Mobile, but not forgotten

Have been thinking A LOT (several months it seems) about whether I want to upload mobile photos on here or not, but at the risk of letting this blog die off completely, here are some miscellaneous iphone photos from late Autumn until now (minus 3 wonderful weeks in Australia - possibly still to come).

Autumn was a lot of fun - beer festivals, squeezing in as many hikes as possible including an overnight one on a mountain, bike riding until past sunset (road as well as dabbling in mountain biking), parties, and generally enjoying life until the semester got too busy.

Winter came somewhat suddenly, then left, then came again, and at the moment it seems to be making up its mind whether to stay or not. At least it's mostly been one of two extremes - either very snowy or very sunny. To celebrate the first snow, we went on a snow hike through extremely heavy snowfall. I also went on a memorable bike ride on a closed road which ended up being much more icy than expected, but awesome.

I love Vorarlberg huts/ houses.

A big change I've made over the past year is to explore different places when running. I used to just concentrate on clocking up km's, but running has gotten infinitely better by getting off residential streets and up into the hills/ mountains. I'm more or less going grandma-pace up the hills, and not going as far as I might otherwise, but the views, sunsets and new places I've discovered is a fine compromise. 

Skiing season is here! I've enjoyed getting out on my too-long-for-me, 20 euro skis. It's not just skiing itself which I love; it's the whole day I get to spend in the mountains, in (mostly) good weather with excellent company.

Speaking of excellent company: I had to farewell "the other Maddie" today, after she hung out in Vorarlberg with me for a year. I'm so sad she's left, but also thankful for the amazing friend she's been this past year - it would have been very different without her company.

I'm excited for the next semester/ year: writing a master thesis, doing a big project, lots of trips planned, lots of cycling, running and hiking. The thought of its potential busyness is already quite intimidating, but (perhaps after one more week off) I feel ready to tackle it.

Following Anna

I have two new housemates in Austria, both called Anna. One is an architect from Germany and the other a social worker from the other side of the mountains where I live, not far. On Saturday my class was cancelled (Masters means I usually have class when other people are free, like Friday evenings). In the morning I cycled over the border into Switzerland and went up some small mountains, someone in class mentioned that the roads there are good and empty - they were. In the afternoon the Annas, Natasa (from Slovenia) and I hiked up the 'local mountain' and had coffee and strudel at the restaurant at the top. The path down was very slippery but it felt magical walking through the trees in such pretty light. In the evening we made kässpatzle, my favourite Austrian food (I think). Today I went skiing (16 degrees Celsius, practically summer here!) and tomorrow it's my first day at my new 2 day/ week job, eek.

Here

A very excited train trip from Munich airport. "Can you believe it? Look at that light! Ahh it's so beautiful! See the houses, see the mountains!"

Finally arriving at that lake. Final train change into Austria.

Resuming the same Saturday morning market ritual (until I start having classes on Saturdays).

Going to the tiny mountain town of Ebnit (population 100), seeing old friends again, eating cake, drinking hot chocolate & schnapps, watching 'Funken' (an old tradition to make a huge bonfire and scare away winter).

This morning's run before I started my first day of Masters (so much intense German. Have to get used to this!)

A love note on a tree on the mountain. I hope she saw it.

That morning blue hue that my iPhone camera evidently struggles with.

And so, I'm back in this corner of the world. It feels good.

Island

While in Istanbul, we also visited Büyükada, one of the islands just over an hours' ferry ride from the Kadikoy port in the city. It was a good albeit very weird day - in winter the island is somewhat of a ghost town, with a lot of empty, grand yet run-down houses. We came across a huge, abandoned & haunted-looking building while hiking that we later found out used to be an orphanage (Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage), confirming its creepiness all the more. 

I can definitely recommend a day trip (or two) to the islands, despite (or maybe because) of the abandoned houses and eerie streets. The nature on the island is very beautiful, so pack your walking shoes.

The orphanage: