Vorsicht

I think it says, "look out for the snow."

Little church in the woods near Mathon.

Loipe ende.

Ischgl

Tschafein scene

Anti-avalanche wall

Winter conditions

On the trail

Karin finds the bridge.

Jamtal, looking back toward Galtür.

Winter Hike

View up the Jamtal.

Ballunspitz

Après Ski continues

What else can I say? Ischgl rocks!

Tequila Customs

In Austria and Germany, apparently, gold tequila is drunk with cinnamon and orange, while silver tequila gets the more customary lime (or lemon) and salt.

Who knew?

Actually the orange and cinnamon combo isn't bad, even for a tequila snob like me.

Apres ski continues!

Après Ski im Ischgl

Party on, dude!

Rush hour

Gampenbahn, 2870m

Skiroute 39

Nice view into Switzerland

After 15 min wait.

Ski Safari

Basically, a sno-cat pulls you over the uphill parts as you ski around.
May try that later this trip...

Back to Galtür

Silvrettasee

Gasthof Piz Buin

Atop the Bielerhöhe, Partenen, Vorarlberg, Austria

Atop the schlepplift silvrettasee

Achtung!

Loipenstart, Galtür

On the trail

Westloipe. Galtür in the background.

Off to Innsbruck

OS 903 - Dash-8 turboprop.

Control tower, Wien

Breakfast with Blackberry

Austrian lounge, VIE

Merry Christmas!

Vianocny jedlo

Kapustnica a zemiaky

Christmas Dinner

This is my wife's mom, cooking previously-frozen salmon for Christmas.

Dobru chut!

Grandma hiding

Yes, it is true. Family trauma at holiday time is culture-agnostic. Here's Grandma hiding from unspecified familial holiday stress.

Great product / packaging idea from Slovakia

Single-shot vodka. Price: 20 Slovak crowns (about $1). Sold at gas stations nationwide - perfect for drinking and driving! Also in Fernet, rum, and other flavors.

Vianocny trh, staré mesto, Bratislava

Bratislava scene

Trzesniewski!

Drei speck mit ei, bitte!

Hofburg palace

Wiener Christkindlmarkt am Rathausplatz

Tree (with 450g Salonky)

Labor-intensive Slovak Christmas tradition. Cut ribbon, tie in loop, attach two salonky, hang on tree. Repeat for 450g worth of Salonky. We had to search high and low at Tesco for the Slovak-made Salonky - most of those available were from Hungary. This is apparently unacceptable - I guess the memories of the 1000-year Magyar domination of the Slovaks run deep. Oh well, at least the borders are open!

Nothing says Vesele Vianoce like a tub full of live carp. (Tesco, Bratislava).

Makovka

Only skk 6.90 each.

Makovka

Only skk 6.90 each.

Merlot in a box.

Open border

Entering Sloviaka. 18 years ago this was the Iron Curtain -- this very spot. Tanks waited here. People were strip searched. Today we just drove through, like going from Maryland into Virginia.

That's just remarkable.