March 2016 (& Fri 1 – Sun 3 April 2016)
March was a busy month for us – trying to cram in everything we had yet to do before we leave! After our little getaway to Munich and Bavaria we had a whole calendar of events and special things to do. We went to a free (plus the purchase of drinks) jazz concert at a hotel in Scuol. It wasn’t great – organ jazz should be left to department stores and elevators (says Natalie).
Then we headed back to Austria, one evening, for night tobogganing. Unfortunately, it was one of the coldest nights this winter but we had some hot wine in a thermos for the ride up the chair lift. When we arrived at the top we saw lots of people heading towards the little restaurant . We thought that was strange that everyone was going there so we continued on our way down and up and down again. On our last ride down Matt said, ‘I saw a big tractor pulling skiers up the mountain!’ We still didn’t think anything of it and headed down. We were the only ones on the chair lift to the top…come to find out that there was a ski and snowboarding show taking place. We stopped for a few minutes to watch the fire dancers and a few skiers but we were wet and cold and decided we better head in to the restaurant for some hot goulash soup.
Then Matt headed off for four days of skiing in Scuol. It was rather expensive so Natalie decided not to bother. He got to borrow most of the ski equipment he needed (which was a great help) and rented boots and a helmet. The local bus picked him up every morning just down the road from the B&B and took him right to the ski lift. There was even a run from the top that brought him right down to Sent! The weather was pretty good, a little cloudy on the first day and early in the mornings but bright and sunny for the rest of the time. Natalie took some ‘me time’ to catch up on trashy American reality TV and puttered around the B&B – we both agreed it was nice to have some time on our own!
We had booked tickets to the Ski World Cup in St. Moritz just after Christmas, compliments of Nan & Granddad. Saturday, 19 March seemed ages away but it came quickly. Less then an hour’s drive, through the beautiful Engadin valley, we arrived at St. Moritz a little later then expected but still in time for all of the fun! We missed the first race of the lady’s slalom and men’s giant slalom but arrived in the town in time to see the Swiss Air Force PC-7 team airshow. It would have been nice to see it from the race area but we had a great view from the town! We finally found the free shuttle to the race area and arrived just in time to catch the second races of the day. It was pretty exciting – music playing, flags waving and giant cow bells ringing. After the races finished we had a picnic lunch in the VIP area and watched the medal ceremony. Then we walked around the sponsor’s area. We had far too much iced coffees, won some pretty cool hats and had our photos taken. Then we sat in the sunshine and listened to some dance music before heading down and home. Back in the town we ran into some girls who were promoting the Audi driving experience. They told us that just outside of the town, Audi (the main sponsor) had set up a free driving experience but it closed in 20 minutes. Matt really wanted to try it so we drove back the next morning for a fun ride. We both tried the ‘off roading’ course and drove a £90,000 Audi Q7. The we had a go at the drifting course in S5s and Matt tired the slalom course in an A4. It was well worth the trip just to drive around/slip and slide in the snow in brand new Audis!
We were telling some guests about our trip to the Bavarian spa and they got us googling other spas in Germany. Matt found the biggest spa in the world – Therme Erding – just outside of Munich (if we had only known!!). Well, our new found obsession with spas meant we couldn’t possibly leave Europe without a trip to the biggest spa in the world, so we booked another little trip just to visit this spa. And boy, it didn’t disappoint. After a snowy winter in the Alps, 29 degrees and 450 palm trees is just what we needed! It was like a tropical paradise. We spent the first day in the adult only area, going to lots of special infusions including one in the bakery sauna where we got freshly baked bread, Matt went to the men’s only one and tried some local beer. We had beauty masks, chocolate shea butter rubs, and Italian and water (for world water day) themed infusions too (too many to list!). There was also swimming in the huge pool with an aqua Zumba class in the morning and evening drinks at the swim up pool bar.
The next day we went to the most amazing breakfast buffet at one of the restaurants and then headed to the family areas (during the Bavarian Easter holidays – lots of kids!!). The wave pool on a full breakfast buffet stomach was short lived as was the wait in line for watersides at Europe’s largest water park. With a short stop at the ‘Vitality Oasis’, where we bathed in special mineral water, it was time to head back to the adult only area for more sauna infusions that we missed the day before. We headed back to the water park an hour before the place closed and were one of about 10 people there so we enjoyed the slides without the kicking and screaming of little children!
Easter weekend was pretty quiet. Doro & Til bought us some Easter chocolate and we traditionally watched Chocolat. We went to the final free jazz concert at the hotel in Scuol – it was much better – classic jazz standards! And we went for pizza with Doro & Til on Easter Sunday. Our last little send off was an evening at the spa for world champion infusioners (?) – a great experience and a great way to say goodbye to our local spa!
We are now packing up and coming to the end of our European trip of a life time! Not without a final stop at the spa in Erding and a few days in Amsterdam, before catching the ferry back to Newcastle. We have had an amazing experience – met wonderful people, learned new skills and things about ourselves and had some incredible adventures along the way!
Purple Moose Tales 
You have both had really amazing adventures together and we admire you for that. Hope you enjoy your time in Amsterdam and that your journey back to the UK is a safe one. Look forward to seeing you both next week.
Marie and Brian xx
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