We made it to week 208!!—Four whole years here in Austria…It feels like we’ve blinked and somehow lived an entire lifetime during our time here. Before I get into the details of our big weekend adventure, I want to rewind to a few days before.

Monday

Hannah was back in Austria for a few days, so we grabbed the chance to go on some fall walks around Gmunden and bond with the Athletics girls one last time.

The trees have turned that warm, rusty shade, and the lake has this mist that rolls in just right. It’s been like living in a postcard. Honestly, I’ll miss this place so much. Thankfully we have hundreds of thousands of pictures to remember it by. I am excited to narrow them down to print and frame in our house

Friday

After Hannah left, I had a family photoshoot with one of my teammates! We met up at the Almsee. A place with a jaw-dropping backdrop. The light, the colors—everything was perfect. I’ll post a full blog post on my photography site with my favorite shots soon, but just know there are some absolute gems.

Saturday

For our Austria-versary weekend, we decided to drive out to Ramsau am Dachstein in Schladming. It’s this quaint alpine village right at the base of the Dachstein range.

We’ve been to this part of Austria a couple of times before, in week 53 and week 189, but this time, we treated ourselves to a hotel stay and a hiking trail we hadn’t fully explored.

We took on a stretch of the “5-Hut Trail.” It’s exactly what it sounds like–you pass by five mountain huts as you walk, each one beaming with Austrian charm and giving us ideas and inspiration for a future second home in the mountains someday.

We didn’t do the full 5-hour loop, but instead hiked the prettiest section and stopped for dinner at one of the huts.

Austrian soups just hit differently; the Kaspressknodel soup was to die for. It’s like a big, cheesy dumpling floating in savory broth, making everything feel cozy and warm.

We relaxed at the hotel for a bit, but naturally, the snack cravings hit. So we threw on our headlamps and wandered down to the one little restaurant still open in the village. There’s something so fun about a late-night walk in the mountains—quiet, cool, and a bit creepy.

Sunday

After breakfast, we learned that our stay included a summer pass with a free mountain coaster ride. I’ve wanted to do this since moving here but never got around to it. So off we went, whizzing down the track with the mountain air whooshing past us—it was a blast!

From there, we drove to the Reiteralm, which is famous for its mirror lake that perfectly reflects the mountains. It’s almost surreal, like stepping into a painting. Since the toll was covered by our pass, we drove up, wandered around the lake for an hour, snapped some pictures, and reflected on our time here.

Our final stop was Via Ferrata Peter on Stoderzinken.

This is the topo

After driving along the highest alpine road in Styria, we parked and hiked up to the Friedenskircherl—a little church perched on the cliff like it’s holding on for dear life…which is what we were doing in some spots along the Ferrata.

For most people, this was the endpoint. For us, this was where Eric and I began our via Ferrata adventure. We had an audience as we were getting strapped in.

A solid two hours later, with arms sore and hearts happy, we made it to the top and enjoyed a snack looking out at the most majestic Austrian views.

The sun was setting fast, so we came off the mountain and headed back home.

Week 209 was spent getting paperwork in order and preparing for movers to pack up our house. So during the weekend, we thought we’d go up to the Feuerkogel one last time, but there was no parking! We tried Grunberg instead—the same story. So we shrugged it off, drove home, and walked the dogs down the Esplanade. Maybe that was exactly how it was supposed to be: us, the dogs, the lake, and this little town that’s been our home for the past four years.