“We would have sent you home,” said Teresa, our hostess. “It was freezing up there, there was new snow. You made the right choice to stay in bed.”
It was a painful choice, though, one wrapped in self pity and despair. I had a window of relief from whatever flu I’ve picked up, just enough time to surface for dinner, and then, I awoke again sticky and exhausted after ten or twelve hours of muddy sleep.… continued…
I’m on a sponsored trip with Austria Tourism. I’ve not seen much, as I’ve been sick, but I did enjoy the first evening out at Piburg, a tiny village in the Otztal. … continued…
This is not, I can assure you, how I’d intended to reacquaint myself with Austria. I did not want to take breakfast in my room, I did not want to hand over my credit card to pay for a pile of medication, I did not want to miss the field trip to the high meadows. My plan had nothing to do with alternating my hours between sleeping and feeling sorry for myself, but that’s what I’ve been doing.… continued…
I take a local bus from my house, and then, I switch to an express. When I change buses, there’s a wide faced woman with Chinese eyes, maybe she’s a Native American, maybe Alaskan, maybe one of those mixed up types we have here, a little Chinese, some Pacific Islander… it’s not that important, but she’s wide and brown, about my height, and she’s right there as I step off the bus. She reaches up and grabs my shoulders like an old friend and looks me right in the eye; we are face to face.… continued…
