A group of teachers from CIS Skolkovo congregated with some of the children and their families at Domodedovo Airport.

We arrived in Munich Airport at 14.30 and our sightseeing journey to Austria began. We travelled by bus through the beautiful mountains and arrived in Zell Am See just as the sun set.

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 We were very excited when we saw the hotel Club Kitzstenhorn. It has lots of fun activities to keep us busy when we’re not skiing.

We met up with the other CIS students that had arrived earlier with their parents for an extended ski trip. The children were in high spirits as they found out which friends they would be sharing their rooms with for the next five days. The rooms were colourful and comfortable so everyone was happy.

After we had settled into our rooms, we had a welcome talk from the hotel but also from Claudette, our PGL representative. She will be spending the next five days with our group helping to keep everyone happy. Then we all sat down to a fabulous spaghetti BolognCISe meal. Everyone was very tired so they finished eating, had a shower and went to bed to prepare for the busy day ahead.

Tuesday morning we’d an early start. The children got up at 7.30 and got dressed. They went downstairs to their own dining room to eat a wonderful breakfast. They had a choice of egg, bread, cereals, hams, cheeses, fruit and yogurts. A selection to keep everyone full and satisfied. Then the children made their lunches. They each had a drink, fruit, sandwich and chocolate bar. 

The children made their way to the ski shop next to get their ski boots, helmet and skis/snowboard. When everyone was ready we hit the slopes. We met our extremely experienced ski/snowboarding instructors and began our ski experience. We all started off on the easier slopes practicing the basic ski/snowboarding skills to ensure we all knew what we were doing. As the day passed, all children were becoming more confident in their abilities and showed positive attitudes.

At lunchtime we had a beautiful picnic overlooking the ski slopes and the mountains. After lunch the instructors brought us up the mountain in the gondola where we had the opportunity to get the first glimpses of the beauty of Zell Am See. Then the children went off to ski and snowboard on some of the harder slopes.

At 3.00 we went back to our hotel to shower and relax before our evening activities began. Some of the parents arrived at this stage to hear all the exciting stories about their day on the slopes.

At 5.30 we had time to play indoor football or to play on the giant trampolines. After an hour, everyone participated in a fun game of beach volleyball located inside the resort. 

We were very lucky because there was a BBQ dinner for tonight. The children had a choice of any salads they wanted. Then they had sweetcorn, potatoes and their choice of barbequed meats. The desserts were fabulous too. 
After a long fun filled day, the tired and happy children relaxed while writing and drawing in their journals recounting all the fun activities they participated in.

Wednesday continued as excitingly as Tuesday. We started off skiing in the morning, a lovely picnic lunch and then more skiing in the afternoon. When we’d finished our skiing lessons we went back to the hotel. We relaxed and showered and prepared for the trip into Zell Am See town. We got onto the bus at 6.00 and travelled for ten minutes into the town. We went to Giuseppe’s Pizzeria for dinner. We ate pizza and pasta until everyone was full. 

It was Masha’s birthday. She was eleven so we organized a cake for her. It was very exciting when the lights went off and everyone started singing happy birthday to her. The cake was chocolate and everyone enjoyed a large slice. After that we were all exhausted and headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

Thursday morning began the same as every other day. We had breakfast and set out on our final trip up the mountain. We met our instructors and went off for our final morning lessons. After lunch, the last ski lessons commenced. They finished at the very top of the mountain 2000m high. The clouds had lifted so we got some beautiful photographs during our awards ceremony.

Each child got a gold medal and certificate for their ski instructors. Then we went back down the mountain for the final time. We brought back all of our equipment and returned to the hotel. We all showered and met in the common room for a final ceremony.

All children were presented with a certificate from Claudette (PGL rep). She gave a t-shirt to the most dedicated snowboarder and skier of the week. She also had some little prizes as rewards for children from throughout the week.

Mr. Ryan then presented each child with a cap as a reward for their hard work, dedication, manners and cheerfulness throughout the week. The children were all very happy and packed their suitcases to return to Moscow.

Special thanks to Mr. Ryan for coordinating and leading such an excellent trip.