Into the Alps for Christmas

When we planned this trip, our goal was to spend Christmas in the Austrian Alps in a little village surrounded by snow and mountains.  It is somewhat ironic that already Victoria has had more snow that here in the Alps.  So, today just before noon, we took a train, which had the ultimate destination of Venice, to a place called Jenbach (never heard of it before) and then 'hitched" a ride with a hotel shuttle which happily offered to take us to our destination after Kath asked.  So much better than our anticipated 50 Euro cab ride!  We drove up and up and up into the mountains and finally arrived in the village of Alpbach where we will spend the next three days.  This village is smaller than my neighbourhood of Harling Point in Victoria - although there are certainly lots of inns, bars and restaurants.

We checked into our Gasthaus (Jakober) after we'd waited in the nearby Pizzeria for about 1/2 hour which, of course, involved wine and beer!  The gal showed us to our rooms.  Now, bear in mind, we have been staying in fair sized cities and towns so far.  Most of the hotels in those places left little candies or chocolates on our pillows.  So, I noticed what I thought were some on my pillow here.  Nope!  This time it was ear plugs.  We are in a very small village and I am not sure why we are given ear plugs when we didn't need them - nor were they supplied - in Augsburg, Fussen, Nuremburg or Munich.  I guess I might find out when I go to bed this evening!

Our first mission was to find an Apotheke for Kath to get some cold medicine.  Then, we wandered around the village.  That took about 15 minutes including shopping in the village's one shop which offers magazines, cigarettes, jewellery, and souvenirs.  We stopped by the church and noticed in its graveyard, the gravestones were metal rather than stone and many of them had little lights on them.  Kath thought it was magical; personally, I thought it was a bit eerie.

The church in Alpbach

Churchyard with the lit graves

The church's interior

The surrounding mountains

Our Gasthaus

We then went for drinks in our inn's bar.  It had been advertised as an Irish pub.  I guess you can claim that name if you have Guinness on tap!  No Irish anything here, including music.  The playlists was 1960s and 1970s rock.  Imagine being in the Alps and listening to Journey, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.  No Christmas music here!  The pharmacist in Munich where Kath got some lozenges for her sore throat told her to make sure she drank something hot and sweet.  Well, apparently here in Alpbach a drink called Jaegertee fills that bill!  It is made from tea, rum and Schnapps.  I think she will be ordering a few more of those before we leave here! 

The "Irish" pub - guess all it takes is a little Guinness on tap!



The church is directly across from our inn.  I still haven't heard a church bell though!

So, while there is hardly any snow to be seen (I think there is some higher up in the mountains as we've seen people carrying skis and snowboards), I am still hopeful this is going to be a perfect place to spend Christmas.  There is lots scheduled for Christmas Eve and even for Christmas Day so we will see.  Do you believe in magic?