Kastanein, gluwine and snowflakes (oh my!)

Sunday night always finds me reflecting back on the week and the weekend with a slight sense of bewilderment and, always these days, gratitude. Yeah, the amazement that I live in Austria hasn’t worn off at all. Perhaps its the perfect white frosting on all these giants tucking me into the little Inn Valley that is helping keep my perspective fresh and without jade.

The week flew by thanks to the help of a series of very interesting and challenging projects I’m working on both in and out of the office. When Friday came I felt that I earned my paycheck and managed to get out of the office by 3pm to enjoy some sunshine and some relaxation. Looking back on Friday night I am a bit embarassed to admit that I can’t remember what I did. I’m pretty sure it entailed feeding my flickr addiction and laughing at my funny cats. What I do know is I woke up rested and happy on Saturday.

In the afternoon I had lunch with some ladies in Innsbruck, did a little shopping and then hit the X-mas market for opening weekend. For the month of December there are Christmas markets all over the place with music and food and, most importantly, gluwine, which is hot spiced wine. I got myself a mug (read: 2 mugs) and enjoyed a near perfect sunset over Innsbruck. Here are some photos of the market and the sunset…you can see them all here…

I have to say that there is really something quite charming about enjoying simple pleasures like hot, roasted kastenien and hot wine with friends. So simple and yet so satisfying. These are things that can be easily overlooked when confronted with the static of a real urban center (no offense Innsbruck) and I am happy to be getting back in touch.

I would have liked another gluwine (or three) but I had to drive back to Wattens so I hit the A12 before the temptation got too strong. I arrived home to 2 very sweet cats and the first desire I’ve had since I moved here to paint for a while. So I did. I envisioned that i would be moved to paint some Bob Ross-inspired landscape filled with ‘happy little trees’ and whatnot but, alas, that’s not what is coming out. To tell you the truth I have no idea what it is going to turn out like so I’m just going to enjoy the ride and let go of any expectation I might have had about painting my masterpiece.

I tried to make a new rule yesterday that states that, for every 3 hours I spend screwing around in front of my computer I need to spend 1 doing something for my body. A walk. A run. Even a spin with the vaccum around my apartment would work. So, with that in mind, I woke up this morning, grabbed a camera with the intent of wandering for some hours after a few minutes in the office. I managed to get my work done in under an hour and then headed to the Kristalwellten to take some pictures. I decided to try my hand at some macro photography and managed these two pix…

After a bit more wandering I met up with Irene and we headed uber Gnadenwald for some fresh air, snow and snowy adventures. The sky was perfectly blue, the snow perfectly white and crystalline and the air as delicious as any I have ever tasted. The conditions were ideal for nordic skiing and sledding so there were people out enjoying the primo conditions. I need to rent some x-country skis so I can go and enjoy niceness. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the walk, though, if you have a sec you can click here to see them all.

I titled this last one, “Fairytales are real in snowcapped Gnadenwald” because I’m pretty sure it’s true. This place would be heaven with a good man, a wood stove and a big dog. It really is a beautifully charming place.

After our snow-trudging we headed back to Wattens for a pizza and cappuccino before parting ways. It was a lovely day and a lovely weekend. This week will be another doozie but I can look towards Friday as the carrot pulling me along…Friday night I go to Vienna and I am very excited to see a new city.