By: Paige from Ponte Vedra, FL

Hooray! We arrived in Maribor late last night and woke up this morning to another great Slovenian breakfast.  The hotel here is amazing, small cabin rooms right on the base of Mount Pohorje. Today was so exciting, my first time actually seeing real snow and getting to ski! We hit the slopes pretty much all day with a short break for lunch, some girls choosing to ride snowboards instead of the more traditional skis, but either way I think everyone had a blast.

It’s hard to replace the adrenaline rush of “flying” down a mountain in snow, (although some of us did more falling down than standing up). However, once Ridge helped me out I found I could actually manage and made it down a “three slope” run about three times. As 4 o’clock rolled around, (closing time at the lifts) it was pretty neat to see girls that had started on their hands and knees that morning standing up and making it down hills. Everyone’s excited for tonight though, as its New Years Eve and we’ve heard the festivities and fireworks should be absolutely amazing. Ciao!

By: Kendahl, Ft Myers, FL

Hi Mom and Dad.  I had to walk down the side of the ski mountain, all alone. The Ski lift people had closed down the ski lift and he wouldn’t let me go back up to continue snowboarding.  So I walked along the side of the hardest slope of them all.  It was so steep! I fell but its all good.  And yes mom and dad, I can snow board now.  Aren’t you proud?  No major injuries. Just one bruise.  Don’t freak out. Shoulder and knees still intact.

By: Megan “Hot Stuff” Daily

Continuing from Paige’s entry, after dinner (it was delicious, but please send me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich) we bundled up, and trudged outside. Then we climbed a mountain, literally. It was one of the ski runs, basically the big brother mountain to Everest. As we slowly managed the climb, the weaker athletes began to stop the ascent because they could not handle the intensity. So as our numbers dwindled we began to face more physical challenges. As the oxygen tanks began to run out, the high altitude began to wreak havoc on our diminishing sanity. But the elite, the cream of the crop if you will, pushed on. (Colorado had an unfair advantage of living at a higher altitude, she cheated) So us Alabamians and Floridians, faced the adversity head on and we slew the beast!

After making it up the billion and one foot high mountain (Editors note: the actual altitude climb was ~120m, still higher than any point in Florida), the party started! There was a little café which was blasting pretty amazing Slovenian techno jam music. So we danced, whipped out a little electric slide and copied the sweet line dance that all the Slovenians do so well. Then as the magical hour of midnight approached, the fireworks began to go off. And because we were at such a high viewing point, we were able to view the entire city’s celebration. After we got our new year’s kiss from all the ultra fine boys we met on the mountain (just kidding),  those of us who have a superior sense of adventure, ran and slid down the quadruple black diamond slope. And since we are all athletically gifted we were sliding like 700 mph it was like Skeleton, but we used our coats instead of a sled. And the insanity ensued. After we made it down a little worse for wear, we went inside to our hotel rooms and got out of our wet clothes. Then we all brushed our teeth, washed our little faces, and went to sleep at a really decent hour.

The day post New Year celebration, we woke up really chipper and enthusiastic and we ran down stairs to see and enjoy the wonderfulness of the Slovenian breakfast. Then we all took naps. Until the afternoon, we tried the little American food stand. I know y’all are sad we did not savor the local culinary experience. After the feast of the food of our homeland, we tried to go to the pool and swim, but you would have to pay 13 euros, so most of us didn’t fork out the money.

           
Then at 5:30, we met at the gondola, and rode up the mountain for a traditional Balkan feast. So basically I ate potatoes and bread. Yea I know I’m not really soaking up the culture, but all this homemade sausage and mayonnaise does not make me happy. So after our “feast” it began to pour icy cold liquid from the skies. So riding back from the restaurant on the gondola was like the splash zone at Sea World. Now we have to pack to be ready to move onto the next European city. 

Post script: Shout out to the Jeffs.  You are awesome!

Today was a fun day of skiing for a lot of us.  We took tons of pics and rode the gondola up to the top of the mountain and skied down. 

New Years here was fun except a few of us never made it to the top of the mountain (Marissa, Eva, and me, even though we thought we did). Afterwards we slid down in the snow - it was great! Tonight we all rode up and ate dinner on the top of the mountain and it started raining, which was funny because everyone was expecting snow.  We are all very excited to get on the bus and head to Vienna for a few hours then end up in Prague, the shopping city, we are told!  Everyone seems to love gelatos and eat numerous servings of it. (The chocolate and vanilla are definitely the best!)  Everyone is now feeling great and are ready to play in Prague to win the Euro Cup and bring it back to the states! Go Florida!

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