March 19, 2024

The non skiers go to a ski village

One of my travel dreams is for a ski holiday sometime, somewhere – preferably in the Alps. I did manage to go to a ski resort in Austria on my Europe holiday this April. Not to ski – given that neither my husband nor I know even the basics of skiing. Actually, we didn’t even go there with the intention of seeing the ski slopes.

This is how it happened. I had read about Alpbach – that it had won prettiest village in Austria awards many times. So, there was no way I was missing it. We had hired a car in Vienna and driven down to Salzburg. One morning, we took to Alpbach, hoping to head on to Innsbruck from there. As it happened, Alpbach was so charming that Innsbruck was soon forgotten.

I would have loved to visit Alpbach in summer when the flowers are in full bloom (as pictures on the Internet told me) but winter in the village had its own charm. We walked up and down the only main road, popping into the beautiful church with its stunning stained glass windows and the small cemetery at the back and looking longingly at stylish boots in shop windows. And after that stroll, we had a quick pizza lunch and headed to the hill just outside the village. We took the ski lift up to the top and stayed there for an hour, sipping on mulled wine and coffee and barely managing to stay out of the way of serious skiers. Not to mention, freezing our butts off.

Some day, some day soon, I will learn to ski. You fabulous Austrian Alps, wait for me!

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