Road Trip

It has been awhile since I have traveled by plane.  However, I am fortunate enough to be invited back to Kitzbuhel for the 71st running of the Hahnenkamm.   HP was kind enough to let me have time off to attend this event even though I started with them at the beginning of December.

Having long since lost my Elite status for Air Canada, I was forced to travel in cattle class.  Working the system some, I did get an exit row seat, but the next time I should order the seat that has heat.  I was wearing everything I own about halfway through the flight.  I swear the air temp was about 15C or less for over half the trip.

I did watch the Social Network on the way over.  If you are a Facebook user (over 1/2 a Billion people are), you do need to watch this.  I wonder how much of it is true.

Since I am not in a rush today at all to get to Kitzbuhel, I sat down to wait for my bag to show up.  Yep, no Elite status with Air Canada, yet my bag is the first out.  Go Figure!  A few years ago, with my bag tagged priority I counted the number of bags ahead of mine.  It should have been in the first 20 or so.  Mine was 187.

While having breakfast here in the terminal, I was able to watch the first half of the Super Combined from Wengen.  The course looked pretty good and the Slalom race is later today.  The big DH at Wengen is tomorrow.  This is the longest course on the circuit and the guys are just exhausted at the finish.

In the center part of the terminal, Audi has a display (or is it store), complete with a mountain you can drive up and down on.  They didn't seem to like my Ontario driver's license, so no test drive for me.  I tried to see if I could take it home, 'duty free', but that didn't work either.

It also looks like the internet is becoming more available here.  Even Starbucks has free Wifi.  Just last year you'd have to pay for it.

My train to Kitz isn't until 12:44pm local time (6:44am for those you back in snowy Toronto).  It is warm here... about 10c.  Not good if you are doing the largest ski race in the world.

While purchasing my train ticket, the agent seemed to have trouble with my credit card and kept re-swiping it.  Apparently she charged me 3 times for  my ticket, and then immediately apologized.  She said it was easier to just give me cash in return, so being half asleep, I said sure.  Then, I remembered some scam about this sort of transaction showing up on my visa as a cash advance, which would not be a good thing.  I will have to call Visa when I get to the Villa Mellon just to be sure.