CHEEKINESS PREVAILS

I WILL GO WHERE YOU LEAD

Cheekiness prevails!

Maria Höpfl inger has the gift of gab. Or at least we say so. Once she starts talking, she can’t be stopped whether it’s about life, the farm, family, and her guests…always in a friendly manner of course. Maria’s life motto is: “Whatever I do, I do it well”. This is one reason why she was skeptical at

The reason the way things turned out how they are now was a summer festival in Koppl. Without knowing for sure, I’m assuming this festival was the exact opposite of the Salzburg Festival. It was not a high culture event but a celeb-free, laid-back country celebration. At the disco party in the above-mentioned town, Maria met her future husband. In Ebenau, where being a farmer is still of great importance, her future-husband was surprised that the young Salzburg native didn’t recognize

him as a big deal. “He is still annoyed to this day that I didn’t go home with him right away”, she says laughing and reminiscing as she sits at a large wooden table in the parlor as though she had never lived anywhere else. All the other girls whispered about him and were taken with this farmer, who managed to win Maria over. This reads like a cliché-laden episode of a country romance, of which there are many. However, this beautiful adventure is one of real life.

“I DON’T FIT IN WITH CLICHÉS.”

Maria has her rough edges and isn’t a clichéd, picture-perfect hostess, but she has adapted to her role and believes that a host shouldn’t just simply be present but should be friendly and nice. There are many books fl oating around stating the various qualifi cations a host should have. Maria does indeed love rules, because they are necessary in order for working on a farm and renting rooms to run smoothly. Maria has no rigid rules of conduct, however, time limits must still be set when it comes to hour-long chats with guests. This is the way it should be believes Maria, whose daily ritual begins not with breakfast but fi rst with work in the stables and then with caring for the children. “I am what I am, and the farm is what it is” – this is another cheeky but likeable statement from the Ebenau farmer. Her motto appears to be an agreeable philosophy, because it often happens that guests bring their own stable clothing and rubber boots with them and are assigned by Maria to muck out the stables (please note that this applies only to those who voluntarily choose to do so). This is a vacation reloaded. As a host, it is rare to have vacationers who come to the Mühlbauernhof wearing white summer pants and participate in farm work, but even in this case, Maria stays calm and does what has to be done. She has seen fi rst-hand that life is full of new experiences that bring guests closer to a certain place, and white summer clothes can always be bleached.

“LAID-BACK PEOPLE ARE GREAT NO MATTER WHERE THEY COME FROM.”

A stay at a “Farm Holidays” farm involves a lot of personal contact. The hosts are always there, and the bed capacity is very manageable. This creates a sense of closeness. This was unexpected for one vacationing family with two children, who noticed on New Year’s Eve how quiet and peaceful country life in winter away from the fi reworks, sparkling wine, and midnight waltzes can be. What began frantically ended with a raclette meal together as a family on the farm. It doesn’t get any closer than this. Spontaneity is the spice of life at home as well as on vacation. Of course, this is not something you can book. If Maria’s batteries every run low, she fi nds balance, relaxation, and peace in the nearby surroundings of her farm. “There isn’t much here, but what is here is a sight to see”: this is how she describes the quality tourism experiences in the 1,400 resident community near the city of Mozart. Her personal hotspot (not that she actually uses this word) is the “Plötz natural monument” with the impressive 50 meter high waterfall. Tip: the Ebenau Mill Trail (an easy to intermediate, family-friendly hiking path of ca. 2 hrs.) leads to the waterfall.