Skiing in Obertauern, Austria

As it was still raining on Reiteralm, we looked for a skiing area that was situated higher. So we went to Obertauern.

Slopes
There were slopes for all kind of skiers. Due to weather conditions we could not get the most out of them. Nonetheless we did the green Tauern Round through the area.

What a Panorama?!

Our favorite slope became 8e as we had the chance of some off piste & tree skiing like in Canada.

Snow/ Weather
It was snowing till the afternoon but as temperature were above zero the snow turned immediately into water. The snow below the skis was mainly Sulz.
When we left in the afternoon the sun finally came out to play.

Restaurant
We had our lunch on the roofed and heated terrace of mountain restaurant.  
Food was leaving us hungry but we decided not to eat more there.
Later we had cake and fruit salad at a bigger restaurant called.

Specialties
Red and green Tauern round, the rest we could not see in the fog.
Super Seven - the seven highest points of the ski area.

One of the Super Seven!

AIESEC Alumni skiing on Reiteralm, Austria

For the next few days we joined the AIESEC Alumni Winterevent on the Reiteralm. We shared a big luxury cabin including sauna and jacuzzi.

Cabin 28

After skiing, we went to the sauna or the jacuzzi and enjoyed the view of the Dachstein mountains.

Every evening, we cooked together - Spaghettig Bolognese, Raclette, Fondue and Asia Wok food.

Table set for Raclette dinner

Slopes

Good and wide slopes on Reiteralm. Black pistes fall a bit short or are only small slopes. 

Connection to Fageralm by Skibus - if you take the right slope down you end directly at the bus stop. Only a handful of slopes await you but they were empty and you could cruise just fine on them. 

Planai, Rohrmoos, Schladming and Hauser Kaibling are connected by lifts and slopes to Reiteralm. To return to Reiteralm you have take Fritz Blitz - a kind of magic carpet with a tube around and music. 

Fritz Blitz

At another point you have to take the gondola to the valley as there is no connection piste and then another two or three lifts uphill. So going back is not as much fun as coming. 

Hochwurzen

Snow & Weather

Very warm - we had usually around 9 degrees and got rid off all unnecessary clothes. The snow was good only in the early morning or in the shadow. To make things worse it started raining on Saturday, so we were completely wet by lunch time and soon after called it a day. 

Restaurants

Lena Alm/ Reiteralm -  our regular lunch meeting point. Also well accessible for non-skiers and beginners. Sun terrace is split in self-service and served area. The later can be fitted with roof and heaters in case of bad weather. Good food but beware of the waitress wanting to sell you extra salads. Good value for money for the Lena Törtchen dessert - a chocolate cake with cherry sauce and cream. 

Lena Alm

Du & I Alm/ Hauser Kaibling - directly in the middle of slope 2. Great value for money - we recommend the Sacher cake. 

Specialties 

Wifi spots at several valley and top stations - working fine. 

On top of Hauser Kaibling there were swings in the sun to relax a bit. 

 in 7th heaven

Skiing in Annaberg, Austria

First day of this year's skiing holiday started in Annaberg in Lammertal, Austria. 

Slopes 

Annaberg and the connected ski areas mainly featured red runs. It was not very high but okay for a day. 

Snow & Weather

It was very warm and the snow turned very soft and mud like below our skis. 

Restaurant 

As it was very windy on one mountain we hang in a gondola for an hour before we moved finally to the top. There we walked in the Sonnenalm for our well deserved lunch. Great place, delicious food and good wifi. 

Specialties 

Annaberg is home to Marcel Hirscher - the Austrian World Ski race champion - and there was a speed run in which you could try yourself. 

Skiing in Kaltenbach, Zillertal/ Austria

Early morning, I started with my bus colleagues in a Neoplan Skyliner in the direction of Austria. 

Several hours and traffic jams later we arrived in Kaltenbach where we split up in small groups for skiing. Luckily, in my group of five we all were skiing on the same level that is "fast forward". 

In no time, we crossed the whole big skiing area that had great slopes, good snow and super sunshine. 

In the afternoon, we enjoyed the sun on a mountain terrace accompanied by drinks, food and cake. 

The area was really big, so we met other people from our bus only twice. 

Unfortunately, there was only on downhill slope to the valley - the black Stephan Neureuther slope. A crowd tried to get down the hill and was jamming at several bottlenecks. This slope in the afternoon is only for experts and even for us it was no fun. Others should use the cabin lift down. 

At the arrival several après-ski bars are awaiting the crowd and offer drinks and the typical music. We partied there until 7 pm, then our bus returned to Munich. 

On board, we were served Würstel from the board kitchen that was already put to use in the morning when Timo prepared scrambled eggs for breakfast. 

By 10 pm, we were back at the Bus Forum.

Novi Sad, Serbia

Just an hour by car from Belgrade is Novi Sad - the capital of the Vojvodina region. 

We stayed at Hotel Master and Friday and Saturday we went to SPENS (sport and congress centre) for AIESEC Alumni International Meeting. 

We talked a lot about the strategy and the new programs we want to offer around the globe. 

In the long lunch break, we walked to the city centre and saw several churches. 

In the evening, we went to Novi Sad's party mile: Laze Teleckog. We enjoyed drinks live music at Tata Brada before joining the parties of AIESEC's International Presidents Meeting at Park Hotel. 

Saturday evening, there was a reception for the 60th anniversary of the founding of AIESEC in Yugoslavia and a lot of alumni from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and other countries joined us. 

After a final session on Sunday, Hugo and I went to explore the fortress on the hill. It drizzled but the view on the city was fantastic. We visited the museum and then strolled downhill looking for a taxi back. 

The sun finally shone when Tanja picked me up for the ride back to Belgrade. 

Belgrade, Serbia

Thanks to AIESEC and AIESEC Alumni I reached my target of visiting a new country early this year and Serbia it was. I arrived just before midnight as the flight was delayed. We were already boarded on the aircraft in Munich but the doors would not close. So we de-boarded and waited two hours for a new aircraft to come from Vienna before heading off to Belgrade. 

There my friefnd Tanja from Macedonia welcomed me and we went straight to the city centre for a drink at Cantina di Frida. The Serbians I met there were very welcoming, enjoy singing and dancing  to live music and smoke heavily (as it's not EU, you can still smoke in all restaurants, clubs and bars).

The next day, I spent sightseeing with Tanja's overnight guest - Paul from the Netherlands. We took a bus to the city centre and then walked from sight to sight in the pouring snow.

We started off at a church. The nearby Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church was closed.

Princess Lubica's residence was either closed or was hosting a media conference when we tried to get in, so we moved on to the Kalemagdan fortress. 

The widespread fortress had some slippery bridges and passageways so you need to be careful. In the centre, there is the Military Museum and I was quite happy to enter and warm up. The museum showcased the historic development of Belgrade and Serbia from ancient times to nowadays. It was very interesting to learn more about the history and Serbia's relations.

We filled out empty stomach at the Kalemagdan Terasa restaurant which is one of the best in Belgrade. We decided for a Serbian dish: grilled meat of every kindwith boiled vegetables.

From there we continued to the Gallery of Frescos, a small museum that housed several church frescos. 

Unfortunately, two mueums were closed for restauration: the museum for Serbian history and the Museum of the Serbian Church. So we just passed  by and moved on to the next. In the ethnographic Museum, we saw several national costumes from the region and the attire for different occassions.

The National Gallery that had been closed for the lack of funds for 10 years had re-opened so we enjoyed the paintings of Paja Jovanovic.

Nikola Tesla Museum

The most interesting museum was the tiny museum in honor of Nikola Tesla, engineer, inventor and Serbian. He experimented a lot with electricity and developed the system of two-phase alternating current.

Nikola Tesla

Last stop on our sightseeing tour was the splendid Sveti Sava - the biggest Orthodox church in the world. Unfortunately, the interior is still under construction and featured a lot of concrete.

In the evening, we took a bus from the bus terminal to Novi Sad.

Skiing in Garmisch

Taking a day off in the week and heading for the Alps - my brother and me went to Garmisch for a day of skiing. At our arrival just before 9 am, the sun had not yet touched the valley ground. We got our tickets and headed up to the top.

9 o'clock - valley

After some rounds to get acquainted with the ski resort and to warm up the muscles, we made our way to the highest point of the resort: Osterfelderkopf (2050 m). From there we had a fantastic view on the mountains and the city in the valley.

10 o'clock - view from Osterfelderkopf

Next we wanted to try the famous Kandahar - one of the most demanding ski runs in the alpine skiing racing circuit. Unfortunately, the upper part was closed for training. So we did the lower part. As it had rained the night before, it was really icy. Nonetheless, we managed it several times.

Then we moved on to Hausberg where we did several runs before and after lunch and were speeding down the hill. Victor cracked a 113 km/h. We lunched at Drehmöser 9 and enjoyed a view on the mountain. As there is still a US army facility in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, there were a lot of Americans.

view from lunch table

In the afternoon, we could finally ski the upper Kandahar run that was really good. We did again all the runs from the morning before we finished our skiing day at 4 pm.