Week 53: Year Two

We kicked off year two with two of our friends! Allie was my high school classmate, college roommate, and bridesmaid. I have not seen my friends in over a year and this trip meant finally getting to meet her boyfriend, Travis, and catching up on all the things that have happened this year.

They only visited for a week, so we made sure it was a jam-packed week of pretty places and yummy food.

October 23

We started our week long adventure in Vienna. After picking them up from the airport, we had brunch at Tian. We ate here in week 39 and it was so good, we decided to go back.

After brunch, we made the journey back to Gmunden where the fall festival was underway. We walked into Schloss Ort only to find a few tables, a tractor, hay bail, and an Austrian band playing to the smell of roasted chestnuts, also known as “Maroni”. Roasted chestnuts are a popular Austrian snack when the cold weather creeps in. The festival was much smaller than the fall festivals in America or in larger European cities, but it was cute!

October 24

After Allie and Travis came back from Church, we ate lunch at Hotel Schwan, then went for an afternoon hike at Almsee, just 30 minutes southeast of our house.

It was an easy walk around a lake with beautiful mountain backdrops–perfect for a few family photos.

Sunday dinner was at Poststube 1327, a hotel restaurant in Traunkirchen. The foundation of the hotel was laid in 1327 by the Benedictine nuns when the monastery was rebuilt after a fire. The guest house was built not far from the monastery to accommodate and feed the workers.

October 25

Eric had to work, but Allie, Travis, and I spent the day in Hallstatt. This was my fifth time here in Hallstatt and fall was in full effect. Fall is definitely my favorite season in Austria. Fall in German is “Herbst”.

*Breakfast in Hallstatt - Hot Cocoa and the famous Sachertorte*

October 26

Today was the Austrian National holiday celebrating political developments after WWII. Since Eric had the day off, we went to the Dachstein Glacier.

The Dachstein Glacier is at the state borders of Salzburg, Upper Austria, and Styria. Getting up to the glacier requires you to ascend 1,000 meters on a six minute gondola ride made entirely of glass.

Once we got off the gondola, we did the skywalk–a panoramic trail around the mountain station. After a few minutes in the cold, we warmed up with a yummy lunch at the glacier restaurant.

Next was the suspension bridge–Austria's highest suspension bridge.

The Stairway to Nothingness was on the other end of the bridge. Similar to the Sears Tower observation deck in Chicago, you stand on the glass platform hovering over the Dachstein’s rocky side.

*Eric and I on the Stairway to Nothingness*

*Allie and Travis on the Stairway to Nothingness*

We ventured towards another mountain called “Kleiner Gjaidstein” and quickly found ourselves hiking to the top. It only took about 45 minutes to get to the top and the view was awesome!

October 27

We spent the day in Gmunden hiking up the Grünberg. Normally we would take the cable car, but chose to hike up with the dogs instead. It was much harder than I was anticipating, but we made it to the top in about 90 minutes and had lunch at the mountain hut.

This was probably our third bowl of pumpkin soup of this vacation. It is one of the yummiest soups I have ever had and would happily have it everyday if I could.

October 28

We dropped Eric off at work and then drove 90 minutes to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. We were here on my birthday a couple months ago. This time it was much foggier, but still pretty.

*Allie and I in the Český Krumlov tower*

We still had a bit of time before picking Eric up from work, so we drove another 30-minutes north to a town called Budějovice–best known for the original Budweiser factory. The American Budweiser and Czech Republic Budweiser have been in a long legal battle on who can claim the name Budweiser, even though Czech was first.

*Allie and Travis at the Budějovice* *brewery*

October 29

Our final full day was a relaxing one. We took the dogs to a coffee shop and walked around town. Once Eric was off work, we hiked the Miesweg trail. This was our third time doing it and it is always a fun one.

*All four of us on the Miesweg trail at sunset*

October 30

We took Allie and Travis to get their covid tests, drove to Linz for lunch at Pauls, then said our goodbyes at the train station where they boarded a train for Vienna.

By the time this is posted they will already be back home. We loved our short time together and I can’t wait to see them again in January when I am back in America for a few days!