One of my dearest friends is called Dominique. We used to study together in Innsbruck and have known each other now for nearly 15 years. We met during our first semester in Math class and have been good friends every since.
Dominique lives in Osttirol with her husband Manfred. They are both from a small village near the Italian border and they have a beautifully renovated over 300 year old farm house - Manfred still maintains the farm.
We have visited them several times before and this time we took our kids to met them. We picked the last weekend in June because there was a nice run I had wanted to participate - the Hochpustertal Run which starts in Italy and finishes in Austria. Pretty cool!
We left on Friday morning and the drive is about 4.5 hours from our house. We stopped in Innsbruck half way to have lunch and let the kids run around. We got a kebap from Ben's favorite place in Innsbruck and spent the lunch hour with our friends Simon, Martin and Judith watching the kids play at the big playground in the Hofgarten.
After a "short" stop at IKEA and an icecream we continued our drive and arrived in Osttirol in the late afternoon.
Abfaltersbach, the village Dominique and Manfred live in is very picturesque and great for kids. They live on a farm right by the river with a newly built playground nearby. The kids just loved running around, playing, looking at the animals, exploring.
They also recently built a "Kneippe" close to their house and we got to enjoy it every morning and evening.
On Saturday we spent the day exploring the neighborhood, looking for wild strawberries, building a dam in the river, watching the fish in the pond, etc. For lunch we had Schlutzkrapfen, a specialty from the area that Dominique's 85 year old grandmother always makes for us. While the kids and I took a rest, Ben and Dominique went looking for Chanterelle in the woods and they found some! I got to eat some for dinner that night.
We then went to visit Dominique's mother at her little vacation house. She had bought an old mill several years ago and was renovating it step by step. It is beautifully located in the woods near a little stream and the kids had lots of fun playing in the water and fields.
That evening I had my run, 12.2km from Italy to Austria. Ben, the kids, Dominique and Manfred brought me to the starting line and waved me off. They then went to have some delicious Italian Pizza while I ran and came to pick me up again at the finish line. As a reward we had some yummy ice cream!
After the kids were in bed (late, but we were on vacation after all), we all sat outside enjoying the nice evening and drinking a glass of wine. Dominique even made me some spaghetti with the freshly picked Chanterelles to refuel.
The next day after a nice breakfast and some more time playing outside we headed home again. We stopped briefly in Innsbruck again for a picknick with Judith and her dog and went our way.
This was an absolutely wonderful weekend and we look forward to visiting again. Thanks Dominique and Manfred for your hospitality.
Dinner first night at the nearby "Badl"
Beer and Speck
The kids loved playing with Dominique
At the Kneippe refreshing our legs
Lilly enjoyed the Kneippe as well
Dominique loves all Italian things, especially old cars and Vespas
I think we need to get one!
Ben and Dominique found Chanterelles in the woods
At the old mill
I love this picture!
Cooling off on the hot day
Starting my race - it was hot!
Dominque, Manfred and the kids
(Lilly absolutely loved Manfred)
Quick stop in Innsbruck for a picknick with Judith and her dog
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