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Day 9, Sunday, January 16, 2005
Part 1, The Salzburg Group, By Lauren “Goiner”
Today a group of us had to get up rather early to be on a bus to go to Salzburg, Austria. We ate breakfast at the hostel, which of course included rolls, coffee, and orange juice. A lot of us were really tired from the night before, but we stayed awake to look at the beautiful sights you could see from the bus. When we got to Salzburg, the town where the Sound of Music was filmed, we broke off into groups to go sightseeing. A group of us went to eat lunch at a neat little restaurant where we had sandwiches on baguettes.
After lunch, we went to a cafe to get some coffee and apple strudel. Then, Cara, Ellen and I decided to take a tour of the town by way of horse-and-carriage. It was so neat to tour Salzburg that way. Our tour guide, Carl, told us all about the town and how to get up to the castle.
Soon after our tour of the town, we walked to gym to get ready for our match. We warmed up only for a short time and then played. Today we weren't playing for any particular team. It was just a conglomerate of girls from each team coached by Tim. The team we played against was a lower first division team (7 th place) and we finally won a match! We took them in 4 games. The Austrian team had a girl from the states that played for Colorado State last year. Her name is Michelle Knox and we got to talk to her after the game and learn about her situation. She was very kind and open and answered all the questions that we had.
Then, it was time to leave Salzburg. We hopped on the bus and stopped for some beverages to enjoy on the ride home. We thought it was only going to be two hours, but it turned into three due to an accident on the freeway. (Because we were stopped so long, some of us had to relieve ourselves on the side of the road.) We finally made it back to Innsbruck and had no time to get ready for dinner. We ate dinner up on a mountain in Innsbruck. We had chicken, steamed vegetables, rice, and bread. It was not that different than something we would eat at home.
Many of the girls were very pleased about this. We only stayed at this restaurant for a short while and then returned back to the hostel. Some girls enjoyed Austrian nightlife while others either packed or went to bed.
Part 2, The Skiers, by Sarah Meek
This morning we got up early and ate some breakfast at the hostel. We had to meet the bus at 8:30am sharp to take us up to the glacier. However, it took the driver more stops than we expected to get up there, especially since it is an hour drive. Anyway, we finally arrived. A little impatient, but that faded when we looked around us and we were right in the middle of the Austrian Alps! We got our lift passes and hopped on a gondola for the ride 2600 meters up the mountain. The ride was gorgeous. We got to the top, got our rentals, and hit the slopes.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day for skiing. The sky was clear making the view unforgettable. At times I was on the chair lift not even thinking that the surroundings were real.
After an amazing day of skiing we were pretty tired and everyone passed out on the bus. After we got back to the hostel we showered and a few of us caught a taxi to an internet-cafe. On the cab ride back, the driver light up a cigarette in the car and didn't even crack a window! I swear I couldn't even see the meter! The Europeans and their smoking, I'll definitely appreciate clean air more often!
Note: Yet another group spent the day in Innsbruck. They had an afternoon match vs. VC Tirol (the team that had lost to Linz the night before) and then spent the day in the gorgeous city of Innsbruck. Later in the afternoon we realized that some coaches from Savallonia, Finland were joining us. They were in Innsbruck to check our girls out and hopefully take someone home with them to finish the season up north. This meant that Cory had to procure a gym for a last-minute evening training before dinner. Just another day on tour…
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