Innsbruck Day 3: A Visit to the Muttereralm Resort and the Christmas Markets at Night

We were all excited to partake in a real Tirolean winter time activity- tobogganing. Just one problem. Not enough snow for the courses to be open! So our plans for day 3 were a bit shot and we decided just to visit one of the ski resorts, Muttereralm, to see what it was all about. We followed the directions of our apartment owner. "Just take the scenic tram to the cable car." Well, we got off said scenic tram and there was no cable car in sight. Jude had fallen asleep on the tram and Maeve was snoozing in the stroller so Jude had to be carried while we searched for the cable car. Eventually, we got some directions and walked up, up, up to the resort. Quite the adventure and work out for those carrying Jude and pushing the stroller! Thankfully to get home, we got directions to take the ski bus all the way back to Innsbruck from the resort! 

A quick stop in the church adjacent the tram station while we waited for our day to begin.

"Are we there, yet?!"

Our hard work paid off and at the top of the cable car was a very characteristic restaurant and more great views. There was one single ski run open on the mountain and a few kids on tiny skis practicing in the kiddie area. Jude insisted that he wanted to ski, but as the rental place was at the bottom of the mountain, we had to convince him that sledding on his bottom would be just as much fun. We also promised him we'd take him skiing the next day. Luckily, Jude is an adaptable little boy and had a lot of fun tooling around with daddy in the snow before we made the descent back to town.

Jude was not interested in having his picture taken!

Dinner the night before was missing one essential thing- strudel (they had run out) so after the ski bus dropped us off in town, we found a local cafe to sample the local special and some other yummy sugary treats. We found a local playground for Jude to run off some of his sugar high. 

We taught Jude about mannequins and he wanted to be one. 

After dinner and bedtime for the kiddos, Oma and Opa offered to stay in so the rest of us could go see the Christmas markets at night. By 8 pm, most of the stalls were closed except for those selling food and drinks. I had two failed attempts to get a gluhwein. In the first, I got gluhmost, which is a non-alcoholic spiced cider. Delicious, but missing the alcohol I was after. The second time I ordered gluhwein, it was made with white wine. Again, yummy, but not what I had in mind. Third time was the charm. I was also in search of Kiachl- fried dough with jam in the center. Pete remembered seeing it at the market adjoining the beer brewery we had visited, so we walked the light-strewn streets. The market was especially cute and we settled in some cozy seats with our gluhweins and Kiachl.