Week 10: First Christmas in Austria

On Christmas morning we drove an hour to Hallstatt, the oldest inhabited village in Europe, home to the world’s first salt mine and a UNESCO world heritage site. During the drive, we passed through several serene villages. Each village with pastel-colored houses standing out against the mountainscape. As we rounded a curve the trees parted, and we were able to get a glimpse of our final destination. As soon as we arrived, we felt the magic of Christmas in this tiny town. You can walk from one end of town to the other in under an hour; unless you’re like me and stop to take pictures at every corner. This town usually has a million visitors a year, but thanks to Covid, Christmas morning, and the rainy-snow weather, we practically had the entire village to ourselves, which made it even more magical. We found our way to the “classic postcard angle” viewpoint of the village and the moment we stopped, the church bells began to ring.

It was hard to leave, but we drove back home to open presents virtually with our family. Thank goodness for technology and with help from Amazon.de, Santa was able to come to our house this year. One of my gifts was a 3-inch card from the Austrian Government. I got my residence card, so I’m officially a resident of Gmunden, Austria. Also, confirming I baked the Vanillekipferl cookies I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. They turned out delicious!

The day after Christmas we drove 20 minutes away to Feuerkogel, a ski resort, and had the mountain almost all to ourselves. I think we’ll be getting the season pass this week.

The final update for week 10 is Austria has entered lockdown #3 as of Dec 26. We can’t leave the house other than to go to the grocery store or to do “sports” outside aka hiking/skiing. This lockdown lasts until Jan 18. After Jan 18, you have to test negative in order to leave the house again. If we do it correctly, hopefully by summer we will be back to normal.

xoxo
The Pack Mama