1988 to 1997: First mountain experiences
The first holidays which I can still remember well, lead me to Austria. More precisely to Tyrol in the beautiful Lechtal, where we always had our accommodation in Holzgau. Our hosts there were called Knitel, but I cannot say whether the accommodation there is still the same building as the current Pension Knitel. The region there is really beautiful, as are many corners in the valleys of the Alps. Even when I was very young, we kept going there. Me, I can only remember the latter holidays there in detail. The last trip was in 1997, my very first trip in 1988 when I was just one year old.
With these trips I was lucky enough to get to know the beauty of the mountains at a young age. The Alps are very impressive and to be in these valleys between these very high mountains, is a highlight even for adults. I remember many wonderful moments there. This included some hiking, just rolling down a meadow or helping out in agriculture, such as riding a tractor. Stacking the firewood for the upcoming winter was also a popular activity. Waterfalls, lakes and of course the river Lech also are in my memories. From our accommodation it was often a walk of 10-15 minutes along the Höhenbach to the Lech, where we naturally had fun with its partly flat river bed! Negatively remembered, however, are the larger amounts of horseflies, which were very annoying. Austria is of course great from the culinary point of view, and I ate my first Kaiserschmarren here too. That was a big portion! I will also not forget a strong thunderstorm that we experienced there. A lightning bolt struck the church tower of the “Pfarrkirche zur Maria Himmelfahrt”. The thunder that followed was really tough! In 1997 we visited, I think it was on the way back to Germany, also the island of Mainau. These beautiful colorful pictures with this blaze of colors of the flowers are of course still in my memories, too. I also saw Lake Constance here for the first time. Holzgau in Austria: wonderful childhood memories and a very special way to experience real mountains for the first time!