I packed completely wrong for this trip.  I could blame our recent trip to Italy, where we were romanced by a week of spring, but I actually blame the calendar and the weather forecast.  First of all, it really IS spring now, so expecting rain instead of snow isn’t completely unreasonable.  And second, the weather report didn’t prepare me for this at all.  There was a little snow forecast for our first evening, then it was supposed to warm up the next morning to the mid-forties and stay dry.  So that’s what I planned for.

But that’s not what we’ve gotten.  The snow from our first day was enough to sled in.  I didn’t bring sledding stuff. No snow pants, no insulated gloves.  I only opted for snow boots over rain boots at the last minute.  I didn’t even pack a real winter coat for myself — just a fleece and a rain jacket.

Since then, some (but not all) of the snow has melted, and it has stayed pretty chilly except for yesterday afternoon.  Today, when we ventured into Salzburg, it was surprisingly cold.  And snowing.  Again.  We don’t have the bunting on the stroller (we actually took it off, the morning we left, because we thought we wouldn’t need it), long underwear or lined jeans.  We have our spring clothes, so we were cold.

We were here in October, and got snow then, which really should have prepared me.  But I thought there would be more springtime starting in the mountains.  At least a little.  I haven’t seen a single crocus blooming, or even a hint of spring plants poking out of the ground.  I had visions of sitting on the balcony, like we did last fall, and enjoying the stars.  Not this time.  Maybe if I had brought warm slippers and a big coat, but I don’t, so it’s too cold.

It is still really winter here.  And winter is beautiful, but I wish we were dressed for it.