Well, now I'm really stuck in a rut, although my loyal readers (stolidog and this Chinese woman who spams my blog with automated compliments) won't believe me. I decided to break with the depressing theme by picking out some places that I thought were warm, happy architecture to show the other side of the city. Two are of Belvedere Palace, and one is of a famous church, Karlskirche, with one of the most over the top interiors I've ever seen. Then I got to thinking...Belvedere Palace was built for Prince Eugene, who successfully fought the Turks in 1683, who had beseiged the city and almost starved it into submission. And the church was built to celebrate the end of Vienna's deadliest plague outbreak. So maybe the Viennese are only happy when they're in crisis mode?

So this is weird. I actually really like Vienna, and was wondering why I was being so depressing in the last post, and I chalked it up to being bored with writing some variation of "this place is so great" all the time, so I went with the depressing theme. And I really just decided to correct this impression with my current post, when I came across this picture. I mean, have you ever seen a more suicide-inducing vacation photo?

I'm by no means a great skiier but I used to ski off an on when I was (much) younger, so I figured I could try to keep up with Somchai. Well, of course he couldn't move an inch with skis on. He fell about ten times in a row just trying to move toward the ski lift. But he decided that he'd be much better downhill, so we struggled onto the lift, and I could see his increasingly worried look as we kept climbing the mountain. Finally, after he tumbled off the lift at the top of the mountain, he realizes, he really sucks at skiing. Well, long story short, it takes us the entire day, almost 8 hours to get down the mountain. I would ski down a bit then wait and wait, as Somchai, skis over his shoulder, walked carefully down the slope. It was pure agony (at least for me). But the punch line to the day was when we got back to the hotel, he put all his ski ensemble on, and had me take a photo of him like he was an Olympic skiier!

The town was quite posh, with lots of upscale boutiques and overpriced but fun little bars and restaurants. We probably know the town better than almost anyone, because we spent so much time walking around the streets. Why were we doing this, instead of skiing, you ask? Well, it's a funny story that unfortunately I've told pretty often so you probably know it. Of course, it all begins with Somchai, who insisted we come to Kitzbuhel because he was such a great skiier from his many trips to Utah, and he knew he would be sooo much better than me. You probably know where this is going...

12. Kitzbuhel

After Innsbruck we took a short train ride east to the skiing mecca of Kitzbuhel, a picture perfect Alpine village. Our hotel is the big white building at left with the elaborately decorated windows, called the Goldener Greif. It was the perfect ski lodge (except it was in town and not on the slopes), but the ground floor was all crackling fires and welcoming bars, and the rooms were really cute as well. Not really grand, but just right for this kind of town. It snowed the whole time we were there, which added to the festive atmosphere. At right you can see two of the town's three medieval churches (and me, of course)

In our snow-starved Bangkok mindframe, we also took the gondola ride up nearby Hungerberg mountain to see lots more snow. It's mostly a ski run but we just went for the views, and too be even colder than we were in town. We were eating local food the whole time, which Somchai didn't really like, because it's very heavy. I don't remember much of the food, but I do remember we had lunch at the top of the mountain, a huge plate of sauerkraut with a dumpling the size of a volleyball perched on top. Maybe a hearty finish to a hard day on the slopes, but a bit much to stomach after a half hour of posing for photos!

There aren't that many must see tourist attractions in Innsbruck, it's more just the feel of the place, a busy, pleasant Alpine city with very typical architecture surrounded by the Alps. At left is the city's most famous landmark, the Golden Roof. It's invariably a disappointment, like the Mannekin Pis in Brussels. It's attractive enough, but you'd walk by it several times before you really noticed it, but for the crowds looking at it trying to figure out if that's really the landmark. Anyway, it was built in the 1500's for the Austrian emperor when he was visiting Innsbruck. At right, the various pastel buildings throughout the old town, many with baroque flourishes, are a more interesting sight.

11. Innsbruck

I remember when our family was planning

our first trip to Europe, and I was so excited about all the planning involved. I was trying to work out a trip covering about 30 countries in the two weeks available, which is not as easy as it sounds. But I remember that all the trip variations had to include Innsbruck; for some reason I had become obsessed with the place. Then one day, my intense trip planning was interrupted by a family announcement: my mother was pregnant and the trip would have to be cancelled. I was crushed, no Innsbruck! Well, for many years now I've had to view my little sister Aimee as if perpetually on a scale, her "charms" always being weighed against the loss of my Innsbruck fantasy. So it was with great relief that I finally made it to Innsbruck, and could judge for myself that, on balance, it was better to have had Aimee than the family trip.

Austria, December '98

We decided to flee the decidedly un-Christmasy feel of Thailand in December, where Christmas is even a work day, and take a two week trip around the main tourist spots of Austria, where we certainly got the White Christmas we were looking for.

It was a last minute trip, so the hotel and restaurant preparations were pretty slapdash. And there are some definite downsides to an Alpine Christmas, chiefly the fact that it's so bitterly cold that sightseeing quickly becomes a chore, and it seems to get dark around 3 pm.

We started the trip in Innsbruck by flying to Vienna from Bangkok then transferring to a cute Tyrolean Airlines flight where I remember the flight attendants wore cute little costumes like they were auditioning for the Sound of Music. But maybe I'm just imagining that. This photo is of Innsbruck on the banks of the Inn River, which eventually flows to the Danube.