4/27/14 day 20: Öblarn

Slept in and it felt so good. When was the last time I played music until 5am? Unreal. Epic. Say no more.

I got my ass out of bed (it was technically afternoon) and met Hans our host and the band downstairs for a late breakfast of sliced bread, cheese, and salami. We then all piled in his car and switchbacked our way to his cabin in the mountains. It really reminded me of the fjords of Norway. It was at times hair raising, at times rally car-esque, but we made it. First impression, a stunner...

(That's Hans)

We got to the cabin, he lit a fire for coffee on the wood stove as we ventured into the valley for a walk. By the time we returned to the house, the water was boiling and we had coffee and nut cake in his very rustic cabin.

(This is the view from his porch)

(The coldest, finest, Austrian Spring water you've ever tasted)

There was an acoustic guitar hanging on the wall (as was a trumpet and tuba) so we started to play some songs... Fast forward two hours, the coffee and nut cake was put away, and Hans busts out the schnapps and some local beers...

(The scene at the kitchen table; coffee, nut cake, beers, schnapps, chocolate)

(Super tasty brew)

We sang Moving in Slow Motion (which was one of Hans' favorites), barrelman, here comes the sun, crumble, among many others.. It was awesome! We had visitors to the cabin too. Friends of Hans that came to the valley for the day stopped by for coffee, so there was much merriment. We sat in this perfect little wood cabin, played songs, drank schnapps, and ate cake. It was really hard to leave. We all agree it's the perfect spot for a writers retreat at some point. We all bring guitars and write in the Austrian mountains. Yup. 2015. I'm down.

After the session, we rallied back down the valley to the hotel. We were all feeling warm and fuzzy, which probably made the exceedingly fast descent bearable. We made it back to the hotel where we are dinner; I had a steak with pepper cream sauce and tater tots (apparently in Austria they are fine dining). It was delicious. We all decided to split a dessert of apple strudel with warm vanilla sauce.

(Doesn't look THAT appetizing but this was pretty tasty)

Afterwards we walked nextdoor to the venue. Hans told us he was judging a shooting contest at the venue. Of course... Totally normal...

No shit. Inside the venue a shooting range was set up and people from town would come in and compete. This is a thing. Nora the bar keep for example had like a perfect score. Nice skill to have in her profession.

(The targets were on the stage where we had just performed... So odd)

We all entered the contest which consisted of five small targets and then three small 'animal' targets; paper targets with some sort of elk or squirrel with one small white bulls eyes over the heart. It's hard to explain, just ask me when u see me..... I'll tell u all about it.

Anyway, we all entered the competition and here is the standing (out of 80 possible points)

Jeff "The Vegetarian Sniper" Vallone: 69 

Brian "The Shit Talker" Chartrand: 68

Emily "Its a Beautiful" Day: 51

Peter "Where are my Glasses?" Day: 34

Peter drew blood on his first shot; a nice little cut over his eye from the kick back of the scope. He pushed on and tried valiantly but his focus was badly bruised.

Hans (our host) shot a 70. How do u think he felt when a couple first timer Americans buzzed on his Schnapps come in and kick butt?? He was smiling but on the inside I think he was crying.

The one with the lowest score had to buy a round in the bar, so we went next door and chatted with our friends Nora and Harold.

It's been an amazing time. Austria is bomb. Can't wait to come back. And we will.

Goodnight for now.