Brian and I now know 8 German words and 1 French word. Supa (see previous definition), bitte (please), danke schön (thank you very much), yah (yeah or yes), fuss wärmers (foot warmers), nein (no), guten morgan (good morning), dusche (shower), merci (thank you).
Today we woke up around 9 and it was Brian's turn to make breakfast. He also had to go to the store because we were fresh out of eggs. He made us each a fried egg with bacon and hash browns with a croissant on the side. Patrick just had yogurt, fruit and granola. Patrick was anxious to get to the mountain but we stayed behind and took our time getting ready. Yetta called the ski school again and luckily Nestor was free for a lesson at noon. We were just about to leave when Patrick called...guess who forgot his ski poles? We reminded him of his own advice- whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger ;)
We set out for the gondola again...today was much colder and very overcast.
We made it to the top just on time and Nestor and I went back to the bunny slopes...today was very icy so I was much more nervous going down...he kept telling me...'poot your weight on ze frooont foot and look at ze mountains' but I kept looking at the ice and freaking out. I did do much better on the Tbar ski lift however. Here is Nestor waiting for me to strap into my bindings...
Someone left a black scarf at the top and Nestor grabbed it and we used it like a leash...I felt so much better going down the icy slope knowing that he was holding me up! 'Supa!' he would yell whenever I made the turns right :) Yetta said when she first moved to Philadelphia she said 'super' all the time but people gave her weird looks so she stopped...that's unfortunate because it is such a fun word. But I guess it does sound better with a German accent.
Yetta, Patrick and Brian came down to find us at one point and we took a few quick pictures...
we only went down 4 times today because it was so cold and icy...but by the end (and after he made me do some turns with my eyes closed!), I had definitely loosened up and was actually having fun :) besides, snowboarders just look so much cooler than skiers- even if I did spend more time falling, at least I did it with style- snowboarders outfits are way better ;) I wish I had the coordination to snap some photos of the particularly hideous neon and black and white striped uni-suits but my hand warmers were far too cozy to even consider it!
Nestor and I headed to the café (whose outdoor seating was off limits in the cold and wind) and I got him a Bailey's coffee and Just a hot chocolate for me while we waited and began to peel off our snow covered helmets, goggles and mittens...There was a guy wearing this:
And Nestor explained that it was a hard, spine protector. Speaking of gear, I have to say, my Burton coat and mittens are quite ingenious with pockets exactly where you need them but never would have thought to put them. For instance, my left arm had a pocket with an plastic-covered ID slot attached to elastic (?!) which was just large enough for my ski pass card and in the perfect location to be electronically swiped through the turnstiles. Of course we didn't realize I even had said pocket until today but still...the discovery was Supa!
Brian, Yetta and Patrick soon joined us and we ordered a full round of hot chocolates. We soon said our 'auf widersehens' (goodbyes) to Nestor and set off on the small gondola to go down to the restaurant. Patrick and Yetta decided to ski down there instead. Show-offs. Brian and I had no shame climbing in for a scenic, gondola ride after securing our equipment outside the doors. This thing reminded me of an enclosed ferris wheel car...except it was completely closed in to protect from the wind.
We soared over steep black diamond ski slopes, through 2 stations to the bottom where we were surprised to see Yetta and Patrick already waiting for us! They are Supa!
We had limited choices due to the time (3pm), but there was still something for everyone. (supa!) My fried chicken dish was more like half a chicken and Brian's specialty pizza was like a large thin crust sicilian. Yetta and Patrick ordered what looked like beers but as it turns out was actually sparkling apple juice. Brian and I boarded the bus back to our apartment while Yetta and Patrick headed back up for 'one more run'...
The bus ride was scary but thankfully brief. I kept trying to close my eyes and Brian kept pointing out particularly scary moments. Like when our window was approximately one centimeter from a rocky cliff or when we made a sharp turn and could only see about 300 feet down (and this was not to the bottom btw)...we got off very close to our place and changed into our bathing suits to get ready for the spa...my calves and shoulders were killing me and I was craving the thermal pool with the massaging jets...
To our surprise, Yetta and Patrick arrived only about 20 minutes later. We rounded up our gear to return to the rental place and when we stepped outside it was snowing! Supa!
We all stepped into the outdoor pool at once and it was particularly magical tonight with dusk upon us and the swirling steam rising up and intermingling with the snowflakes...words just wouldn't do it justice. The heated pools are actually cooled down a bit from the high temperatures of the hot springs and you can tell because every now and then there is a 'fuss wärmer' or water jets close to the bottom of the pool which were boiling hot! Yetta and Iiked to be closest to the 'fuss wärmers' because the outdoor pool wasn't quite hot enough for us. Fortunately there were many options...the central cauldron which was a circular area that would just bubble up uncontrollably every 10 minutes or so...the shallow recliners with soft pillows which had jets for 8 minutes every 5-10 minutes, the deeper recliners without the pillows, individual 360 degree massage cages (which were Brian and Yetta's favorite), and the ultra hot hot tub complete with warning label which was of course, my favorite. Overall, our evening at the spa was...Supa! (I think by this time Yetta and Patrick were sick of us saying 'supa!' over and over again...
We headed back to the apartment and started dinner which was salad and ricotta and spinach filled tortillini. We forgot to pick up wine so we settled for ginger ale and for dessert Yetta made us hot chocolate with flan (which was a cup with a tab to vent it on the bottom so it could be perfectly inverted...the Suisse are so Supa!),
and of course Obama cookies :)
Yetta and Patrick started watching a scary German movie and Brian somehow convinced me (my hair was wet and I was already in my pajamas) to stop blogging and take a walk with him to take night photos at 9:30pm...Turns out I'm glad I did ;)
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Location:Dorfstrasse,Leukerbad,Switzerland
1 comment:
So happy for you ;)
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