Weekend in KLU or: Gorillas in the Mist

I was too late. The skaters' paradise a.k.a. the frozen Wörther See had already thawed and all you could see yesterday was red and white tape and the odd suicidal person tiptoeing around on the lake. (Potentially bird-flu-infested) swans didn't seem to care, though. TD and I basically spent the weekend as lazy as my parents' cat whom I'll call "the Beast" to protect his identity in the blogsphere ;-)

On Saturday, while TD and my Dad were cheering on our Olympic heroes (that was pre drug scandal) from the sofa, Mum and I engaged in winter sports somewhat more actively and went skiing on Gerlitzen, one of our usual haunts. The weather didn't look too promising but as I knew I wouldn't be back to Carinthia before Easter (which is very late this year so skiing excursions are rather unlikely) I wanted to go skiing quite badly and decided to brave the elements. Gorillas in the Mist is what came to my mind when we disembarked from the chair lift. Just as well I wasn't wearing a white ski suit or I'd have been completely invisible. I've never seen fog as dense and as white as that. I actually got really nauseous as skiing into an unknown direction on invisible ground and with gale-force winds to boot is a somewhat unsettling experience. It got better though the closer we got to the valley which is why all people stuck to the one slope out of 10 or so where you could see your own skis as well as the person skiing right in front of you.

Lunch-break purchases: Only groceries and toiletries (cellulite-cream season has been declared open, more about that obsession of mine another time). On Saturday, Mum waited in the car while I hopped out in "downtown" Klagenfurt in all my ski-gear glory to bulk-buy what was left of beads in an arts and crafts store which is closing down and selling all its merchandise for 50% of the original price.