Christmas in Innsbruck, Austria

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Christmas in Europe is magical. I’ve decided that it all comes down to the lights. Why does such a simple thing make me so happy? I don’t know why but it doesn’t matter because I’m loving my second European Christmas and all the beautiful lights, decoration, and glühwein it has to offer. 

This past weekend, the Ball’s were in town and we all hopped on the train to Innsbruck, Austria for a quick getaway. Innsbruck has a cute and cobblestoned town square that was filled with Christmas markets and a giant decorated tree smack in the center of it all. 

We drank lots of glühwein, which in case you don’t know, is a delicious mulled wine that keeps you warm on these cold winter days. Maybe it was my mood or maybe it just tasted better, but I couldn’t get enough of it in Innsbruck. Plus, we were on a mission to collect all the different mug colors. 

We stayed at a nice hotel in the thick of it all called Weisses Kreuz. At a ripe age of 600+, it was eclectic and filled with antique charm. They had a great breakfast…including artsy hot chocolate (do you kinda see the village?). 

Right next door, was our favorite store of the trip. 

Austria is home of the famous crystal brand, and the three story store made it hard to resist. We now have two snowflake ornaments (among other crystal things) and I have big plans for a mini version of Zurich’s million franc tree. Austria had it’s own Swarovski tree, though I can’t say I like it as much as Zurich’s.

Though, I was impressed with it’s insides. 

One of the best parts about this city is that you are tucked in a valley with the mountains all around. It makes an everyday walk much more enjoyable. 

There wasn’t enough snow for winter sports (gosh darnit, more time for shopping and glühwein), but we did take the gondola up the mountain to see the view. 

And since we couldn’t ski or sled, we got our sports fill at the Olympic ice rink. It was huge! Did I mention I’m terrible at ice skating? 

Luckily, I had a hand to hold, and met a new penguin friend that was quite helpful. I actually wasn’t embarrassed to try out the penguin, but I was a little embarrassed by the paparazzi that was circling around me and snapping pictures. 

The last thing we needed to see was the Olympic ski jump. 

Holy crap was it steep! The side profile of this jump made my stomach turn and it’s not even open to use. 

I’ll let the Olympians tackle that guy while I work on cleaning my plate of goulash.  

It turns out that Huffpo knows its Christmas markets. Innsbruck is not to be missed!