Phew!  I made it.  I made it from point a to point b.  From Ruhpolding to Traunstein to Rosenheim to Anholtz!!! And even better it went pretty darn smoothly.

I got to dabble with the German train system making it from one bahnhof to the next with all my limbs and belongings.  Now hauling a ski bag and a duffle bag with a rifle case in it on and off trains, up and down stairs and around platform after platform is now a cake walk…but I had a lot of help.  Alot of strangers made what could have been a disasterous morning really pleasant.  I had a pretty tight connection in traunstein…with a few flights of stairs to get me onto the right platform.  Lucky for me a women sitting on the first train with me dropped her bags and grabbed my duffle!  It was super nice of her.  Then getting onto the next train I had chucked my ski bag in around this elderly women who was struggling with the height difference of the platform and train car entrance.  As I was helping her in worrying about the doors closing with out my rifle a stranger walking by picked it up and threw it in after me!  I didn’t even get a chance to yell thank you as the doors shut immdedaitly and we were off again on our way.  Rosenheim is a pretty busy station and as we approached our stop the women standing next to me said something to the man in German and then turned to me “He will get your ski bag off when the train stops!”  Thank you Thank you Thank you!  The other common phrase of the day was, “Such little girl! Such big Bags!!!”  Thank you Thank you thank you.

Sitting in Rosenheim was a little scary.  I had to wait for the men’s team to come and rescue me, except they were flying into munich from the US and I didn’t have a cell phone.  I million things could go wrong.  I hunkered down on my duffle bag by the doors with some coffee and a giant tasty delisousness and waited.  I had to wait for just over 2 hours…there were moments of panic but there wasn’t a lot i could do.  Someone would come eventually.  And sure enough they did!

We drove the rest of the way to Anholtz that afternoon.  We were met at the hotel by Armin, the team’s shooting coach, and the hotel owner, Cristoph.  This place is amazing.  There are mountains on all sides, snow on the trails, sunshine, and the most incredible food.  Really…Italians like their food, love their long meals, and are some of the most hospitable people I’ve encountered in Europe.  I could get used to this!  I’m here in Anholtz until friday or saturday and then I’ll head over to Ridnaun to prepare for European Championships.