The Similaun Magazine

What a windy day in Karthaus but the streets are swaying in gentle tranquillity, nestled against steep slopes. Still looking for the monastery, you will find that you are right in the middle of it.

The clouds graze the mountain peaks, plunging the many farms and fields into a mosaic of light and shade. Nature is the director here, relentlessly. It is the backdrop, the protagonist and the temperamental weather machine.

No matter whose car it is driving up the steep, winding road, their gaze will be drawn first to the turquoise of the lake at the bottom of the valley and then to the vibrant larch green on the steep slopes.

From luxury goods to a totally different type of luxury. That is to say, to luxury as defined by Petra Tappeiner from Oberniederhof farm: “To feel free, to feel healthy and well and to be able to do whatever it is you love doing.” For Petra, true quality of life means being close to whatever it is you need to live, day for day, that is to say: to be able to be self-sufficient.

Under a golden sun, two castle guides are waiting for their first guests at the heavy wooden door in the outer wall, with their dog. That’s us today. There is a magical calm within the courtyards of Castle Juval.