Mountain summer

Sabbatical year - Part Two
Summer in the mountains
I don't know if it's based on early childhood imprinting. In my family, whenever someone was sick, we would listen to Heidi audio plays (Heidi, Heidi, your world is the mountains, Heidi, Heidi, because that's where you belong. Dark fir trees...). For Helmut, it was definitely his first vacation experience: going to the mountains with his father from Scharnitz. And so we both love the tradition of doing a hut tour in the Alps in September. Being high up, far away from traffic, being able to see far, walking, hiking, a bit of climbing, meeting new people, managing with our small hiking equipment, enjoying delicious hut food... That's vacation and relaxation for us! And so it was clear when planning the sabbatical year: We will spend the summer in the Alps!
But, for those who know us, who have read the blog, and as both of us have become more and more aware during this year: We are workers! We don't spend three summer months hiking in the Alps. The first idea: working at a mountain hut (coming soon). The second: working on a mountain farm (more Helmuts idea than mine, I have to admit. Because I'm more inclined to serve human guests than animal barn residents - or so I thought until now). And in between we go hiking! (with dear friends! Coming soon too).
We found the farm through the South Tyrolean Mountain Farmers' Assistance. While we were still in New Zealand, we received six farm proposals, some of which read like personal ads for Farmer Seeks Wife: 'The farmer Erwin is initially a bit quiet, but once you get to know him better, you discover his sense of humor!' We were allowed to make a priority list and it quickly became clear: Top 1 is the young family from the Schnal Valley!
There was no doubt about the mountain summer, the prospect and opportunity to spend a whole summer in the mountains are truly a highlight of the sabbatical year. We didn't know what to expect. Nevertheless, I wasn't excited at all when we reached the Schnal Valley last Sunday. From the main highway between the Reschen Pass and Merano, you turn off through a tunnel into the side valley. A quiet narrow road leads up the steep mountain to the glacier and ski area. At the top of the slope, a small church and a little village appear on the right side, and I realize looking at the GPS: that's our destination. An intermediate destination, as it turns out shortly afterwards, because the Weithalhof of the Gurschler family is of course not in the village, but another 15 minutes up the mountain. The view is great up here, it's quiet, there's work: we can stay here for the next 3 weeks!