The week after the trip when I went back to school, I was so drained I didn't want to do anything. So I didn't do anything I didn't have to. I skipped Bible study, climbing, I didn't go running at all. I just took naps and read my Bible and other stuff. Last week I made up for it by snowboarding and running three times each. One of the snowboarding days was with one of my classes. Yes, Austrians take field trips to go skiing. That is what I am talking about.
I had to move my schedule around to do my TESOL practicum, so instead of having Friday off, i have Tuesday off instead. So today I went snowboarding again. It was amazing and crappy at the same time. There was about a foot of new powder but it was still snowing and windy all day. Really hard to see anything at all. But the the powder felt amazing.
We started out in Innsbruck with a boat:
We actually went to the Hofburg castle to see an Austellung about mountains and climbing from the Austrian Alpine Club, which was my favorite museum visit ever! I wish they were all about stuff as cool as climbing! We also saw some mosaic which from Italy which was pretty interesting and a general look-see at the palace:
A cute little hidden square near the Altstadt:
And Innsbruck's most famous sight, the Goldenes Dachl or the Golden Roof:
And two days later we went to Liechtenstein, a tiny principality of a country squished between Austria and Switzerland. They are the largest producers of dentures, have more companies registered there than people and are famous for their postage stamps. They also have unique fire hydrants: 
And interesting home architecture:
And interesting visitors (Thanks mom for the Christmas cookies!!!!!!):
We got little glimpses of the mountains but not much, it was overcast most of the day.
Here's the castle. You can't go into it because the prince and his family actually live there. Craziness.
Cold, beautiful day. Allie got this detail:
Yes! The clearest moment of the whole day probably. It lasted, well, about a moment. Then more clouds came in. I know, I know, they probably look just like the mountains in Austria, but I just can't get enough of them.
Like I said, they get interesting visitors:
Funny money. This is one of the few places in western Europe where you actually have to change currency. They use the same stuff as the Swiss; it's pretty cool and colorful, but hard to convert. That's the great thing about the Euro, once you start using it, you don't really have to do math anymore. 
Our after lunch homework assignment: write postcards. We had Fondue, which I don't think I have ever had before. It was good but it was just bread and cheese. It would have been cool to dip some other stuff too. Oh well, next time.
Evidently the human in the picture didn't provide enough umph to the photo, so props were necessary:
I couldn't help but join in swimming with the naked man. Who could resist?
Jesus: the ultimate fire extinguisher. Is that what Allie is trying to say with this photo?
One more mountain picture:
And the Rhine river. I lived near it when I lived in Dusseldorf.
Did I mention we didn't have much luck couchsurfing? So it was a good thing that Allie brought my down coats for us. Catching some zzz's along the Rhine.
After lunch we decided to take a walk to Switzerland. Neither of us had been to Switzerland before so it seemed like a good idea. I think it was my first time on a covered bridge too.
Crossing the line: Some disgruntled Liechtensteiner got a bit jealous of Switzerland's immense size?
Once we got to the other side, they just pointed for us to go back. The closest town in die Schweiz (Switzerland) was still a few km away and it was starting to get dark so we decided to head back to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. The ten minutes in die Schweiz were good though.
Ok I lied, here is another mountain picture, I think this was from the morning though.
We wandered down some streets with rad old houses and on our way to the 600 year old winery we saw this cool sign. It is so typical in German for them to squish 2 or 3 or 4 words together to make a new word. This makes for long words but nice if you are learning the language; easier to decipher what it could be. Extra credit to whoever can figure out what it means without looking it up.
Austrian creativity; mayo in a toothpaste tube. Just don't get the two confused.
The next day, another hike right behind my house:
"We live today in a world of growing isolation, frantic activity, and desperate violence, where paradoxically, we find ourselves longing for both solitude and companionship, intimacy and community. Some of us may look back to times when life seemed to make sense and relationships were more certain. Whether or not such times ever existed, we nevertheless long today for relationships that acknowledge who we are and who we want to be. We want someone to hear us, to hear our hearts beating, to hear our deepest longings—even longings of which we dare not speak." - Sondra Higgins Matthaei, Faith Matters
There was travel, adventure, trying new things, but that quote is why it was great having Al here for Christmas.
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