On the way home from school

Anna McBrayer
Jan 11, 2017
1 min read

Since Austrian schools are only half day most of the time, it easy to fit in something fun and outdoors in the afternoon during this period of short days and long nights. This week, I picked up Aeneas from school with skis in tow and we headed to the nearest slope to make some turns. We rode the Nordkette funicular (about 5 blocks from school) and then the cable up to Seegrube station and caught some really terrific snow.

I have seen pictures of the weather inversions that happen in these Austrian valleys and was hoping to catch a glimpse myself. These photos don’t do it justice. This particular day, Innsbruck was completely covered in clouds. On the cable up to Seegrube, we rode right through the clouds and came out above them into a beautiful high elevation blue bird day. It looked like a rolling and tumbling sea as the clouds moved and churned. It gave one the feeling of being on top of the world. It was just spectacular.

We skied for an hour, ate lunch, skied some more and then leisurely made our way back to the valley and home by 4:30. The clouds moved to the west and burned off to the north to reveal the white topped buildings of Innsbruck that Aeneas thought looked like letters. And the sun sent beams of light through the remaining clouds to the west. A crazy beautiful experience. And a pretty amazing Mama/son date!