Austria
December 26, 2018
The hills are alive with the sound of Christmas in the Austrian countryside.
Kim and her boyfriend, Patrick, played tour guides and took us all over Vienna. We rode multiple forms of public transportation, drank mugs of gluhwein and kinderpunch, ate bratwurst at the Christmas markets, had tea and cake at an authentic Viennese cafe, took in the view from to the top of St. Stephens Cathedral, visited the Schonnbrun Palace, and decompressed at Kim and Patrick’s super cool Vienna apartment.
The next day we carpooled to Kim’s family’s home in Neuhofen an der Ybbs where we got treated like royalty. The Luegmayers opened up their family’s hotel in the village square just for us and made sure we had everything we needed to feel comfortable and at home. We literally had the entire hotel to ourselves. I told James if we saw some twins hanging out in the hallway we’d be hightailing it over to Kim’s mom’s house to sleep on her sofa.
Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas day, is the big holiday in Austria. We gathered around Kim’s family’s kitchen table and waited until we heard the bell ring that announced the Cristkind had paid a visit and the presents were ready under the tree.
After presents we all had dinner, which was fabulous. Kim’s mom (Siegrun), and Grandma made pork AND chicken schnitzel and potato salad with home made mayonnaise. I had about seven helpings of the potato salad.
The next morning was Christmas and James and JW and I took a drive into the Austrian countryside. James was in his glory speeding down the Autobahn and winding through the switchbacks of the Alps. For all of you that know him, James is typically a pretty reserved guy, but at one point he yelled “I’m a pig in $h!t!” while he was driving. We lost track of time but we couldn’t help it. Everything was impossibly beautiful and picturesque. The Austrian countryside looks like a movie set — so perfect and charming. We even had a white Christmas up in the snowy Alps.
After we finished exploring we went back to Kim’s family’s house for Christmas dinner. This time, Siegrun and Grandma made traditional Hungarian-Austrian Goulash. They also made Paprika chicken just for James and JW since those guys don’t eat beef. It was all made with so much love and pride and was delicious. We had such a great time at dinner, eating and talking and laughing together. It was a very special holiday for us — we felt so lucky to be welcomed into the Luegmayer home and made to feel like we were part of the family.
To get all sappy on you, at one point as I was looking out over the Austrian countryside with James and James Wilson, my heart felt so full of gratitude and love and I had a tremendous sense of peace and well being. In that moment it felt like we were truly living, not just existing, and I am so filled with gratitude for how lucky we are to have this wonderful life.
Thank you Siegrun, Leopold, Philip, Nicholas, Grandma, Kim, Patrick, Fanny and Hannibal. You made our visit so special and we will always treasure our time with you.
This is such a great article and made my eyes water a bit 😉
Thank you so much again for your visit, the great time together and your lovely words! So excited to visit you guys soon! :*
we already miss you!! since you are gone and kim and patrick left in the afternoon it‘s so silent around here … fanny‘s running around, looking for people who are willing to pet her! 😉
Poor Fanny! It’s hard when all the people leave and life returns to normal. Perhaps she’d like to console herself with a Christmas cookie and a nap?