We have spent the last three days staying at a charming family hotel/spa on the Engadin Plateau in the southwestern corner of Tyrol near the Swiss border.
http://www.lafairserhof.at/en/
It's been a pleasant break from stocking and setting up a new kitchen every few days and the spa experience has been an unexpected and welcome addition. It took a few days for us prudes to get a little bit comfortable walking around the communal steam room, sauna, Laconium etc in our birthday suits, but everyone else seems to find this totally natural and so, when in Rome....just as long as we do NOT run into anyone we know and especially no patients!
What we have run into is the hitherto unknown phenomenon of Dutch Skiers on Family Holiday in the Tyrol. Apparently the Royal Family vacations at St Anton this time each year and they appear to have brought just about all their subjects along with them this week. The only Austrian we shared a chair ride with in three days told us straight faced that "Holland is empty this week".
At Serfaus we spent an entire day riding chairlifts with Die Nederlandse and Janet found it upset her equilibrium as her ear couldn't pick up any meaningful language bits and she felt like she was inside a washing machine making shwooshing noises all day. This in contrast to the lovely tones of Italian and even German we'd been hearing last week - we're looking forward to hearing some French tomorrow. Apart from the auditory onslaught, we've had to keep our eyes peeled on the hills at all times and have learned to sharpen our elbows in the lift lines and restaurants (it's amazingly very difficult to suspend our Canadian sensibilities)
The skiing however has been brilliant.
https://www.serfaus-fiss-ladis.at/en
https://www.ischgl.com/en/active/ski-winter
Serfaus and Ischgl are two massive ski areas within 20 minutes of Pfunds and seem to have profited immensely from the Orange Invasion if the quality and quantity of chairlifts/trams etc are any indication. I am not sure if the tinted chair covers are to honour the Dutch or just to provide some glare protection or maybe just to make everything look orange from within. Just because...
The double decker tram that took us to the extreme edge of Ischgl yesterday looked like it hopped out of a design magazine and sported plush seating, a cork floor and a rack to hold skis; a far cry from Jay Peak!
There has been little fresh snow so the skiing was all on - piste but the grooming provided for some stellar cruising
We start each day in Austria (in Pfunds), cross the border to Samnaun to park and pick up the tram to the top then ski back and forth between Austria and Switzerland all day much like the "smugglers" used to do back in the day. There's quite the local lore about those goings on and we skied a few of the "Smugglers' Routes" which was pretty cool. And then there's the spa waiting at the end of the day and the hotel has a lovely ornate dining room with good food. All the required elements.
Check!
http://www.lafairserhof.at/en/
It's been a pleasant break from stocking and setting up a new kitchen every few days and the spa experience has been an unexpected and welcome addition. It took a few days for us prudes to get a little bit comfortable walking around the communal steam room, sauna, Laconium etc in our birthday suits, but everyone else seems to find this totally natural and so, when in Rome....just as long as we do NOT run into anyone we know and especially no patients!
What we have run into is the hitherto unknown phenomenon of Dutch Skiers on Family Holiday in the Tyrol. Apparently the Royal Family vacations at St Anton this time each year and they appear to have brought just about all their subjects along with them this week. The only Austrian we shared a chair ride with in three days told us straight faced that "Holland is empty this week".
At Serfaus we spent an entire day riding chairlifts with Die Nederlandse and Janet found it upset her equilibrium as her ear couldn't pick up any meaningful language bits and she felt like she was inside a washing machine making shwooshing noises all day. This in contrast to the lovely tones of Italian and even German we'd been hearing last week - we're looking forward to hearing some French tomorrow. Apart from the auditory onslaught, we've had to keep our eyes peeled on the hills at all times and have learned to sharpen our elbows in the lift lines and restaurants (it's amazingly very difficult to suspend our Canadian sensibilities)
The skiing however has been brilliant.
https://www.serfaus-fiss-ladis.at/en
https://www.ischgl.com/en/active/ski-winter
Serfaus and Ischgl are two massive ski areas within 20 minutes of Pfunds and seem to have profited immensely from the Orange Invasion if the quality and quantity of chairlifts/trams etc are any indication. I am not sure if the tinted chair covers are to honour the Dutch or just to provide some glare protection or maybe just to make everything look orange from within. Just because...
...and the view from the lunch deck was tolerable
...as was the view on the lunch deck!
We start each day in Austria (in Pfunds), cross the border to Samnaun to park and pick up the tram to the top then ski back and forth between Austria and Switzerland all day much like the "smugglers" used to do back in the day. There's quite the local lore about those goings on and we skied a few of the "Smugglers' Routes" which was pretty cool. And then there's the spa waiting at the end of the day and the hotel has a lovely ornate dining room with good food. All the required elements.
Check!
Tomorrow we pack up and drive to Luzern half way to our next stop: Verbier
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