as "the scary high hill". The other two times I didn't exactly fall over, I just couldn't make a pizza from the french fries and wanted to stop, so I threw myself on the ground just in case (kind of like when I was a kid and learned how to ride a bike, but couldn't use the breaks at first, though this now was way less painful). I do have some lovely bruises on my legs now and won't be wearing shorts to the gym anytime soon, but who cares!

No täielik proff, noh. Lõplik suusamäel kukkumiste arv oli kuus - neli korda kogemata, kaks meelega, kui ma ei osanud seisma jääda ja ennast igaks juhuks külili viskasin, et mitte otse aeda või mõnele süütule kõrvalseisjale otsa põrutada. Kõik kusjuures esimesel päeval ja suht esimestel laskumistel. Sinikaid on, aga need paranevad.

 Sunset.
Kolmanda päeva päikeseloojang

 So you wouldn't think all we did was drink in the evenings - we also took a walk in the city of Zell am See.
Ega me oma õhtuid ainult joomisega ei sisustanud - tegime ka õhtuse jalutuskäigu Zell am See linnakeses

 Which was pretty spectacular.
"Hunnitu" on see sõna, mis pähe tuleb.

 Our last day we spent in Salzburg, which was just as gorgeous as I remembered it from the half-hour I spent there in the summer of 2013.
Viimasel päeval tegime linnareisi Salzburgi, mis on ikka üks tõeliselt ilus linn.

 Most adorable cafe ever! Look at those uniforms!
Maailma kõige nunnum (ülivana) kohvik. No vaadake neid riideid.

 Mozart was here 27 January 1756. We saw the room he was born in and everything. Couldn't take any pictures, but I did see a lock of his hair. Was kind of gross.
Mozarti sünnikodu. Pilte teha ei tohtinud, aga sai käia selles toas, kus ta sündis. Mingil veidral põhjusel oli seal eksponaadina väljas salk tema juukseid, mis oli veits rõve, aga noh. Kultuur!

If seeing the statue of a man standing on top of a humongous golden ball isn't enough of a reason for travelling, I don't know what is!  

See... nojah

And that was that! I for one was extremely happy with this trip and felt completely recharged. Can't wait to do this again next year and the year after that and the year after that... until we're sixty and move to Peru with Teresa and continue skiing there. 

This blog has been kind of quiet, I must admit, but there isn't much going on in my life now that I'm back home. I could write quite a lot about control valves, trailers and water filtering systems, but lets be honest, it's not all that interesting. Should I happen upon another adventure I'll be sure to share it with y'all (even if nobody wants to read about it), because obviously modesty isn't one of my main virtues. Lots of love! K

Ja selline see siis oligi! Ma katsun ikka vaikselt siia üht-teist kirja panna, kui mu elus midagi põnevamat toimub, mida maailmaga jagada maksab (kuigi ega selliseid seiku palju just ette ei tule). Loodetavasti viitsin seda asja kakskeelsena ka hoida, sest noh, äkki on keegi, keda huvitab ja kes tahab mu loba emakeeles lugeda. Musid! K.