Ausria Day 4- Enjoying the farmhouse...

The last day of the workshop, I decided to slow down a bit and enjoy the farmhouse that we stayed in.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

As much as I really wanted to go downhill skiing again, I felt like I had avoided my labmates all week and that I hadn't given our farmhouse a chance to be cool. Instead of heading back to the slopes with Volker and Wenlan, I headed back to a small lunch with my labmates in our farmhouse. I took the opportunity of sunlight to snap a few pictures of the stuffed animals that adorned our house.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

This little guy freaked me out every time we walked down for breakfast. I always felt like he was hissing at me.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

The farmhouse was located far up in the hills, so far, that we could clearly see the ski slopes that I had been on the day before.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

The farmhouse was very quaint and had this adorable (but incredibly smelly) giant puppy that loved to get attention.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

After I took a short 20 minute nap, I joined my labmate Moritz and headed out to the cross country trail that passed by our little farmhouse. I still had my cross country skis from two days before, so Moritz and I planned on finding out where the trail led. The sky was sunny and clear so it was the perfect day for viewing the hills around us. After navigating the steep section near our farmhouse, the path seemed free and clear. Moritz is seen here saying, "look mom, no poles!" (not really but he could have)

From Austria-Mariapfarr

The trail lead us through snow covered forests and alpine valleys, even more beautiful now that I could actually see them.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

After about 30 minutes, Moritz (wisely) suggested that we head back. I, however, was convinced that a beautiful valley lay just beyond the trees and convinced him to push through. No less than 5 minutes after I convinced Moritz to continue, my last reserve of energy completely gave out. However, stubborn person that I am, I refused to tell Moritz and just pushed ahead anyways. My stubborness paid off as 5 minutes later, we found this amazingly beautiful mountain pass.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

It was like a storybook picture, we even saw a dog hopping through the valley below. We snapped some photos, then hurriedly skiied through the valley and back to the main trail back to our farmhouse. The views were captivating and I kept pausing to snap pictures.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

However, the gently lowering sun reminded us that we had to return for the afternoon session so as quickly as our legs would allow us, we skied back to the farmhouse.

I thought I would make it through the week without a single injury, but on the last slope before the farmhouse, my legs again gave out and I lost my balance on the cross country skis (yes, it is possible to do this). In a scene reminiscent of the day before, I tumbled head over heels. Cross country skis do not release as easily as downhill skis, so my left ski (and leg) ended up criss-crossing with my right leg, twisting my knee in the process. Apparently my camera fell out of my purse and snapped this photo.

From Austria-Mariapfarr

I struggled the 100 meters back to the farmhouse, stripped off the skis, and then crawled back into bed for a 5 minute nap. My knee hurt pretty badly but it was still functional, so I swallowed some pain killers and returned to the workshop. After the last session, all workshop participants piled into a charter bus for a catered meal on top of a mountain. I wish I had taken photos, but my body was completely exhausted at this point so anything other than sleep was completely incomprehensible. Despite consuming a cola (something I never do after 3pm) and wiggling my legs, I kept finding myself collapsing into a pile of jackets beside me. We finally left the restaurant at midnight, which meant that I didn't crawl into bed that night until after 1am! I am pretty sure I fell asleep while my head was falling onto the pillow......