WHAT A YEAR! --reading time ca. 3 minutes--

16 dec 20205 minuten om te lezen

December 2019- WUHAN / Covid19 seemed very far away.

A beautiful Christmas season was the kick-off of our new company and dream at the same time.

How we enjoyed our first guests, how exciting we found it. Every day we were healthily nervous and got up in the morning with just one thought: how did our guests sleep?

Confidence in our apartments had to come, and of course in the experiences of our guests. But we've managed to make our guests smile! And because of their smile, we had no choice to continue with a big smile on our faces.

January 2020- During a dinner with a good friend of ours, we laughed about the WUHAN / Covid19 story.

We compared it to the SARS history, it won't just repeat itself, will it? Can you imagine, mouth masks, a lot of people sick and billions that it will cost.

No, of course it won't happen again...

February 2020- Run, clean, run, clean, check in, check out, serve breakfasts, campfires, bake waffles, run, clean and besides that, Willem Jan must be 'entertained' as well. WOW! In the evenings, we often sat on the couch, with a glass of red wine in our hands...that one glass of wine often hit harder than expected. Completely tired we crawled into our bed, to wake up next day morning to get back into that oh so nice repetition of running, cleaning etc. What a nationalities, what a positive feedback, and what a lot of positive and recommending reviews. This is the reason why we are doing it, optimal happiness! Happy guests = happy hosts!

March 2020- Lockdown Austria. Our, and many doors with us had to close. Immediately the ski resorts were closed, everything was locked. Bye tourists, bye remaining winter season... Hello uncertain times! Of course, this was not what we had in mind... But the sun was shining so nicely in March / April, it was like the sun wanted to soften the situation around Covid19. How fortunate we were that we could enjoy our nice garden, that there was spontaneous time to invest earlier than planned in the new heating installation, that we could realize our outdoor kitchen and that Erik could finally build his pizza oven. In addition, we were able to do small things in the apartments that came up after feedback from our guests. In between we enjoyed beautiful walks, nature and discovered more and more of our new home. We have not been bored at all.

May 2020- Austria slowly opened its doors again. At the end of May we were allowed to open our doors again, but because the borders were still closed not much happened. We kept going outside, walking, discovering new places, enjoying all the beauty around us, enjoying each other, our house and our garden. Even without guests. But slowly the bookings dripped in again. It started to look like summer could get very, very busy. A healthy tension, because we were so excited.

June 2020- Yes! Strange cars in the parking lot, lights burning in the apartments, children playing in our garden, smiling guests. It was as if everyone was extra happy!

July / August / September 2020- Guests, friends, family, wow, what a top first summer season. We baked 150 pizzas, countless washes were turned, many hours of cleaning, many breakfast baskets have been brought to the apartments, two cubics meters of wood we have thrown in the pizza oven and/or on the campfire. We laughed, we cried. We enjoyed all of it, and our guests did that too. It was so cool to share our beautiful world with friends and strangers, thanks for being there!

October 2020- We had to relax together for a while. A short vacation in Italy, just the three of us. In the middle of our vacation the Covid19 situation in Italy worsened. For a second, we felt insecure for coming winter season. Will Covid19 wake-up again? ... We stayed positive, turned back home to start with our preparations for coming winter season. A big job was waiting for us, new windows for almost all of our apartments that will bring more comfort for our guests. Erik knew what to do with the new white frames and created beautiful wooden frames around it. The Mallnbach look & feel was immediately there. So happy that all windows and frames are placed before start of the winter season.

November 2020- Lockdown 2.0 in Austria is a fact. We had to close our doors again, and many with us. Cancellations & insecurity.

The news of the second lockdown in Austria was trending topic in the Netherlands. Uncertainty for the beloved winter sports. Before I knew it I had a telephone call with a journalist from 'de Telegraaf'. He wanted to write a nice, positive article with a bit of drama. Never thought to be on the front page of the newspaper 'de Telegraaf' with a super large article about our situation, company and beautiful Mallnitz. Fantastic what a warm response we received from all over the world. It's good to know, that you are not standing and facing it alone. Thanks for all of your support. Of course we continued with the renovation of Apartment 3 - Am Bach and we remained positive that this lockdown can better happen in November, than in December when the winter season starts.

December 2020- What a difference with december one year ago. The lockdown 2.0 ended the 7th of December, however our doors have to stay closed until the 7th of January for sure. It means, no guests in our busiest period of the year. And that's such a pity after a real snow dump of 1.5 meters which cannot be shared with our guests... It will stay quiet and dark in our apartments... The crackling of our campfire is only for our ears... The breakfast baskets remains unfilled... And the bed linen remains ironed and washed... Of cours we will finish our renovation, because we know that one day our guests will come again. When, is just uncertain...

But hey, we are healthy, we have each other and we live in a beautiful world. Without guests and an important missed season of the year, we will enjoy it anyway. A little of cross country skiing, a little skiing, a little hiking and Willem Jan many miles on his sled... maybe his first try on his own ski's, who knows... Of course we will have a great Christmas dinner, we will traditionally bake our Dutch Oliebollen, we will play games, we finally will read that pile of unread magazines and books. A Christmas just with the three of us, hopefully it's a once in a life time experience, because in the future we will celebrate Christmas / New Year with our guests again and maybe even with family and/or friends. For sure, Christmas 2020 will be different, for all of us. But in spite of that, we all wish you a nice and warm Christmas, where possible, together. Lastly for sure, it won't be a banging end this year because of the fireworks bans, but maybe we are all secretly a little relieved that we can leave the year 2020 behind us, even though we will feel the serious consequences of Covid19 for a while in 2021. But we have to continue positive, 2021 will provide new opportunities and chances. Maybe we don't see them yet, but they will come. We look back with a big smile on our faces on the beautiful moments that 2020 has given us. We thank everyone who has been a part of it! We all wish you a more than fantastic 2021 with lots of fun, happiness, health and luck with all of your beloved ones!