Pickup of our freshly bottled favourite wine (Pinot Grigio) + an appointment with the landscaper + an available kidsitter for home = three good reasons for an October short trip to Leutschach in Southern Styria!
Rainy sunday at home. Quick check on the internet: Obviously sun at Lake Constance, 90 minuten by car southwards! So we hit the road and spent a cool, but sunny afternoon in Meersburg.
Another safe short trip in times of Covid-19 led us back again to Leutschach at the South Styrian Wine Road in Austria. Four days of rest, calming down, (sun) bathing, campfire, breakfast under the cherry tree and lots of great wine at Sandra and Karli's winery. We felt refreshed!
Not only that we had run out of our favourite wine (pinot gris, "Grauburgunder"). We also needed sun after a long dismal winter - needed it badly! So we followed the invitation of Sandra and Karl and drove back to Leutschach in Southern Austria for the Easter holidays to witness the Styrian style of celebrating Jesus' resurrection. But besides Easter bonfire, egg dyeing, consecreation of groceries ("Gott, segne die Kräuter und den Kren!" - not really translatable), lots of hiking, fantastic vistas and excellent wine tasting: above all we experienced the warmth and hospitality of our hosts, who let us forget our everyday solicitudes. Thank you so much, Sandra and Karl, Irene, Maria, Sophie, Hanna and Katja of the Pronegg-Kristeindl winery!
Deep relaxation: Using the long weekend in the beginning of October, we drove eight hours to the Slowene border, towards a small Austrian community named Leutschach. There, at the winery of the Pronegg family, our lovely hosts I first met back in 2010, we spent two days in perfect leisure time. We collected sweet cheastnuts in the woods and roasted them above a campfire; we ate pumpkin cream soup every day because it was so yummy; I saw (and touched!) my very first fire salamander; the kids enjoyed to play with the even-aged daughters of Sandra and Karl, the hospitable vintners. And we, the parents, savored their pinot gris, which is extraordinary good! Actually, the only stress for us was where to get our next wine bottle from...
