Skiing in Soelden
Soelden, Austria



Soelden has some of the best skiing in the world. I wouldn't know. I spent most of the time flat on my ass.

Day 1: Four hours of lessons. It was very rudimentary and slow-paced, so I decided to dare the slopes myself. I could go fast. I could go straight. I could turn gently while going fast. But I couldn't slow down or stop. That was a bit of a problem.

Day 2: After getting four hours of sleep, Lasse wakes me up to hit the slopes. Surprisingly, my head doesn't hurt. Unsurprisingly, I couldn't walk straight, nor could I put my ski boots on without much difficulty. I stumble onto the slopes, get a quick bite to eat (not without the assistance of Jula), then soldier onto the lift. The result can be seen below:

Flat on my ass. The whole way down.

Sliding backwards with my skis in the air for about 5 minutes was probably the best part of the day. It got me down the slope without having to worry about standing up, looking where I'm going, or thinking much at all.

Day 3: We take it a little easier the night before, but my legs are completely dead by this point. I get a few good trips down the slopes, though, but not without hurting my shin on a particularly nasty fall -- which, by the way, is a good way to meet people. You get lots of "Hey, how ya doing. Are you alright??"

Relaxing lunch with Manuela and Joao.

After my injurious spill, I decided to call it quits. Back to the restaurant by the lifts, where I enjoyed a few beers and a lovely painkiller from a kind Googler.

Click here for more pics.



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Soelden at Night
Soelden, Austria

Palkomuski, a Gypsy dance band that owned the night. Watch the whole thing.

The video above and the pics in this album pretty much sum it up. A small town with basically one street, Soelden is also a famous ski resort. The combination of the two result in a bar or club on every corner. Most of these were europop clubs or claustrophobic drinking bars, but we found an acceptable vibe in the Harley Davidson bar. It might sound pretty lame for an American to spend much of his Austrian night in an American motorcycle-themed bar, but my friends and I enjoyed singing along to the 80s hard rock. The night certainly felt like a ride on a Crazy Train. Or, perhaps, we were taken down a Highway to Hell.

An example of the beautiful decor in the Harley Davidson bar.

Thursday night was the exception. We heard that a Gypsy dance band would be playing at the Snow Rock cafe, so we made sure to get there early. There isn't much to say that isn't implied in the video above, so let's leave it at that. You really should watch the whole thing (the last minute is quite fun).

Here's that link to more pics, again.


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Giant's Causeway
Northern Ireland

From Giant's Causeway 13 April 08

A thousands of nearly-perfect hexagonal igneous rock make up this amazing landmark of the National Trust.

A long time ago, Fionn mac Cumhaill, an Irish giant, wanted to fight his Scottish rival, Benandonner. Deciding to build a bridge to Scotland, Fionn strode across the sea to challenge the scot. Upon seeing the massive size of Benandonner, Fionn doubled-back across the bridge to hide at home.

His wife, being the more reasonable and clever one, dressed him in a blanket and laid him in a cradle. Benandonner, having chased Fionn across the causeway, arrived shortly after. He busted into Fionn's house, but immediately saw the body of the largest baby he'd ever seen. Thinking, "if this is the size of the baby... this dude must be huge!" -- the Scottish giant bolted out of the house and ran across the causeway, destroying the bridge behind him.

From Giant's Causeway 13 April 08

Giants Causeway has a beautiful view to accompany the lovely mythology.

Giant's Causeway provided for some of the most pleasant and beautiful hiking I've had in a while. Click here for some of the pics.


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Bushmills Distillery
Northern Ireland

From Bushmills distillery 13 April 08

Glorious wheat and barley aging in sherry casks.

The distillery received its license from King James I in the 1600s and has been making whiskey every day since. We weren't able to do the tour, but I enjoyed a lovely 12-year old single malt reserve at the restaurant. One can smell the hint of vanilla.

From Bushmills distillery 13 April 08

Click here for more pics of this historic distillery.



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Carrick-a-rede Bridge

From Northern Irish coast 13 April 08

Reportedly once a very precarious bridge, the Man decided to ruin it by making it sturdier and safe.

Carrick-a-rede bridge. Originally created as a functional passage to a small island fishery for the local salmon farmers, it now doubles as a big tourist attraction. If it wasn't for the amazingly beautiful weather that day, I'd be disappointed by the lack of life-threatening precarious-ness that was promised at the beginning of the tour. Enough talk... more pics:

From Northern Irish coast 13 April 08

From Northern Irish coast 13 April 08

From Northern Irish coast 13 April 08

Click here for more pics of the Northern Irish coast, including a couple nice castles.


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