How was Austria?!

Traveling through European cities has been a dream come true, however, manmade structures don’t hold a candle to the natural world. I feel the most at ease and alive when I am surrounded by mountains or can hear the waves of the ocean. I wasn’t expecting many opportunities to be in the outdoors while studying abroad, so this weekend was a true gem.

This trip would not have been possible if we never met our friend Orhan. Orhan is a Turkish Erasmus student living in the same dorm building as us. He is extremely kind and generous and was willing to drive us to Austria! I don’t think anyone else on the trip was old enough to rent a car and drive stick shift comfortably, other than Professor Mims who isn’t allowed to drive students.

I was really excited for this trip because we were able to rent a car big enough for 9! This included the students I was closest to before studying abroad and a few of the people I’ve gotten really close to since being over here! So we rented our car and set off for Austria, all was going swimmingly until we a hit a little bump in the road. While we were stopped at a gas station, Orhan accidentally went up on a curb and scratched up the bottom of the passenger side door a bit. Kind of a rough start but no one was hurt and the damage was minimal so we shrugged it off and kept on trucking.

Around 11:30 p.m. we pulled up to our beautiful Airbnb. This place was posh, surrounded by mountains and equipped with a Jacuzzi and fire place. We arrived in the dark so we were eager to wake up and see the views in the light! The first night was a relaxing one just enjoying each other and some soup that Orhan, master chef of the trip, made us. When everyone was went to bed I enjoyed some time to myself and relaxed in the Jacuzzi.

The fireplace!
Jacuzzi time
The kitchen and the view

The next day was one of the best of my life, we started off by visiting Dachstein Glacier! We drove to the base elevation of 6,749 feet and rode a gondola to top elevation of 8,858 feet. The first success of the day was getting Julian to agree to go with us, as heights are not his favorite thing. I’m thankful to my dad for always teaching my sister and I not to be afraid of heights but to respect them!

Inside the Gondola
The Alps!

Once we made it to the top of the glacier the views were breathtaking. We were surrounded by the Austrian Alps! The glacier top had several attractions including a stairway to nothingness, a suspension bridge, and an ice palace. Julian once again proved his ability to overcome and crossed the entire suspension bridge! The ice palace was incredible because it was literally carved out of the inside of the glacier.

Stairway to nothingness
The suspension bridge
Still loving’ the lock thing
INSIDE a GLACIER wut

After some lunch on top of the glacier, we took off for our drive to Mondsee lake. The drive might have been my favorite part of the day, because as Orhan searched for a place he wanted to take us to (that we never found), we drove around Irsee lake and through some residential areas and I’ve never wanted to live somewhere more. Everywhere you looked there were rolling hills covered in green grass and beautiful glassy lakes. Eventually we gave up the search and settled down in a park at Mondsee lake.

Mondsee Lake
I now have 1,000,000 photos of swans on my phone if anyone would like to see more

After this we decided we’d had enough adventure for one day and went back to the Airbnb for a spaghetti dinner with a garlic sauce (again, thanks Orhan!) We spent the evening talking and enjoying our boujee accommodation. At one point we thought it would be a good idea to put together a 1,000 piece puzzle… that didn’t go so well.

For our final day, we went to the destination we came to Austria for, Hallstatt. No words or pictures would be able to do this place justice, but I can try. It’s a small town nestled into the side of a mountain, next to a swan filled lake, with a waterfall right above town center. The whole day was spent wondering around and taking it all in. At one point, the group split and Cody, Griff, Orhan, Ria and I hiked to the top of the water fall. As we approached the waterfall the temperature dropped and we could slightly feel the cool fresh water in the air. We stood there in awe listening to the rushing water and enjoying a Hallstatt brewed beer.