Our White Christmas

In search of snow for Christmas, we travelled to the mountains of Austria. It was a great vacation, with lots of skiing, good food and relaxation. We went on a package tour, which is not the sort of thing we would have done before we had kids, but it was really wonderful to have others who were responsible for all the details. The main reason we went for the package tour is that they offer child care, so they entertained the kids and Bernie and I could ski. They even took Pascale for ski lessons every day. Josephine really bonded with Natalie the babysitter. J really likes to be carried around, but I generally make her walk on her own for a while each day. It seems like Natalie probably carried her all day, every day, because now Josephine is expecting that sort of treatment from me.

We stayed in Zurs, which is a really small place not far from St Anton. It's so small that there is no grocery store. I wanted milk for Josephine, and I had to ask one of the tour operators to go elsewhere to get it for me. It's really quiet and beautiful there, though. The ski conditions were just great. They had more snow this season than any year for the past 15 years.

We took a horse-drawn sleigh ride one evening that the kids really enjoyed. It went through the woods from the little town of Lech to the miniscule town of Zug, where we all had fondue for dinner. We tried to get a pic of Pascale with the horses, but she wanted nothing to do with them, which is probably wise considering the size differential. We had dinner in Zug at the Rote Wand, which, on the outside, looks like all the other half-timbered buildings there. The inside decor was straight out of an Ian Schrager hotel. It really felt like we were in London or New York, and it made for a funny contrast.

The Christmas tree that I bought is absolutely amazing. I left it for a whole week, it was completely out of water last night when we came back, and it still looks really nice.

On the mountain:





Pascale and Josephine made us Christmas cards with their babysitters:



We had ski guides every day to show us around. Here's Heidi, Chris and Ben:


Father Christmas showed up with gifts for all the kids:



Natalie the babysitter holding Josephine:


Josephine in the hotel lobby. They had a Christmas tree and a nice fireplace:



The girls opening gifts on Christmas. Santa brought them one gift each in Austria, and he brought the rest last night when we got back to London:



Relaxing in our room:



The view from our hotel room:


The big snowman in Zurs:


The Eisbar:


Pascale during her ski lesson:


Snowboarding:


We stayed at the Alpenhotel Valluga:


Outside the hotel:


Bernie racing alongside Pascale while she shows off her skiing:


Josephine outdoors:


In the town of Lech:



Bernie really likes these chairs where the seat folds up to reveal storage space for your hat, gloves, etc:


The Zurich airport has a Childrens' Lounge:


Our Christmas tree back in London: