Haflingers & Schnapps

 Schwendau is a beautiful little village in the Zillertal region of Austria lying in the middle of a fertile valley. It is criss-crossed by pathways through flower strewn alpine meadows and completely surrounded mountains.

one of several panoramic views from our balcony
The nearest shop was a 30 minute walk - a farming community whose men would meet in our chalet hotel most evenings to drink and socialise. Apart from the hotel, there was a young man making schnapps, fine brandy and sweet liqueurs from the local fruit.

Needless to say a bottle of delicious Apricot liqueur travelled back home with us.
 There was a breeder of Haflingers nearby. Do you know what Haflingers are? I know that my blogging friend Gina does.  

Apart from the Haflingers he also breeds these lovely big friendly dogs called Bernese mountain dogs. This is mum and these are her eight adoreable puppies.

Tyrolean Haflingers are beautiful mountain horses - pale chestnut in colour with flaxen manes and tails. The breed traces its uncertain ancestry back to the Middle Ages.  There are two main theories - the first is that they descended from horses abandoned in the Tyrolean valleys by Goths fleeing from Byzantine troops after the fall of Conze in 555 AD. The second theory is that they descended from a stallion from the Kingdom of Burgundy sent to Margrave Louis of Brandenburg by his father, Louis lV, the Holy Roman Emperor.  

the foals have curly manes and tails which become straight as they mature

This Tiroler Bergschaf sheep was the young distillery owners pride and joy - that is apart from his beautiful wife. A strange looking Tyrolean mountain sheep, but this is no ordinary sheep for he is a big prize winner. He would tower over other sheep as he has very, very long legs

Living all alone whilst waiting for another competition show day, he has five rabbits to keep him company. He wanted us to keep stroking him and was reluctant to let us go but.....

the mountain views from our other balcony were calling. This is the Ahornspitze rising to 2976m which conjured up fond memories for H. He went to Austria as a teenager with a walking group. However, on arrival he met an older experienced German climber who invited H to join him climb the Ahornspitze. They spent two days together getting to the top and back which included a night in a climbing hut. H recalls that in the hut was a long raised platform made from rustic wooden boards which everyone spending the night slept on whilst using their rucksacks as pillows - there were at least 12 others bedded down on the rack for the night. Today I imagine that the facilities are rather more sophisticated for the weary tired climber, but we wouldn't be checking them out for ourselves. The chair lifts would take us up and the long valley walks suffice. 

Thank you for your thoughtful comments on the previous post which I enjoyed reading on my return♡