Christmas in Austria

It may already be well into the second week of January 2017 but I hope you don’t mind me putting up this post a little late! Since we got back from spending our Christmas holidays in Austria it’s been straight back into flying and although I’ve (almost!) got my new MacBook fully set up, I’ve hardly had a moment to use it.

Joe and I were both lucky enough to get Christmas off this year – last year I had to go back to work on the 25th! So since we spent last year in Mauritius it was off to Austria this year to spend time with my family.

Luckily the flight going from DXB – VIE had plenty of spare seats, and once we arrived in Vienna we had a few hours to kill before catching the next flight to Klagenfurt. It was looking a bit hit and miss as it seemed we weren’t the only ones on standby trying to get home before Christmas, but before we knew it we were landing in Klagenfurt (it is only a 30 minute flight after all!) where Mum, Dad and my brother Harry were waiting for us.

We spent the evening relaxing and catching up at home, and making plans for the next few days.

Most of which included some form of eating…

…and who can blame us with this cake selection! Joe and I met up with my soon-to-be-married friends Iris and Claudio for coffee and cake, in a lovely cafe that has a huge variety on offer.

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A snowy break in Austria

After my flight from Paris I decided to use the lovely string of 5 days off that had appeared on my roster and go home. I still had my annual leave ticket to use up, so even though the flights weren’t too full, I thought I may as well use my free ticket before it ran out!

After a quick flight to Vienna (where I somehow managed to sleep the whole way!) and a few hours hanging around in the airport, I was on my way to Klagenfurt.

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After a lovely relaxed evening at home, spent eating baked Camembert brought with me from Paris, and catching up on episodes of Downton Abbey, I had an early night.

The next day I met up with my friends Iris and Claudio, who were home for the Christmas holidays.

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Surprise….I’m home!

So this week I surprised mum and came home on leave! I didn’t write it on my blog as I had told her that all the flights were full and I couldn’t come…of course everyone else was in on the surprise though! Friday morning I made my way to the airport, dropped my suitcase off and boarded the flight. Once I arrived in Vienna, Harry and Lizzie were there to meet me which was a nice surprise! We made our way to the train station and got ready for the 4 hour train journey to Klagenfurt. Once we were home, Harry and Lizzie went in while I snuck round the back through the garden and surprised mum! 
On Saturday I met up with my friends Iris and Claudio. We went out for lunch and then did a bit of shopping, and of course we had to finish off with a big ice cream!

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On Sunday it was Mother’s Day in Austria. We all drove up to a very pretty mountain area and went for a long walk through the woods! It was great weather, really sunny and nice and warm.

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Back home mum cooked a delicious roast dinner in the evening, haven’t had that for a long time! 🙂

On Monday mum and I drove to Ljublijana Airport in Slovenia to pick up Matthew and his girlfriend and her mum. They had been on a weekend trip to Istanbul! He had to go back to boarding school in Salzburg almost as soon as we got back though, but he’s coming home tomorrow evening so I’ll see him again before I go back to Dubai. Lizzie also had to go back to Vienna for uni in the morning, so in the evening the 4 of us (Mum, Dad, Harry and I) drove up to our house in the mountains. We stayed the night there and drove back down to Klagenfurt in time for lunch on Tuesday. 

In the afternoon I went to my hairdressers (I hadn’t had my hair cut in almost 6 months!) and got a trim. It turned out to be slightly more than a trim and I had about an inch and a half chopped off! She gave me a nice blow dry though and I am really happy with how it turned out, even if it does feel quite a bit shorter now!

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In the evening I arranged to meet my friends Maria and Simone (the ones who came to visit me in April). We drove to a lovely restaurant/cafe called Jilly Beach in Pörtschach. It’s right on the water and the weather was beautiful, so sunny and warm! I was driving so I only had ginger ale, but it would have been the perfect place to sit and relax with a glass of wine.

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Today I met up with Maria for a bit of shopping in Klagenfurt. I even managed to come away without any new clothes, not quite sure how I managed that! 😀
Tomorrow Matt’s coming home from boarding school for the weekend, and on Saturday I’m flying to Vienna. I’ll stay the night with Lizzie and then on Sunday fly back to Dubai. I can’t wait to get back!

Just thought I would add in a quick hello to Granny and Grandpa, who I’ve been told quite a few times this week like reading my blog! 🙂