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Once our sons began to excel at skiing, we always spent the week between Christmas and New Year's on a skiing holiday during which the boys would ski from early morning to about 4 o'clock in the afternoon while we parents swam in the indoor heated pool, shopped the nearly villages, and caught up on some reading we'd been putting off, or generally rested. Late afternoons and evenings were centered on hearing of the boys' skiing adventures, dining together, and having an evening of family fun playing board games or just talking.
Over the years we repeated this adventure in such United States ski spots as Lake Tahoe (Nevada), Park City (Utah), and Stowe (Vermont). However, our most memorable trip was a result of our travel agent accidentally finding a really good bargain that allowed our expert-class skiers (they both started out with lessons at age 4) to ski the Olympic runs near Innsbruck in the northern Alps of Austria. In the boys' words, this experience was 'awesome.'
Original plans called for our travel agent to make reservations for the week of December 23 to January 2 at Vail, Colorado. Although we were doing this booking in March, the ski resort was sold out. Upon learning that, she began a search of possible alternatives and found that by flying Swiss Air into Zurich, Switzerland, taking a 6 hour train ride to Innsbruck, Austria and returning back to the United States by the reverse route, our airplane travel portion of the trip would only exceed travel during that same period to a U.S. ski resort by $25. Per person. I told her to pick a hotel -- she did, the Europa Tyrol, a 5-Star hotel directly across from the Innsbruck Train Station with complimentary hourly transport to all of the major ski areas, fabulous Austrian hospitality, all within easy walking distance of Old Town, the historical and fabulous shopping district with a myriad of shops, outlets of famous Parisian boutiques, and charming restaurants. Once our reservation was confirmed, we were ready to pack our bags and get a tune-up on the boys skis, but since it was then only April, we decided that we'd spend the rest of our waiting time until the day we go! reading up on Zurich, the area between Zurich and Innsbruck, Innsbruck, and the Tyrol in general. We also decided it was a good time for German lessons. With the help of a series of language tapes, practice sessions with some German speaking friends, and a couple of pocket-size travel German conversation books, we were all prepared to speak a few key phrases with the correct German accent and to understand even more when spoken to. One of the last preparations I made as a person with diabetes was to get a health check-up with my own health care team and the name of an English speaking doctor who could be called up should I need medical attention while in Innsbruck.
Our Swiss Air flight left JFK airport in New York at 7 p.m. on December 23. Eight hours later after a delicious heart-healthy supper, a great in-flight movie, a short night's sleep, and a wake-up breakfast of a hard cooked egg, a flaky (but not sweet) breakfast roll, coffee, and a banana, we landed in Zurich on the morning of December 24, Christmas Eve. There baggage was efficiently handled by the tour company through which we'd booked and we were speeding through Zurich in a limmo-van to the ultra-modern Zurich train station. Within thirty minutes we were in a private compartment (this particular train was all first-class compartments) from which we would for 6 1/2 hours winding through the Alps past some of the most beautiful winter mountain scenes imaginable from fair-sized villages to tiny mountain top hamlets where we could see horse-drawn sleighs and meandering mountain brooks. We felt we'd been transported to the land of the Rogers & Hammerstein musical, 'The Sound of Music.' The dining car of the train offered grilled fish with steamed vegetables for lunch which the adults ordered and U.S. style hamburgers and crispy fries which satisfied our sons.
When the train approached Innsbruck, we were transfixed by the scene. The evening lights had just come on and the sight as the train traveled between the mountains down into the Tyrol Valley of the Inn was truly spectacular. The mountains hug the capital city of the Tyrol like fortress walls, providing world-class skiing that brings hundreds of thousands to its ski slopes from all over the world.
As the train pulled into the Tyrolean style station that keeps tourist cameras clicking, we immediately noticed our name on a sign being held by a gentleman in an elaborate Austrian costume. It was a representative from the hotel, meeting our train to greet us and to take care of our luggage. Within minutes we were in our suite of rooms, bags unpacked, and partaking of the beverages and tray of canapés, sent to our room, compliments of the Executive Chef whose mother living in the States owned and uses our first award-winning cookbook. The sitting room was dressed for the season with lights around the windows and a small table-top tree decorated with tiny Austrian crystal ornaments, accompanied by a Christmas card that indicated the ornaments were ours to keep (and cherish). An hour later we headed downstairs for the elaborate Christmas Eve supper that was being served to all guests in the grand dining room. The entrance to the dining room was marked by a hundred-year-old wooden sled which carried a magnificent gingerbread house.
This dinner was my first really big test to determine if I could just take bites of the delicious, but very rich and heavy, Austrian cuisine and still keep my blood sugars under control. I found that I could and, actually, needed to add a light snack just before bedtime in order to avoid any possibility of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in the night. On other days, since I was spending my days with brisk walking around town and hiking in the mountain villages near the ski areas, I was able to eat more without needing to adjust my medication and still maintain tight control of my blood sugars. My advice, if you're going on any trip -- within or outside the country that involves a change in type of cuisine offered, discuss your options with your health care team before you go. Remember, as a person with diabetes, in light of the new technology and information available to us, you do have options. You just need to know how they affect you and your diabetes, personally.
Christmas Day was a perfect day for skiing. There was about 3 inches of fresh powder that fell during the night and they sky was now a cerulean blue with puffy white clouds and an ideal skiing temperature of 0°C (32°F). Since we were outfitted with layers of ski clothes and down jackets that had withstood the -15°F of the year before in Stowe, Vermont, we were actually almost too warm as the day warmed up. Our first day was spent at Axamer Lizum, a beautiful ski area at an altitude of 7,815 feet with 1 funicular railway, 5 chairlifts, and 4 T-bars.
The area has practice slopes, 20 miles of downhill runs for all levels of difficulty, the Olympic Women's Downhill run; and the Olympic Slalom and Grand Slalom runs. Since the boys were unfamiliar with the terrain and had only been skiing in the East during the past year at lower altitudes and shorter runs, we all agreed that a couple of lessons were in order before they headed off on their own. After testing, they were put into an Intermediate class and soon we could see them (with the aid of powerful binoculars) soaring down the mountain. By afternoon, their English-speaking ski instructor, himself a hopeful for the next Austrian Olympic team, announced that they were ready for some more advanced runs and moguls which he would ski with them. Needless to say, by the last run at 4 o'clock, we had two tired boys who wanted only to head to a hot shower, a quick supper, and bed.
While the boys skied, my husband and I hiked for miles around the area, stopping to explore quaint shops, have a light soup lunch, and more hiking to see the sweeping vistas of the Alps. By late afternoon, we were enjoying a cup of hot coffee and the fellowship of several people from our hotel who were in the ski lodge, also waiting for their skiers to return. These same people were seen again and again during our stay and ended up as friends with whom to celebrate Sylvester, the merriest of New Year's celebrations that we've ever witnessed in any part of the world.
Other outstanding ski areas reached by bus within minutes of Innsbruck were Hungerburg/Seegrube-Hafeleker (7,780 feet) with 5 miles of downhill trails for intermediate and advanced skiers, including one of the steepest marked runs in Europe; Igls/Patscherkofel (7,210 feet) with 9 miles of downhill trails for all levels of difficulty and the Olympic Men's Downhill run (which, of course, our sons insisted on trying -- and did); Mutters/Metterer Alm (6,000 feet) with 5 miles of downhill trails, mostly for beginners and intermediates and a ski trail that connected to the Axamer Lizum ski area, where they felt they were literally skiing on top of the world.
The two areas they did not try were Tulfes/Glungezer (7,000 feet) with 9 miles of beginner and intermediate trails and the Stubai Glacier (10,400 feet) which offers year round skiing and 20 miles of downhill runs for all levels of difficulty. Now did they try the Olympic Ski Jump that was visible from all parts of the town.
Though we often would visit the ski area at some point during the day, most days we explored the fabulous city of Innsbruck, never once using a taxi or bus. Old Town offered fabulous shops and outlets from the best of Paris, fine Tyrolean handicrafts, good buys on winter clothing, and shop after shop of the most exquisite Austrian crystal so irresistible that I had to buy another carry-on bag in order to return safely with my purchases. A famous photo spot at Old Town was the majestic lighted tree in the town square.
One day we took a sightseeing trip to Venice, Italy, which required our departing Innsbruck at 5 a.m. and returning just after midnight. The ride to Venice was in a luxury Mercedes bus that glided over the Alps and through the Italian countryside as if it were on a rail. In Venice, we were treated to a gondola ride down the Grand Canal, a tour of several cathedrals, and lunch at the famed Harry's Bar of Venice. Though the day was cold, the festive atmosphere of this grand city was full of warmth everywhere we went.
All too soon our stay was nearing its end, but not before Sylvester, the Austrian celebration of New Year's Eve. Shops throughout the city were suddenly filled with pigs made of marzipan (pink colored almond paste) for gifting your loved ones and friends. I still have several of these pigs sitting in my china cabinet, sealed in their original wrapping. Pigs are a 'good luck' sign to the Austrians and indeed that night at the Grand Ball which we attended, along with the ambassador and his entourage from Japan and two hundred others who were also staying at our hotel, blanket-wrapped live baby pigs were carried around by the hotel staff at midnight so that everyone could pet them and receive good luck for the coming year. Another Austrian custom to which we were privileged to see was the appearance at the ball by a family of chimney sweeps who at the stroke of midnight put chimney soot on their cheeks in honor of the New Year. We were told that to see these chimney sweeps do this also spread the good luck to us. The dancing didn't stop all night. After a light breakfast was served at 6 a.m. , we said goodbye to our new friends and retired to our room for a much needed nap. Dinner that night was light -- an Austrian chicken stew that was warm and comforting, filled with every kind of vegetable imaginable, and accompanied by a folklore show at a beautiful inn in Old Town.
The next morning, we were escorted to our train back to Zurich. This time we feasted in our compartment from a picnic basket which had been provided by our hotel. Once in Zurich, we checked into the Hotel Zurich, a beautiful ultra-modern hotel that crowns the banks of two rivers, only 5 minutes from the train station. After dinner in their skytop restaurant, it was off to bed as our wake-up call to catch our Swiss Air flight back to the States would be coming at 5:15 a.m.
The flight home was anticlimactic, but the memories of the breath-taking Alpine scenery, the friendliness of the Austrian people, and a family vacation that everyone hated to see end still live in our hearts and minds today. We found a 'little piece of heaven' while skiing Austria; we most certainly will be back!
Even on a short trip, always make sure you carry your medications and any diabetic equipment with you, not in a checked piece of luggage, and have sufficient snacks with you should there be any delays or interruptions to your scheduled time for eating. And if you're going to be doing extra exercise, such as skiing or mountain hiking, be sure that you've done the proper exercises and body conditioning well before the trip. Good skiing!
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