Pastoral bliss in Austria

As a travel writer published in the UK, Canada and America, Leslie Woit is more commonly to be found reporting on five-star hotels and top ski resorts. But this summer Leslie moves to the secluded mountain region of Maria Alm in Austria to make her debut as a Sennerin, roughly translated as alpine milk maid.

From June to the end of August, the Sennerin lives in a high-alpine hut and tends to the cows. Her day begins at 4 in the morning, in a pastoral but challenging life of wood stoves, gas lights, and manure maintenance.

As experiments go, this one is bound to be interesting…

Leslie: “This summer I have thrown away my blow-dryer and vowed to stop complaining about the thread count on my sheets. What better place than Austria to indulge a life-long love of cows, rubber boots, and what I am the first to admit is an unhealthy obsession with ‘The Sound of Music’?”

Eighteen milk cows, one hut, and a view across the Austrian Alps that would make Heidi want to rip up her Swiss passport.

This is ‘Diary of a Bovine Au Pair’.

Find out more on Austriandiary.blogspot.com.