Après.
The hills are alive with the sound of ... me wiping out on the slopes. Seriously, I am not a skiier. I tipped over, toppled over and bowled Jason over more times than I care to count. But wow. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful backdrop to my not-so-graceful attempt at athleticism. Bucket List Update: Ski in the Alps - check!
Our good friends, Matt & Robin Hildebrand, flew all the way from Missouri with their (adorable) 4 yr old daughter, Kennedy, and we all choo-choo'ed our way from Frankfurt to Austria. Well, to be totally transparent, our train sort of left without us. SO there was also some [freaking out and] waiting for a second train to go along with all that choo-choo'ing. Just a word to the wise, if you see the train and it stops, get on it. FAST. Because it may only be there for 2.5 secs. BUUUT that's a story for another day.
We researched the most train-accessible ski locations in Austria and landed on Mayrhofen, in the Tirol region. It was described as a beautiful town with easy access to the slopes and plenty of family-friendly hotel options. We were so happy with our choice.
Our hotel, the family-owned Gasthof-Perauer was the perfect spot for us to call home for the week. The restaurant was delicious, the staff was welcoming & friendly and it was decorated just as you'd hope an Austrian ski lodge would be. Just don't let your toddler play with the custom-crafted -steel-room-key-chain... because he might throw it in the trash without you knowing and the maids might then throw that trash in with all the rest of the trash and you might have to pay a € 100 fee to replace it. Yeah. Thanks Asher. Hope you brought your wallet...
We had beautiful weather throughout our stay in Austria, which was such a nice change of pace from the very wet, slightly dreary, German weather as of late!
The views from the tippy top of the mountain were insane. I let the expert skiier in the fam (hint: not me or Asher) trek all the way up to the top to document it for us. It was a foggy morning which made for a really magical photo opp.
The town of Mayrhofen was definitely beautiful as boasted, but also busy! It was literally hopping with ski bunnies and bums (is that the word for a male ski bunny? Or should I go with hare?). There were plenty of après available and so many delicious restaurants. We all really enjoyed the town and the trip and everything that went along with it!
So you may be wondering how we swung this ski-trip-of-dreams with our toddling-almost-two-year-old. Well. Here's where I shout out to the Hildebrand's amazing nanny, Valerie. She took such great care of the kids while parents were busy pretending to be Olympians and also let us get some much needed grown-up time. We literally doubled the number of nights out we've had since living in Europe! THANK YOU VALERIE! We'd taken a bit of a travel hiatus following Christmas & were getting a bit stir crazy. We were craving some friend time this winter, so this trip really came at the perfect time for us.
And our kids became baby besties too. Asher was 100% in love with Kennedy and requested she hold his hand anytime we were walking around. She obliged and he couldn't have been happier. They were adorable and Asher still talks about his "best friend Kenny."
It was an incredible trip made even better by these awesome people. Watching our kids play together and - of course our late night world-domination conversations - made my heart so happy. Thank you, Hildebrands for traveling across the world to see us! We loved sharing this bucket-list experience with you guys!
We have another fam of friends popping over to our King'sStone (Königstein) in just a couple of weeks. Gahhhh we are so lucky to have so many jet-setting people in our lives!
ever yours,
lindsey
