european adventures: hallstatt, austria

THE VILLAGE

Hallstatt is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, if not the most beautiful. Austria is just an incredible country.  As if being lakeside wasn't enough, Hallstatt is surrounded by Alpines and is even built into the side of one. It really is the stuff of fairytales. I mean there are swans, guys.

PS I randomly found a record at Goodwill with a cover of the same landscape as the third picture when I was there the other day with Rylee.  I had to get it, obviously.

  

THE ACCOMMODATIONSWe really lucked out with Haus Alpenrose in Obertraun (just across the lake from Hallstatt). It was more B&B than hostel, and the woman who ran it was so sweet and helpful. We had a room to ourselves with a private bathroom (which we expected to be down the hall). We even had a little balcony with a lovely view, and the meat and cheese buffet breakfast was affordable and allowed us to have extra sandwiches for later in the day (which we slathered with the mustard that Ted bought from the grocery store--the woman laughed when we told her that we stocked up on German--Austrian--mustard).

THE NATURE

After months of living in a huge city and traveling to others, it was so refreshing to be back in nature, hiking and taking in the natural beauty of our fascinating world. Outdoorsy adventures included a relaxing boat ride on the lake, a short but beautiful hike to the salt mines in the mountains, an amazing ice cave tour (we were soaking wet from the rain but that didn't make it any less awesome), and oh yeah, taking two cable cars up to the top of the snowy Alps to hike through some clouds to an overlook that was blanketed in thick clouds. Not what we hoped for (we expected some sweet lake views) but the weather had something else up its sleeve (namely lots of rain) and we were totally okay with the unique experience we ended up having.

I never thought I would ever be able to say I hiked through the Alps in snow as tall as me basically in a cloud. So that's pretty amazing. I love that despite the fact that my instinct is to stay home, craft, watch a movie, or curl up with a book or journal, I can push myself to do things I never anticipated in the moment. Of course, I still have my limits, but they aren't as restricted as I once believed. I am so grateful that I have had experiences I never dreamt of!