The end of the winter is such a strange time. There’s the excitement silently building in the background for easter, while I'm here nostalgically remembering of my December holidays. Last year, Christian and I went on a family trip to Austria over New Year, in which we enjoyed lovely moments together, from visiting Salzburg to skiing in BöhmerWald Arena.
Austria is one of those countries I've been expecting to visit for a long time, so I got very excited when Christian's aunt invited us to stay at her beautiful house in Rohrbach - Oberösterreich. Rohrbach is an extremely tranquil village in the middle of nowhere, it's the perfect place to disconnect with the rest of the world, to relax and to have quality time with the family. I loved our long walks in the snow and the cosy chats at the balcony during tea time. As you may know, I was born in Brazil, so for me, there is nothing more magical and special than snowflakes floating outside the window, it looks like a miracle.
One of the highlights of our trip included driving to Salzburg with Christian, my mother in law and his aunt. The drive up through the Austrian mountains covered with snow was stunning. We pulled up near the train station and we walked to one of the highest areas of the city, the Kapuzinerberg, where we had a breathtakingly beautiful view of the entire town and the Hohensalzburg Castle. I have to admit that it was a bit challenging to access this place, as the floor was very slippery because of the ice. If you want to do this during the winter: take a good pair of highking shoes with you.
After climbing the hills of Salzburg we've continued our tour exploring the shopping lanes around Getreidegasse. The locals are very proud of their traditional and sophisticated shops, from the Hadered Custom Made Shoes to the Lanz Tracht Fashions - both dating from the earlier begging of the XX century. Meaning, the shops are also a place to be if you want to immerse yourself in the local culture. I wish I had bought the whole showcase of Dantendorfer! Arriving in the downtown we also visited Mozart's house, this was a very nice experience for me, as my grandma, who is a professional piano player and loves Mozart, was teaching me a lot about his music, when I was little. It was a privilege to understand a bit more about the life of the composer and to see the place he was born! Finally, at the end of the afternoon, we've decided to warm up drinking a hot chocolate in Kaffeehäferl, one of those lovely coffee places of Getreidegasse.
On another great day in snowy Austria, we headed to the BöhmerWald Arena, in the district of Mühlviertel, as I really wanted to ski. The place is perfect for cross-country skiing, offering more than 70 km well-prepared routes. We had a great time, although I was falling a couple of times! I would like to once again thank Christian's uncle for being a great and very patient skiing instructor, he saved the day. In the evening we took shelter in the restaurant of the INNs HOLZ hotel and ordered some delicious cappuccinos and apfelstrudel with hot vanilla sauce defrost. I fell in love with the interior design of the place, it has a cute little wood house inside the restaurant, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere. A very special fact about the INNs HOLZ is that the waiters were wearing the dirndl, those beautiful traditional Austrian dresses, I wish I could buy one of those. Oh, I would live in this hotel forever!
It was brilliant to spend quality time with my family in this place. This country completely captured my heart. I hope to visit Austria again, especially to for one of the New Year's concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Good bye Mozart's country, I see you soon!
You can see more photos of my trips on Instagram and videos on Youtube.
