People often ask their friends who are popping the question to their significant halves, how do you know she/he is the One? Perhaps one cannot imagine his life without the other or perhaps he simply followed his heart. Likewise, for our honeymoon, we followed our hearts and the footsteps of famous musicians leading us to head for the birthplace of classical music, Austria. What a crazy idea to go to Austria in the depth of winter! For better for worse, we shall stick together, even in extreme bitter cold and winter wind. It is also right to add that most people in their right minds would have chosen a warm and sunny destination for their honeymoon, for example, Maldives, Bora Bora, Bahamas or Hawaii.
From Salzburg, we headed east of Innsbruck to the town of Kitzbühel. Well known for its annual Hahnenkamm downhill race, Kitzbühel is synonymous to serious skiing and is one of the most famous winter sports resort in Austria. The Hahnenkamm ski race attracts close to tens of thousands of visitors to this sleepy town every January.
Widely heralded as a fashionable winter resort town, we decided to stay here for a few days to ski, soak in thermal bath, enjoy Tirolean cuisine and perhaps experience a slice of its old-school glamour. When we checked into the hotel, my heart skipped a beat when I saw the monochrome bathtub right in the middle of the room. I took delight that this town placed an emphasis on enjoyment which is right up my alley. I sprinted across the room, opened the window to find expansive undulating hills covered in a fresh sheet of snow and took a deep breath of the cool crisp air with hint of eucalyptus and mint. This was the mental retreat we needed as a respite after months of intense wedding planning.
Towards the evening, we took a stroll outside to take in the picturesque medieval streets and upscale shops lining both sides of the cobblestone paths. We enjoyed a sumptuous in the hotel that night. Gold satin curtains draped down from the high ceiling, red velvet chairs and crisp white table cloth were synonymous to a formal dinner date, very befitting for the newlyweds. That night, we slept like babies.
Early next morning, we were ready for our ski lessons. This is the first time we wore our ski boots along the main streets of Kitzbühel, trudged along the uneven paths with ski poles to reach the gondolas that would bring us up the slope while treating us to a panoramic view of the town. For first time skiers, we were pretty shocked to find us on an inclined slope at approximately 60 degrees angle, with travelators on both sides of the slopes. Beyond the travelators, there was nothing but an abyss into the darkness. To say I was scared was an understatement.
I had never been this attentive in any lesson all my life. Today, I was prepared to ski, trudge or crawl back down the slope alive. When the half hour lesson was over, we were left to our own devices. Paul took to skiing naturally, and quite confidently skied down the slope with poise. I skied, tumbled and rolled over to the travelator a couple of times before I finally made it almost down the slope without any help. At the end of the hour, we were exhausted and famished. As we took the gondola down, i could really appreciate the challenge this sport entailed. While skiing wasn't a stroll in the park for me, I was happy to have chosen to experience this adrenaline rushing adventure with Paul.
Back in town, in order to fuel our bodies and to bring comfort to our backbreaking bruises, we tucked into hearty Tirolean produce like pork dumplings, semmel knoedel (bread dumplings) and Austrian goulash. As the sky was covered by an ebony blanket of stars, we took a stroll down the winding streets passing by horse-drawn carriages and taverns filled with genteel people having the time of their lives making merry. What a time to be alive!
