A hiking day in the forest...and a fun lunch

I woke up to the sound of rain splattering on the narrow street below, and like in Italy, the workers down below start at 0600 to clean up and prepare for the day. This also means you wake up to the smell of baked goods, and this is a fair trade off.

My roomates (Udo in the bunkbed above me and Yoo across the room) were still fast asleep by 0700 but I had to get ready for my hiking treck I planned to do today. Breakfast at 0800 downstairs and pick up at the congress center at 0845---so that spells get ready earlier than later with a flat that has one bathroom for 6 people (two other girls next door).
Did I tell you that I picked a four-bed room? THis means 2 bunkbeds. I chose the lower bunk and I'm glad because I can't imagine creaking my way up that ladder during the night with my sometimes small bladder (hey---it is something you have to think about!). Besides, we had bunkbeds growing up and I've had lots of turns to be up there.

Udo and I had a cup of tea while he talked about his boring school work that he has to do all day and showed me pictures of his little Sarah who is nearly 2 years old. I left the flat for 0800 sharp and made my way down to the coffee shop a bit curious to see what kind of breakfast I would get. This is the set up: A little pot of hot coffee with creamer and all, two buns with my choice of raspberry or apricot jam, a small container of nutella (of coarse Europe LOVES this stuff), a bowl of cornflakes and...a lovely piece of strawberry sponge cake. I stored one of the buns (with Nutella ha ha ha) for a snack on my hike.

I was at the congress center by 0820 afraid to miss the bus. No one there. We left at 0900 and I was equipped with 'proper' hiking boots, offered a bigger bag if I wanted, and invited to have a seat on a huge and comfortable bus. As I sat down I thought, what a great initiative this town has. All of this is free to me, because I'm sleeping in town, and this includes a touring guide too.

I soon met a great group of folks. 2 Americans Marg and Bob, 2 Aussies from Tazmania Barb and Steve, 2 Brits Roger and Gabby, 1 Dutch Peter, and other nice folks. As it rained we ended up changing the hike route for safety and it was announced that we would go in the forest and do an easy walk. The walk was peaceful and enjoyable with all of these different conversations taking place. At one point we arrived to a large open field which sometimes turns into a lake. Apparently some years it's full with water and this year...no water but we had a chamel instead! A white chamel. We all wondered if he was lonely there in the field as he didn't seem to mingle with the cows at all. Nope, this is a solo chamel with an untold story.

We continued our little treck through the woods and arrived at a lodge filled with people, flowers, and the promise of a good meal. To start things off, you make your way to a continuous fountain of flowing schnapps and you fill your shooter glass and swallow the smooth concoction down---then you sit down and order your meal. Nice! I sat next to Steve who told me what was what on the menu. I settled for a local meal consisting of broth and one large dumpling and boy did it ever hit the spot! Next I was told by Marg that I HAVE to go inside and see the decorations, so I did, and I was a bit dumbfounded by what I saw. I know I only had one shooter but what I saw made me laugh outloud. Animals in various poses and playing instruments, the walls covered with body builders, antlers, medals, an oversized cow bell (God knows for what) and a room full of flower ornaments for some kind of event. The place screamed, 'this is Austria' but with some kind of twist. The environment was clean, prestine, and proudly displayed all of these mismatched goods. And while looking around, I heard sirens outside and I quickly thought, oh no---somebody's had a heart attack! So I ran to the window to see where the ambulance was coming too and saw that it was one of the waiters pushing a dessert cart filled to the brim with oversized apple struddel! Ha! Much better than a heart attack.

So all in all I had a great day and it was super refreshing to be outside and enjoying the company of others. Tomorrow there's another hike leading to waterfalls. I can go to any of these as often as I like. The pick up for the hike is at 0900 and you don't come back to town usually until 4 or 5pm. It's quite the opportunity.

Well---I've got some pictures to post---so I'll get to it.

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Bonjour Mom---Merci de ton petit mot...Je pense a vous tous souvent...et c'est different d'etre si loin et de ne pas entendre vos voix---j'apprecie grandement le telephone et j'ai hate the connecter avec toi sur Skype---quand je serais a Paris avec Claude on fera un rendezvous ok? Un gros Bonjour a Dad silvousplait---et un bec et des hugs pour vous deux.
J'taime GROS---Dianexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx