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Life in the alps

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
miranda wrote:
@jogi, where do you live in the Alps? Were you also born there?

I live somewhere in Alps Wink All my life (traveling around the world doesn't count Smile), and yes I was also born here. Smile
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
TTT wrote:
@Lizzard, I don't know anyone who does or thinks like that but it is good to be integrated unless you don't want to limit access to local advanatges or want to limit your social interaction.


Try a bottle of Piat d'Or, that seems to do the trick with the French.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Lizzard, being born and living in small mountain village doesn't mean you are some uneducated retard, who never went further then to their stable, and got married with his sister. But on the other hand people thinking like you, might actually have some serious issues. Wink
PS: I agree there are some weird people, but I bet you can find more of them in center of London Wink
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@jogi, ok, you're being weirdly coy about where you live in the Alps given that you have an anonymous username but that's of course your right… just seems a bit odd in a discussion about living in the Alps.

Lizzard wrote:
i never get this obsession with wanting to be counted as a 'local'.


Me neither.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Ah ok, I won't interfere anymore. I guess OP will get better explanation about this how locals will accept foreigner from someone who is living 1000km away from Alps, and come here maybe once a year for 5 days. No problem Wink
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I would also be interested to hear how day to day life is in the alps. Is it the playground that it seems?
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
faithsdaddy wrote:
I would also be interested to hear how day to day life is in the alps. Is it the playground that it seems?
I think the reality is that, like anywhere else, if you are working day-to-day then it is less of a playground than it is when you are there on holiday. That said, it will be whatever you make of it.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@jogi, don't be silly - nobody has said you're interfering.

@faithsdaddy, personally, I would say yes (but not in November really though that said I'm never here in November). Whether you get to take advantage of that playground of course depends on what kind of job you have.


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Fri 20-02-15 10:04; edited 1 time in total
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shep wrote:
The Two Travelers and the Farmer. A North American Folktale.

A traveler came upon an old farmer hoeing in his field beside the road. Eager to rest his feet, the wanderer hailed the countryman, who seemed happy enough to straighten his back and talk for a moment.
"What sort of people live in the next town?" asked the stranger.
"What were the people like where you've come from?" replied the farmer, answering the question with another question.
"They were a bad lot. Troublemakers all, and lazy too. The most selfish people in the world, and not a one of them to be trusted. I'm happy to be leaving the scoundrels."
"Is that so?" replied the old farmer. "Well, I'm afraid that you'll find the same sort in the next town. Disappointed, the traveler trudged on his way, and the farmer returned to his work. Some time later another stranger, coming from the same direction, hailed the farmer, and they stopped to talk.
"What sort of people live in the next town?" he asked.
"What were the people like where you've come from?" replied the farmer once again.
"They were the best people in the world. Hard working, honest, and friendly. I'm sorry to be leaving them."
"Fear not," said the farmer. "You'll find the same sort in the next town."


I really like this, and have often found it to be true.
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faithsdaddy wrote:
I would also be interested to hear how day to day life is in the alps. Is it the playground that it seems?

Absolutely! We are skiing every single day doing nothing, and money just comes from nowhere Very Happy Only difference is, that I have less then 10km to first big ski place, and you have 1000km, which means I can go skiing every weekend. But it also means on nice sunny day like today, I can see that damn hill through the office window and think how cool it would be to be there instead of sitting in office. So not all that great as someone might think. Unless you are ski instructor and then you can be on skis every day for pretty miserable salary, but that doesn't mean you are skiing for fun either Wink
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@jogi, +1
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@jogi,
Quote:
Unless you are ski instructor and then you can be on skis every day for pretty miserable salary, but that doesn't mean you are skiing for fun either
Right. Imagine a blue sky powder day and you are stuck on a beginner's slope with a bunch of dutchmen. That's mental torture!


Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Fri 20-02-15 11:48; edited 1 time in total
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@jogi, about right! One wall of my office is glass, and my desk directly faces a tasty couloir...
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
clarky999, you don't have it too bad – you get to ski before work!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I spent nearly 4 years working in the Caribbean and nearly 3 years working in the South Pacific. Your working and leisure life are pretty much determined by the kind of job you have, your colleagues and the kind of family life you want to have. You just have rather different ways of spending those scarce hours when you're not working.

Working a ten hour day then coming back to a tourist hotel for the night and spending another hour in your room writing the day's reports isn't so bad if you have a nice view of the ocean...... wink

I once spent 6 weeks travelling in the Caribbean and spent just one day (the only free Sunday) having a great day's sailing in the British Virgin Islands. The rest was work, including all the other weekend days, several of which were spent travelling.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Zero_G wrote:
clarky999, you don't have it too bad – you get to ski before work!


Haha yeah it could be worse - haven't managed any skiing this week though Confused

But tomorrow! Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:

Try a bottle of Piat d'Or, that seems to do the trick with the French

Laughing

I remember a big argument with my OH when we went out dinner with French friends. He wanted to take a bottle of wine, as we would to friends here. I insisted we had nothing worth taking and took a box of nice Marks and Spencer shortbread with a Scottishy kind of tin.

Afterwards he agreed - the wine we drank with them was a lot better than anything we normally bought, though the quantities were modest. He would probably have preferred quaffing our usual number, being a peasant in such matters. wink
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@pam w, snowHead I remember being quite surprised at a French friend's birthday that we started out with the not so good wine and ended up on the very (very) fine stuff.

To begin with, I presumed that everyone would be quite French and restrained so that would be OK.

Shocked

Live and learn, eh?
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Quote:

I remember being quite surprised at a French friend's birthday that we started out with the not so good wine and ended up on the every fine stuff.


There's an excellent precedent for that......albeit at a wedding feast wink
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:

I am quite partial to English shops (especially coffee shops), so I wonder if I would miss this.

Live in the town at the bottom of the hill. I wouldn't want to live in a ski resort.

One thing is for certain, and that is that coffee shops are everywhere. And probably generally better than in UK too.
Not sure what you mean by English shops... those where you can get stuff from the UK that you miss? (you'll get over lack of HP sauce and Heinz beans within about 9 months IME but when you go back home you'll be craving something foreign). or English brand names stores? (EU ones are much the same just with funny plugs on all the electricals, and funny currency symbol).

Fish and chips is the only thing I miss now.
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Short term you probably miss things but long term no. Pros and cons where ever you live
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
"English coffee shops" are probably the worst value in the EU. Terrible coffee in absurd great buckets at silly prices.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@pam w, Laughing Laughing Laughing I completely agree about the coffee!

Things I'd miss would be real ale and tea, but the french wine more than makes up for lack of decent beer and IME no one drinks tea in France, where we are if people pop round in the morning they get offered a rose wine, if the visit is in the afternoon then it's an aperitif or a glass of red, they'd be insulted if we offered them a cup of tea at any time of day!
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I wonder where the best coffee shops are? I've never been to Vienna but one gets the impression that they'd be in with a shout! France probably has the best patisserie. Italy probably has the best coffee but their cakes/croissants etc are fairly grim.

I've had tea with French friends, but they do it differently. A variety of tea/tisanes bags are on the table, with a mug for everyone and a kettle of water which was boiled some time in the not too distant past plonked in the middle.
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I agree about the croissants but I've had some great cakes in Italy.
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pam w wrote:
I wonder where the best coffee shops are? I've never been to Vienna but one gets the impression that they'd be in with a shout! France probably has the best patisserie. Italy probably has the best coffee but their cakes/croissants etc are fairly grim.

I've had tea with French friends, but they do it differently. A variety of tea/tisanes bags are on the table, with a mug for everyone and a kettle of water which was boiled some time in the not too distant past plonked in the middle.


Damn good cakes and pastries in Vienna (and Austria generally), but I find the Viennese style coffee places to stuffy and pretentious. Italy FTW on that front.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
andy wrote:
Quote:

I am quite partial to English shops (especially coffee shops), so I wonder if I would miss this.

Live in the town at the bottom of the hill. I wouldn't want to live in a ski resort.

One thing is for certain, and that is that coffee shops are everywhere. And probably generally better than in UK too.
Not sure what you mean by English shops... those where you can get stuff from the UK that you miss? (you'll get over lack of HP sauce and Heinz beans within about 9 months IME but when you go back home you'll be craving something foreign). or English brand names stores? (EU ones are much the same just with funny plugs on all the electricals, and funny currency symbol).

Fish and chips is the only thing I miss now.


You can get Heinz beans anywhere here, and I know where to get bacon and cheddar now Very Happy

But yeah I still miss fish and chips, and seafood generally really.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I'm not really sure about actual coffee shops but coffee itself, then we find that to our taste german coffee is the best, which kind of encompases Austria and Switzerland as they all have the same stuff as far as I can tell being roasted at the same point of import, we may be a bit biased though as Mrs Gixxerniknik is half german! I've not really been to Italy so couldn't comment on their coffee except that when we went from Zurich to the Italian side we took coffee on the instruction of our friend from Zurich.
Doesn't stop us from bringing home our favorite french coffee whenever we go over though as it's better than we have found here in Sainsburys.
One thing's for sure, the worst coffee I've had has been in Canada, but then I've never been to the US either.
German bread is also the best we find but would agree on the patisserie, mind you "cafe und kuchen" is pretty close.

The only time we get offered a jug of water is with Pastis! It must be more civilised in the mountains
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Hells Bells, I haven't eaten many cakes in italy, admittedly. But the few I've had have not been worth the calories. In France, I really like the way that a lot of patisserie (for example the delicious raspberry/strawberry/myrtilles tarts) are not over-sweet. The Italian ones (like the ghastly and ubiquitous "cup cakes" in the UK) are too sickly and cloying for my taste.

The Birthday Bash cake was a masterpiece. I was too full of pizza to actually eat any, so can't comment on the taste.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
As far as I'm concerned, Italy wins coffee race without a question... with such advantage noone is even close Smile BUT! Lot of good skiing in Italy is in Dolomiti, which means South Tyrol, which means a lot of bad, Austrian style coffee, and very little of real Italian espresso stuff.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

You can get Heinz beans anywhere here

actually you can get them here too, but they're just a bit of shelf in amongst other tinned/jarred veg, rather than a whole aisle in UK. bit pricier than I recall too. marmite is extortion at €7.99 for a 250g pot. HP and Lea+Perrins and Colmans mustard (certainly powder, maybe wet too) are all in the oriental shop opposite my place, but I haven't needed to get them for years now.
But there are also several Heinz things you can get here, but not in UK, so it works both ways.

Best cake place I've found is in Maribor, Slovenia. The only thing stopping it from being perfection is that it's 1 bus stop down the road from the ski lift in winter. But in summer, it's perfectly located 1 minute's MTB roll down the road. Cake, coffee and ice-cream hotel. What more does one need?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
andy wrote:
Best cake place I've found is in Maribor, Slovenia. The only thing stopping it from being perfection is that it's 1 bus stop down the road from the ski lift in winter.

Based on description... that would most likely be in my hotel where I will be for next 3 days Wink Pohorska kavarna? Smile
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@jogi, good guess
there for the ladies ski races this weekend?
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We love living in the mountains, but we are VERY outdoorsy people. We hike nearly every day from the moment the paths are clear of snow - often we're chasing the snow up the mountain as it melts more and more every day/week on different routes. We hike from before the ski lifts close for the end of the ski season and right up until there is too much snow to hike any more.

We're literally obsessed by it, well, anything that gets you outside really. Some of our friends don't understand it, and I can't really explain it to them, but it's almost a spiritual thing, a cleansing thing, something I do for my sanity - all of that - it helps me be a more grounded person and more respectful of the world around me, but what would you expect to happen when you see wild animals in their natural environment and you're the only person on the mountain to witness it?

At the end of the day the mountains are what you make of them really.... I know some British people who moved out here and don't ski, don't hike and don't bike (mountain, roady or motor) they just want a pretty view from their window whilst they join hobby clubs down the valleys etc and tell their friends they live in the alps, but that's not why we live here.

Sometimes it's very, very tough when it's totally dumping with snow mid winter but you still have errands to run and the roads are dangerous, the days are short and the temperature -15*c, it can all seem a little but like too much hard work - but then, the sun comes out and you can see the mountains before you and I realise again why we chose to live here. After work, yes, we obviously get to go skiing, but that's why we moved here.

I've found that with the French, as a people, they're very accepting of new people, as long as you don't force it... wait for them to chat to you when you queue at the bakers, but in the mean time always be polite and open. I've found from some other people I know, that if you force it and be overtly friendly and overtly 'in your face' desperate to be their friend, just like I find that off putting - others can too. I had some neighbours move in to the chalet next door to ours and they're really lovely people, been chatting to them more and more and we're becoming friends Smile it's great because she practices her English whilst we practice our French - we end up having a bi-lingual conversation resulting in me giving her some home made jams (always a winner with the French)

We don't really get too involved down 'the local' - with either the British or the French or other nationalities - but that's because I like an early bed time to be up hiking again the next day, we don't have a huge amount of friends, but I'm here for the mountains first and foremost, and although I do feel part of the community in my spare time I prefer the solitude of the mountains compared to a busy bar or market place... it gets me out in to the natural world... to me, that's most important. The friends I do have here are the ones I know I can count on and it's genuine, sometimes there is a social underbelly in resorts where some people are desperate to find out who you are, what you want, where you work, what business are you in (chalets, transfers, rentals, instructing etc) that the competitiveness can taint peoples reason for getting to know you - but they're easy to spot and to avoid.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@andy, yes. Just came to hotel/cake store and it's smelling so good I'm not sure if I should unpack first or just turn left and start ordering Smile
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Germany has the best cake in the world. Not to mention apfelstrudel. And huge ice creams - they are big fans of enormous complicated ice creams with alcoholic cherries in.

I liked the Fatherland. Very Happy
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@jogi, got the cake menu card there once, trying to decide, while sat outside on the terrace, right by one of the kitchen vents. They just put a huge batch of chocolate cake in the oven. Didn't take long to make up mind then.

there's a separate ice cream garden in summer.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Steilhang wrote:
Quote:
Innsbruck is basically paradise and the best mix of mountain and city you'll find anywhere
Right! I think the same way about Munich, not quite the same access to the mountains as Innsbruck, but an hour away ain't bad. I also would not want to live in a ski resort directly. It's great in winter & summer and absolutely DEAD between seasons.
Any place I live has to have all the amenities at hand, schools, shops, decent bars & restaurants, sports facilities, especially for the kids etc. etc. Mountains are great, but there is more to life.


I lived in Munich, never loved anywhere as much as there! Utterly brilliant place
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Levi215 wrote:

I lived in Munich, never loved anywhere as much as there! Utterly brilliant place


Lived there in the late 80s early 90s. I found the Bavarians to be very uptight and not overly friendly. I went back for a few days about 9 years ago and was pleased that people were a lot more pleasant... I guess it is a generational thing.
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The eloquent description from Mountain Addiction about why he lives in the mountains would ring bells, I'm sure, with people who have chosen to live in beautiful, remote, sometimes difficult, parts of the United Kingdom.

If you wouldn't enjoy living in the Highlands, or the Yorkshire Dales, or mid Wales, you might not enjoy living in the Alps either.
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