We had a brief but memorable interlude in Innsbruck last autumn and it left a sweet impression. Despite my personal preference for summer heat, and earthy terrains of a mediterranean colour, I could see the appeal of a white mountainous alpine town for brief retreats. There is a certain type of silence up in these heights, and an effervescence to the powder blue skies. We stayed at AC Hotel which was a stone’s throw from the train station and all the main sights of Innsbruck and spent our days just walking endlessly past different streets, inroads, and rivers. Autumn always brings a touch of melancholia, a sense that we were coasting towards closing time, saying farewell to departing leaves and nestling within ourselves again. As I walked through her natural beauty and its Baroque-Gothic framework, I thought a lot about being an adolescent and young adult, growing up in these wintry backdrops in somewhat loneliness. It’s no surprise that one of my best friends from this era and geography continues to be the only soul who truly recognises my inherent sense of solitude that always burns inside, no matter who I am with or where I am. We talked a lot in this trip, about one day taking a winter vacation and honouring who we truly are – mountain wolves.

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