Well, you'll be happy (I hope) to know that I survived the sleigh ride, though you'll also be happy to know it wasn't without some drama and amusement. We headed out for our 8-hour day at 9 in the morning, all of us bundled from head to toe. For me that meant wool undershirt, warm sweater, 2 layer coat, 2 pairs of long thermal underwear and my warmest pants, boots and two sets of toe-warmers in each foot. Okay so my feet felt like they were on fire all morning but I'll take that over the cold. Then of course there were the obligatory scarves, hats, gloves and handwarmers. This is why I hate winter, people. All this just to go outside. But anyway we set off on the bus up into the mountains to find the snow. I've never in my life participated in any activity that involved looking FOR the snow, versus, you know, trying to get AWAY from it. But we certainly found it in a town called Rempau . This was the first snow we'd hit all trip and the minute I set foot out of the bus I was ready to be done with it. Half the group would be going on the morning sleigh ride and the other half would be going in the afternoon. Boy was I glad that Marianne the Energizer bunny was up and hooking us up on the first tour because the day only got colder as it went on. The sleigh driver spoke pretty much no English (I love how this surprises us, as we just get used to everyone speaking English as if they for any reason should) and Cindy and I were in the front with him while Marianne, Steve and Milt were in the back. I tried to wear Milton's ski mask... 
... but really couldn't see much through it so I managed with just my scarf over my face. Because we jumped on so quickly and they put Cindy's bag away for her, she hadn't had time to get out her hat and gloves. I didn't realize this until she kept asking me if I was okay, and I told her yes, I was doing okay, and she finally said "I'm not!" Fortunately there was a stop for the horses to rest for about half an hour at a little inn, where we were able to warm up for a bit and get ourselves organized before getting back on the ride. Oh, and it was a for real sleigh pulled by two horses... Here was our view anyway. That was pretty much what it was like. It was very pretty. Not so much my kind of pretty (Freezing, ice cold winds, close your eyes and imagine cactus plants around you) -- but beautiful in a sort of I'd like to see it from my window and not be IN it pretty. Anyway everyone enjoyed the ride, and after it ended we were taken to the restaurant to eat, where we were ignored for quite a bit, but got to watch a bunch of kids from our tour who'd never seen snow before play outside, trying to make snowballs, sliding down the hill... This was nice -- like I said, much more fun to look out the window at than to be in. But we finally managed to get our food -- and this time Marianne got yelled at, not me, as the waitress handed me my plate and Marianne reached up to help her pass Steve's along, and she yanked it away. Marianne said "Oh, sorry," and the waitress said "That's not okay." and served the food and left. These people, let me tell you... Anyway the food here has been so good -- even this random resetaurant in the middle of this small town where no one speaks English (again, ethnocentrist-me, why would they?) there was a vegetarian menu -- I got a vegetabale strudel with boiled potatoes, and loved it. Oh and Cindy and I got "soup with strips of pancakes" -- a broth with strips of crepes in it. Yum. Oh and POSSIBLY chicken broth, but I ignored that, as I decided for this trip I didn't have the energy to worry about broths, and as long as I didn't have to eat any meat, it would be fine. But anyway the food was good, the service was crappy, and after that we headed back to the bus for the long ride back to Salzburg. Eight hours later, we were returned to our hotel, and after a breather we went to a pizzeria for our last night with the family (though none of us were all that hungry after that filling lunch - I just had a salad, Cindy just had some bread!). Tonight we'll be packing, trying to figure out how to get all this crap we bought into our suitcases in some way that we'll be able to get on the water buses in Venice. OY! Long train day tomorrow, will report from Venice...
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