ISCHGL!!

My weekend plans came together last Thursday when a co-worker walked up to me with a phone;  "It's Flo," he said.  I answered, talked for a minute, and next thing I know I'm walking straight to my boss to ask for Monday off.  

His answer was yes.  I was going to Austria to ski at the legendary Ischgl ski resort for 3 days!  This is the kind of resort that attracts stars like Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Paris Hilton, etc etc etc.

After spending Friday night at a local bar with the soccer team I'm practicing with (did you know cola&beer mix is a popular drink in Germany?), we (Flo, Stefan and I) left at 5:30 am for the 4 hour drive to the resort.  Once we arrived, we bought our tickets and hopped on the gondola up the mountain.  Into the fog..

The first day of skiing was somewhat disappointing in retrospect, since most of the day was spent on the groomed runs because of the fog.  That being said, there were still glimpses of the awesomeness that was to come:

 First glimpse of the top

Once the ski day was finished, we dropped by the room for a shower and dinner, and went on our merry way to the apres-ski in Ischgl.

It's difficult to describe HOW EPIC THE NIGHT WAS.

Knowing we'd be partying, we didn't bring a camera.  The night was a blur of loud music, obscenely expensive drinks, broken English conversations,  and plenty of ridiculous dancing.

Long story short: this was us on the gondola at 11:30 in the morning on Sunday.

We arrived at the top, and BAM! Hangover gone!  Crisp air, blue skies, fresh snow, and the most gorgeous views I've ever seen.

A small bit of the ski area

Another in-bounds section

Like wow.   They also have big parties halfway up the mountain to songs like Disco Pogo.




Immediately after skiing, we went into a bar called Schatzi (German equivalent of Shawty, but without any negative context) for some beers.  There were tabletop dancers, random items on fire, old guys putting cups of water upside down on their heads and then lifting them up (I have no idea why, but it was hilarious), and lots of beer.  And there was beer.  German beer.

Schatzi closed at 6:30, so we went to the room for a very German dinner of bread, sausage, beer and cheese.   Then we went out again.  Ischgl was significantly quieter on Sunday night, but still very much alive.  We talked (more so yelled) with some drunk Irish farmers, had a dancefloor massage train, debated getting 4+ Litre bottle service (look at the prices below!), and had yet another awesome (albeit less alcohol-infused) night.

Inside a less packed Feuer & Eis (Fire & Ice)

 Prices in Euros for some big bottles

Massage train!

Skiing on Monday was even better than Sunday!  Even though there wasn't any new snow, we had powder lines all day (this resort is that big).

 Morning Lunges

 Gliding on some sweet stuff

 Flo in some pristine snow

 More of same

 Afternoon View

We hit some steeper lines too

In the afternoon we skied across the border into Switzerland.  There is a duty-free shop at the resort, which spans across the two countries.  This made me happy, since I've now been to Switzerland 3 times and have spent less than 2 hours total in the land of the Swiss.

Taking the plunge into the Swiss darkness

Duty Free at the border

After a ride back up into the ski area on a double-decker gondola, we grabbed one last chairlift to the top of one of the many peaks.  This view greeted us before we had to say goodbye:

And one for the road:

Ischgl, I'll be back.