Hiking Beyond the Gorge...

Once we made it through the gorge, we set off on a hike. Our goal was to go up and over the mountain to the ski resort as we had done several years ago. The first part of the trail was through packed snow, so we didn’t wear the snowshoes.

Eventually we ran out of forged path and needed the snowshoes to continue onward. It was pretty amazing to realize that we were really alone out there.

It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. Unfortunately, it soon became evident that Jimmy had led us astray (we didn’t agree about the turn just past the gorge) and that we wouldn’t make it to our destination before dark. It then became a race against time to get back to the gorge before the gates on the path were closed, which would have forced us into a major detour. Luckily we made it with five minutes to spare!

Frozen Waterfalls...

After lunch, we continued up the road to Partnach Gorge. This was our fourth visit and we were still amazed by the beauty and the force of the rushing water.

Snowshoeing...

Before we left for Garmisch, my friend Jane loaned me a pair of snowshoes. They didn’t fit in my suitcase, but the idea stuck and we decided to rent some. These aren’t the old-fashioned ones that look like tennis rackets, but rather modern sports gear that really did stop us from sinking into the deep snow. They look clunky, but were actually very easy to walk in. Jimmy was thrilled that we’d found a winter sport that I liked.

Whereas we normally have to walk along the cross country ski paths and listen to skiers yell at us in German, now we could forge our own paths across the valley towards the ski jump stadium where we ate lunch.

Hitting the Slopes...

Ready to hit the slopes

On Monday, the girls skied with Jimmy. Ski school started on Tuesday. They moved up to an intermediate class this year; being in class together again was their idea.

The Gondola took them up the
mountain to meet Jimmy

The official photo on their
last day of ski school

On Friday, Jimmy got permission to ski along with their class to video all the kids so Veronica could put together a movie. Hope you’ll agree that he did even a better job skiing backwards than last year.

With Madison and Nate, new
friends from Wassenaar

They really liked their instructor and the other kids in the class, which were mainly expat kids living in The Hague or Germany. On Friday night, several of the kids joined them and Jimmy for night sledding.

Back to Garmisch...

For the girls’ February break, we headed back to Garmisch in the German Alps for the 4th time. Unlike previous years, we decided to skip going to Munich this time and just concentrate on having the girls ski for six days.

Jimmy headed off early Monday morning to start skiing, while us girls slept in. I then walked the girls to the slopes on a beautiful sunny day.

There was a lot more snow on the ground than we’d ever seen here. Little did we know that morning that it would lightly snow non-stop for three days later in the week.

Strangely, this was the only time I actually got to spend any time during the day with the girls. We also rarely ate together as Jimmy and I often went into town for dinner rather than eating at the resort. Not our typical family togetherness, but we all had fun.

And the Winner is...

Each year the AWC hosts a chili cook-off in honor of Super Bowl. This year Jimmy decided he’d enter the contest for the first time. Rather than making one chili, he decided to make two from the same base: one beef and one vegetarian. What a surprise that his vegetarian won first place! Folks were disappointed when they asked for the recipe and he admitted that he just made it up as he went in his classic “pull it out of your butt” style. Luckily, he was able to replicate it a few weeks later when we hosted the Hague Hash House Harriers at our house after Jimmy hared a hash run.

More Burns Night...

Jan came down with the flu, so she and Bob couldn’t join us and we only had three couples at our table. Here we are with Frank and Johanna. We all had a great time!

Unfortunately, the Ambassador and his family will be moving back to London in the summer, so we’re not sure if we’ll get invited to future Burns Nights.