The morning was easy as we slept in and ate a hearty breakfast in the hotel’s dining room. We then met the group at 10:00a and loaded up our tour bus to travel 45-minutes to Kuhtai Ski Resort. It was a beautiful drive in, as we drive through the alps, now covered with powdered snow, alongside a gorgeous river rolling by.

Our first stop was to meet our ‘winter olympic’ guides, and we all and snap on snow shoes to our boots for a snow hike up the mountain. What a blast this was! We huffed and puffed our way up, literally on top of the trees, now buried under all the snow. Once atop the mountain, we stopped for lunch at the ski hut, Berggasthof, for a fabulous lunch of tea and dumpling soup. It was to die for!

We then each grabbed a sled and sledded our way back down the mountain. It was an easy and enjoyable ride down, as you wiz past skiers walking up the hill with their dogs, small children sledding, and watching the more advanced skiers criss cross down the massive ski hills.

Once at the bottom, we treck over to a small area in which we learn how to build an igloo. This was both hysterical and extremely fun, as we all cut blocks out of the snow, and pass the blocks down over to our designated ‘igloo building’ area. After completing the igloo and taking lots of pictures, it’s back on the bus and back to the hotel for a quick freshen up. Such a perfect day to spend on the slopes!

At 6:30, we have the evening to ourselves, so we decide to walk down the street to the Innsbruck Christmas Market. Now this was a sight to behold! Sparkling trees and christmas light glitter up on buildings and sculptures. Young people and tourists crowd around the Christmas stalls filled with ornaments, scarves and trinkets. We stop and each get a mug of gluhwein (mulled red wine) and chat while people watch as we enjoy the holiday festivities.

We walk down the street a little more and stop for dinner at a cafe/restaurant. We ordered pizzas, snitzel, goulash soup and apple strudel.

We then strolled back to our hotel, preparing for another exciting day touring Innsbruck and getting ready for New Years Eve.