It’s Winter Break in Austria.  An almost Holy week, when the whole country relocates to the Alps of Tyrol, trades tafelspitz for knödels, and sips Aperol spritz in the mountain sunshine.  This was our first time glacier skiing!  It was a proud parental moment, to see Jake and Eli sticking out their wings like little birdies and carving their way down the slopes.  They have morphed past wobbly snowplows into confident kids, who fly down the mountain faster than I do.  They’re not worried about their knees!

Teaching the kids to ski:  Check.

Someone still likes to make snow angels :).

The skiing was tremendous, the kind you see in movies, like skiing over a million diamonds at once.  I had an overwhelming feeling that we were too close to the mountaintop, tiny and out of scale with our surroundings.  There was nothing to look up at but sky, because all the rest of the world was down below.

At the top of every lift are hüttes selling drinks, and larger huts are scattered over the slopes, where people park their skis and sit outside on broad wooden porches, to warm up with schnitzel and beer.

One afternoon we took the Wildspitzbahn up to Cafe 3440, the highest cafe in Austria, for hot chocolate and bacon dumplings.

An Aperol spritz can make you a little loopy up here!

Back down in the valley, we stopped in Salzburg for Strudel,

and a weird bowl of Liver Noodle Soup.

Tucked in the shadow of the glacier, the Pure Resort Pitztal was the giant frosted cupcake that we called Home for this dreamy winter week.

After a long day of skiing there is nothing better than a place with antlers hanging over the table, where you can swim, visit the sauna, and hang out with people you love.

And after 30 years, there is nothing better than knowing your old friends will always be there.