All smiles in St. Anton - our new favorite Austrian city.
On our way home from St. Moritz, we decided to stop by a city called St. Anton. It is located 90 km west of Innsbruck, and a straight 45 minute shot on the autobahn. As we got closer, we were hit by a blizzard that made us make a few wrong turns (up the wrong mountain), but when we arrived, I can honestly say that we'd found the "Austrian Taormina!" (Sicilians know what I'm talking about!
Neon lights flood the the pedestrian only zone of St. Anton, spilling out of trendy restaurants, packed bars, and ski shops. Skiers actually cruised down mainstreet - heading to the front door of their hotels. Of the people we passed, I would hazard to guess 85% were British.
There are a few certain towns in the world that just have the "perfect vibe" - places like Banff, Lahaina, Impanema, and Taormina come to mind - that combine high energy with chill people. Places where just looking around makes you happy. This is exactly how we felt when we strolled down main street!
When will it start snowing?
By day, St. Anton boasts some of the best powder in all of Europe, if not THE best in Austria. Everyone we talked to was on a "powder high" - oh wait, that sounded bad, but put it this way, SKI BUMS WERE HAPPY!
After walking the length of the town, we looked for a cool place to grab dinner. There was romantic, there was trendy, and there was THE FUNKY CHICKEN - EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR!!!
Down south BBQ and Curry? Only in St. Anton!
The restaurant/pub was packed with people - some still in their ski gear. The menu featured some hearty favorites: Ribs & Corn on the Cob were the specialty. (Can you find that in Italy?) If that doesn't sound good, they have 5 varieties of spicy curry. I went with the special (extra spicy) and a couple extra pieces of Naan Heaven!
A group of 40 British skiers got things rowdy early!
Having to make a late drive home, I sucked down Austria's second greatest import (after Arnold): RED BULL! Yep, the world headquarters for Red Bull are just outside of Salzburg... bet that piece of knowledge could win a bet or two...
The waiters are multinational - we were served by a Swedish girl and an Australian dude - and all speech slang English. The key to the Funky Chicken, as we learned, is the MUSTACHE. Everyone working there must have one (girls draw theirs on) and there is an annual costume party for best 'stache! Where was Jake Riddell when I needed him??!!!
Gotta love the Funky Waitstaff: yes, the biker's hat does say Kazakstan.
You can be sure this will be the first of many reports from St. Anton! To learn more, visit the city's website.
~J. Twice
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