Awesome Austria

7/1

Early to rise to catch the early train to Innsbruck and then taking the scenic southern route to Hallstatt by way of Stainach-Irdning. It may take a bit more time this way, but we get to see a different part of the countryside on the way. The contrast to Italy, which we've just left behind, is stark. What a difference a country makes, not just in terms of sights and language but the weather. Having bid a fond farewell to Sonja, we emerged from our hotel after enjoying a breakfast buffet of pastry, coffee, yogurt, cereal and more, to be greeted by grey skies and steady rain. Hoods up and hats on, we made our way to the station. (I guess we'll get to test how waterproof our backpacks are!) Aboard our second train of the morning and not even 8 am, the rain seemed to be subsiding. The world looked newly washed, green hill sides in varying hues of green; moss, chartreuse, and emerald gave way to cloud shrouded mountain tops. I am a mountain girl at heart, so I feel instantly at home among the pine trees that traipse up and down the foothills, and safely guarded by the towering peaks that wall us into this pretty valley. Staring out the window of the train, we delight in seeing the occasional castle, alpine chalets spread far and wide, a great variety of some mighty content looking cows and a churning river that carves a twisting path through the valley. While I am rhythmically rocked by the train resulting in intermittent naps, it is Greg who (despite his lack of sleep last night) is hyper aware and delighting in the beautiful scenery. He is positively glowing, I expect to see him bouncing in his seat and start yodeling any minute, but the ear to ear smile will suffice. He is delighted to be in a German speaking country, where he feels more confident to converse in light of his four years of study in high school and a year in college. Although it was nearly ten years ago since Greg traveled in Germany, it is amazing how much he has retained and his accent is right on. As we stopped in Stainach-Irdning to switch trains, we feared we wouldn't find much to entertain ourselves with on our hour layover, as we had seen countless stations fly by that were little more than wooden shacks. Luckily we braved the restaurant attached to the train station, even though so far it has been our experience that food at the train station is usually sub par. However, we were pleasantly surprised with Dopolavoro which bore this Italian name and a few menu items of the same. Yet most of the menu was Austrian and while I am a bit intimidated by all the types of sausage, there were a few vegetable items. We ordered the vegetable quiche with a green salad and along with it came some creamed spinach. The quiche was loaded with carrots and greens served with a caramelized onion red wine sauce, the salad consisted of very fresh butter lettuce and a light vinegarette. As many of my friends know, I am a food snob. This situation got worse when we started growing our own vegetables, as I am very aware of how fresh (or not fresh) restaurant food is. The greens for that salad were very likely picked this morning, so I guess I have no need to worry that I'll need to survive on potatoes and bread while in Austria. Another surprising delight about this country thus far, is that everyone is incredibly friendly. From people on the train who were eager to chat and help, even the ticket taker (who checked in with us to make sure we knew when our stop was coming up), to our great hotel staff from last night and even our server in the restaurant. Since the restaurant was next to the train station Greg asked if the train we were going to board soon would be stopping in Hallstatt. Involving the customer seated next to us in the conversation, both she and our server agreed it would stop there. Moments later our waiter returned with a business card sized schedule from the station next door that he had just popped over to get for us in the midst of serving many tables. Our fellow customer wished us a pleasant journey as well as folks from the kitchen who popped out to wish us well. In our opinion, Austrians are sweethearts!

As we arrived at the Hallstatt station, we were almost star struck by the view. Greg has had a photo of this place as his screen saver for the last year. So we were exclaiming, "There it is, just as beautiful as it is in photos." We got to ride a quick little fairy from the train stop to the town and take photos approaching the town from the lake. This lake is closed in an embrace of unspoiled towering mountains and the little town perches on the other side, with boat houses, waterfront guest houses and impressive church steeples. Shortly after we arrived and checked into our room with a view (the only obstruction to our perfect lake view is the flowerbox brimming with red geraniums and pink petunias perched just outside our window), it began to rain in earnest. We didn't let this put a damper on exploring the town so we bought a cheap umbrella and walked the main street popping out of small shops and watching the ducks thoroughly enjoy the downpour. Back to the room to warm up a bit, then downstairs to dinner for a good lake fish and some beer. We also tried our first apple strudel and then had need to take a walk, since we were stuffed, yet again. Luckily the rain had stopped and Greg had read a poster in town about a free concert. We heard the horns emanating from the community center and followed the oom-pah beat. Before we entered the concert promoters offered to sell us a schnapps from a little cask they were cradling, how could we resist, it was for the good of the community. It was fun to watch the locals dressed in marching band uniforms complete with fringe on their shoulders having a good old time playing music. Early to bed to watch a dubbed into German version of the Simpsons, so that we can get up in the morning and explore a bit before leaving this lovely town.