It is now really cold and rainy here and the Schneiders have left; So, alas, must we. We had some nice days even in the cold...watched a triathalon where these poor people were absolutely frozen. The lech team (you can enter as a team) won. We stayed to watch the Lech runner go, and it was something to behold. Her leg consisted of a 12 kilometer run around semi flat (and therefore, semi not) lech. I cannot tell you how beautiful it was to watch her. We were standing in freezing rain and she was bouncing around in shorts and those high socks people wear now (compression socks) pony tail..bounce bounce waiting for her team-mate- the bicycle rider to come in. And then she took off like a little gazelle...like someone was chasing her. Up up this hill she went, past a man on a mountain bike (!) he was not part of the competition..and he was looking behind him as if to say Shit!!!! do I owe her money???!!!! and she tore past him, into the mountains out of view. It choked me up of course: Run girl run.
Before they left, K and I took the kiddies to a bridge. In typical K fashion, the plans were vague..something about a bridge..blah blah.....swim in the river after, blah. Ok I ask,....is there a walk? No she says. Ok, so I come in ballet flats. Because this is Austria and she is a Schneider, there was of course a walk. 30 minutes up hill in my flats. Then onto a suspension bridge that is swinging in the wind...three hundred feet in the air. Swinging a lot. K was scared. I was beyond that. Something new: Naird. or Fraid. In any case, it was a whole new word. The kids scamper across, then turn, and from 200 meters away at the end, start to yell and run at top speed towards us. Ok first of all this is forbidden..no running. second it is making the thing shake. Little girls start to cry. K and I scream STOP RUNNING!!! but I (due to dramatic nature) am convinced that something has gone wrong and perhaps someone has jumped off. No..these geniuses wanted to try a 200 yard dash at speed, and we were in the way.
When I got to the end all of them looked at me and laughed because
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| Bridge 300 feet up |
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| Lake Thomas saw on his hike |
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| horses |
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| F and Luis |
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| On Thomas' hike..looks like another planet in the fog |
I was whiter than they thought humanly possible.
thomas took the kids to some park another day where they swing on bridges and ropes...I opted out. (there was no cafe..what can I say)
Also we went on a last hike to a little hut with Frederick and the manager here and her son whom F loves. It was first thing in the morning and both F and I were feeling slow and kind of hating it all. Why up hill all the time why why why. Pain always pain in the mountains. But there is often a reward, and sure enough we walked right into a huge open field up in these crazy hills where there was a group of insanely beautiful horses. It was like a movie...all five us of gaped. Then we carried on along a flat ridge to the hut where there was of course wiener schnitzel and sausages and those crazy semi in-bred type of locals who live up there and perhaps, just perhaps are marrying cousins. But I am not here to judge.- I am here to eat topfenstrudel.
Oh! the Brighams are making plans to come to lech this Christmas! this will be something: all of Charlie Brigham's grandchildren skiing in one group, speaking a three languages between them-
The thought of it chokes me up.
But then again, everything in this town does.
