What did you do on the weekend? Oh not much, except...

I went skiing today!

It came about because Erin is in Italy, has been since Thursday, and Camilla was going to go to Berlin over the weekend but cancelled due to someone getting sick. So she said "do you want to go skiing this weekend?" I was skeptical because if I wanted to go, I still had to:

- Buy ski trousers
This turned out to be pretty hard because the first store we looked in had ones for like 150 Euro, or the cheapest reduced ones at 50, which was still too high for what would probably be a one-off adventure. Camilla recommended I try a store called Tchibo, which pretty much changes the items it sells a lot. But at this time, their stock included ski pants, even if the only sizes left were L and XL. I tried a large pair and they were a bit big but at 29 Euro, and because I wanted to ski the next day, I had to get them.

- Buy ski gloves
I found the cheapest gloves at Karstadt Sports, Thinsulate ones for 17.50. But, after trying a 32.50 pair of red gloves made from Gore-Tex, and liking them so much, I went for them. I know I’ve been being tight with money but I think it was a good investment.

- Buy ski goggles, possibly
I would have been happy wearing my sunglasses out there but since we found 9 Euro ski goggles in C&A, we both bought a pair!

We left a bit after 8 this morning on a one-hour train journey to a small town called Altenburg, south of here, right near the Czech Republic border. We hired gear and went up the lift (which is a tow lift, not a chair lift). The ski slope wasn’t the biggest or most challenging in the world, but it was still great fun. After a few runs, I had lost all fear I had of going down ski slopes. I was doing well considering my only experience was my five days of skiing in January 2007.

By the end I was going fast as. We each had a four-hour pass which lasted until nearly 2pm. The ski trousers worked just fine, as with the goggles and gloves. I wore thermals under everything and on top I also had my hoodie under my ski jacket, and as a result I was never ever cold, except for my nose, which was uncovered. It was all good though. We took a bus back and saw some different scenery as a result. The whole venture (buying clothes, transport, hire, lift pass and food) turned out to be like 100 Euro, but now we’re thinking of going again next weekend maybe, which will only cost about 30 Euro now that I’ve got all the gear!

Oh damn, I’ve got work tomorrow. Forgot about that.