A very Happy New Year to all you good people out there in cyberland (and also to you naughty ones too 😉) ! Christmas in this part of Germany can often be a bit of a “driech” affair, as we Scots would say; it’s usually characterised by wall-to-wall grey skies and endless days of rain, with any though of a white Christmas being banished to the realm of kitsch seasonal ballads and storybooks for kids. The drabness is particularly intensified around the festive day itself when the cheery lights of Christmas markets have all but dimmed to distant memories and families are incarcerated indoors for days on end.

Given the opportunity, we therefore jumped at the chance to escape the normal festive routines and headed south for the snowier alpine terrain around Innsbruck. That turned out to be a good decision and the elusive “White Christmas” of Bing Crosby fame turned from mere wistful dream to tangible reality. What a wonderful week – I feel so lucky to have enjoyed such bright sunshine and beautiful snowy days in the depths of winter.