Austria is the country in which I learned to ski. Badly. 

I also learned to fully appreciate the deliciousness of a Wiener schnitzel served with potato salad followed by a hearty serving of apple strudel. A lesson that is likely to be less detrimental to my long-term health.  

Austria is often overshadowed by its larger German speaking neighbours, but I think this is a little unfortunate. Innsbruck is a beautiful city in its own right surrounded by spectacular mountains. When we visited we were able to ski on a different mountain every day. If culture is more your thing, Vienna is an incredible city filled with beautiful museums, pristine Viennese cafés. If you visit I very much recommend visiting Café Landtmann,  Café Central and Café Prückel. Also, check out the cheap standing tickets and go and see some Viennese opera. Paying almost nothing to stand and watch others in their tuxedos and ball gowns watch opera beneath from up in the attic of the opera house is a truly bizarre experience.

Something I didn’t know until today is that after World War Two, Austria did not function as an independent country until 1955. Like Germany Austria was divided into American, British, French and Soviet zones, however unlike Germany, Austria managed to avoid being split in two.