thursday, 27th of february 2025
I’m writing this from my hotel room in Matrei in Ost-Tirol, Austria. The town is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, from the ski slopes you have a view of the highest mountain in Austria called Großglockner.
The past ten days have been incredibly hectic and since arriving here it felt like time suddenly stopped and I can move in slow motion for a little bit. It’s hard to find the words for how beautiful and serene it is here, I feel incredibly lucky and grateful.
I’m here with Lennert and his mother. His mother has been coming to the hotel we’re staying in since she was 4 years old. It feels very special to be able to join in on such an intimate family tradition. The hotel has been renovated and redesigned about ten years ago and uses different kinds of wood and natural materials which makes sure you still have that wooden cabin feeling and smell when you arrive here and rest.
Skiing is something that wasn’t part of my childhood or upbringing, it’s an expensive hobby and holiday to maintain. I did it twice as kid as part of a school trip and because I was an ice-skater I got away with it pretty fast. It feels very surreal to finally do a proper ski-holiday, thanks to Lenny’s mom. Being able to take in the mountains as you go down feels incredibly thrilling.
Today we took a break from skiing and went for a walk outside of town, which had the most beautiful views from all sides, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, even though they obviously can’t capture it the way you experience it.
Last week we performed a bunch of Beyond the Edge shows, this Monday rehearsals for Beyond will begin again and in the two weekends afterwards we have our dernières of Beyond the Edge. So it will be a physically and emotionally very tough March. I try to be present each day and not look in to the future too much.
We have two more days here in Matrei and on Sunday we have our drive back to Belgium, back to the life that feels more like a timelapse.
PS. We went to visit the farm of the family that owns the hotel yesterday! There were cows!!! I love cows so much….
