36 Years Ago

36 Years Ago, Vienna 1971—A Student Journal

Day 155: I’m in a fog; I’m naked next to a girl

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Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing & friends.


Day 155 — I’m in a fog; I’m naked next to a girl
04-January-1972 (Dienstag—Tue.)

Skiing on a sunny day

TRANSCRIPT

St. Anton
Terrible day for skiing because it was foggy. Very dangerous. So I spent whole day with the ski class. Went down easiest slopes.

Afterwards, went to a sauna. Not as good as Innsbruck, but very relaxing. At night, simply had a good conversation at dinner, and then a walk.

Conclusion: St. Anton
ist toyer! [expensive]


REFLECTIONS

Foggy skiing. Yesterday, skiing was great, although a little snow. Today, it’s foggy. That can be dangerous. You don’t want to ski off of a cliff or anything. Remaining with the ski class and instructor was the thing to do. The ski conditions itself were probably fine. The opening photo are the Valhalla slopes on a sunny day.

I’m naked next to a good-looking girl. Ok, I didn’t write this in the journal, perhaps I was shy, but I remember this incident and am 90% sure that it happened in St. Anton. I remember going to a spa and I’m getting ready to go in the sauna. I have a towel in my hand. I’m naked. (Excuse the sensational journalism—I need to build readership.) I’m reading the instructions about the sauna, getting ready to go in. A door opens right next to me and a beautiful petite girl comes out wearing one of those white nurse-type outfits (you know, like we guys always fantasize about). She is hot. She locks the door, gives me a quick look, and then goes off as if nothing happened. I’m dying! What is going on here? Then I notice the sign above the door—Massage, $50. $50 US dollars. That’s all I needed. $50 US dollars I didn’t have. That’s in 1972; it’s expensive. I would have done it. Certainly, it was a legit massage, but it was a perfect fantasy. Really, to this day I’ve never had a professional massage, especially by a nice girl in a white nurse's outfit.

No, I wasn’t dreaming. Ah, youth. Ah, fantasies. Winking

Sauna time. Well, after the above incident, the sauna was just a traditional sauna. Relaxing, just a few people, but not like the amazing sauna-theater of Innsbruck. I end the day with some nice dinner conversation and a walk.

Money. Money; we never have enough of it. Money affects the travel experience. It’s even true today, that when I go somewhere, I am never spending a whole lot of money to do everything a place has to offer. However, if the skiing itself is fantastic, as it was at Valhalla, then your experience is still priceless. You can get a lot from travel, whether skiing, scenery, or sightseeing, without spending a lot of money. If you have money, sure, spend it.

This was true in St. Anton. I had little spending money and thus walked around St. Anton, instead of experiencing it as a traveler with a bit more money, taking advantage of restaurants and spas.

A nice dinner, and conversation ends the day.

[As an example of how money affects your travel experience: When I went skiing to Utah a few years ago, my first time, I stayed in a “traveler’s inn” type of hotel on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Absolutely zero “ski ambience.” We’re not in an outdoor hot tub on the slopes of Alta, after all. It would have been nice to actually stay near the ski resorts but that is considerably more expensive.]

John

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