American in Berlin

St. Patrick's Day

Day three in Kitzbuehel was definitely the highlight of the trip. I was on the slopes by 9:30 and was pleased that Thursday’s fog had burned off into nothing more than a slight mist on some the trails. For the most part though, all of the runs were great! My favorites were the two that started at 1802m and ended in Kirchberg at 837m. Gradual and scenic, they were the perfect trails to be able to cruise and make big turns.

As luck would have it, Johnna, another fellow, just happened to have planned a trip to Kitzbuehel at the same time, so we met up at lunchtime and then skied the rest of the afternoon together. It fun to plan to meet someone at the top of a mountain and lunch was FANTASTIC—cheese spaetzle and apple struedel! It was the best cheese spaetzle I’ve ever had at 1900m;-) The apple struedel was most unusual in that it was garnished with pink and black pepper, pumpkin seeds, a stalk of aloe and some kind of fruit that might have been a yellow plum, but the jury is still out! Very Martha Stewart for a little ski hut restaurant!

Knowing that my legs were not going get me down another run, I ended the day in Kirchberg and took the ski bus back to Kitzbuehel. After a quick shower, I was off to meet Johnna and her friends at a British pub to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. You throw together a couple hundred après skiers, 2 British singers, some ciders and a talking moose head and you’ve got yourself a party!

see the talking moose head?

Johnna, Sara and I commandeered some chairs and a bench and started to “dance to the music!”



The evening was “capped” off by the bartender dancing on the bar with nothing but a smile on his face and a leprechaun hat on his…
lost a bet or willing participant? P.S. I did not take this picture. (Couldn't get my camera out fast enough;-))

Two fights broke out soon after and Johnna and Sara got pushed so we decided it was time to mosey. The last St. Patrick’s Day I spent in Europe was when I had to spend the night in Amsterdam (on the street) after missing a train to Brussels. Kitzbuehel on St. Patty’s Day was equally memorable and definitely more fun!

Saturday morning I took the bus from Kitzbuehel to Salzburg, where I caught another discount flight back to Berlin. It was, of course, still snowing in Berlin. Today is the first full day of spring, but Mother Nature hasn’t quite gotten the message. Any day now; I can feel it!

posted by Erin @ 10:41 AM