Alpine Adventure

After a brief stop in Eisenstadt, we continued our journey up to the Austrian Alps, Raxalpe to be exact. The countryside of Austria is very beautiful. It is full of green grass adorning rolling hills and little white and brown cottages spread throughout. There are some rivers running through the picturesque green hills. We drove to our gondola in order to take it up to where our hostel was located. Our hostel was a stereotypical “alpine-looking” building. The views from our hostel were incredible Nothing can describe the landscape of the Austrian Alps, it was gorgeous and I was very ecstatic to have the chance to see all this beauty.
The first night we had an amazing dinner. I had the pancake soup, then Kiley and I shared the Imperial Nonsense and Wienerschnitzel. The Wienerschnitzel is a traditional Viennese dish, in which a veal cutlet is pounded, battered, and fried. It was very delicious and can be found all over Vienna and Austria. Imperial Nonsense is just that because it is basically cut up pancake dipped in apricot jam for dinner. In the states, we are not used to eating sweet dishes for a dinner main course; however it ended up being just delicious. The night ended with me just getting to know my fellow programmers a lot better.
The next morning we woke up early to start our hike. It was very cold in the morning; however, after a bit of hiking it got pretty hot and I was glad that I did not bring a big jacket otherwise I would have had to carry it around. I can tell that the Austrian Alps are a very popular place to go hiking because the system is very well laid out. The trails are very clearly defined and there is a gravel path to follow, making it almost impossible to get lost. There are also a series of small cottages along the way to the summit, where you can stop get some food, a drink, and use the restroom. These cottages usually sell traditional Austrian dishes, such as: pancake soup, dumplings, sauerkraut, and apple strudel.
We took a very difficult path to get to the second resting cottage. It was full of ups, downs, and lots of slippery mud. It was all worth it because we were walking along side the mountain so we got to see the beautiful views of the mountain range and all the highs and lows in between mountains. The hike was very refreshing and it was nice to get some fresh air and be surrounded by nature and beautiful panoramas. We made it to the second cottage and had some lunch to refuel then headed back for our hostel. On the way back we took the simpler route, it was so much more leisurely and we were able to just stroll back down to our hostel. It was nice to take the other way back because the views were of the inside of the mountain. So we got to see a lot of beautiful wild flowers and grass, instead of views of far reaching mountains. The views on the trail on the way back were more immediate.
We made it back to our hostel and blogged for a bit then we had dinner. Kiley and I shared the sauerkraut with pork and the vegetable dumplings. I did not much enjoy the sauerkraut with pork, the sauerkraut was very overpowering and there were really only a few pieces of pork inside. Luckily, the vegetable dumplings were delicious. They were potato dumplings with corn, peas, carrots inside and fried.
The trip to the Austrian Alps was a much-needed break from the bustling city of Vienna. It was nice to get away from all the commotion, get back to nature and breath the fresh air of the Alps. This was definitely a very enjoyable mini-trip that I would definitely want to take again.