Servus!
What a busy three weeks it has been here in Germany!! Well not only Germany but Austria! I have been to the lively city of Berlin, climbed up the rocky Wendelstein and my favourite, a week in the stunning mountain ranges of Austria. Every day of the past three weeks there has been something new and exciting that I have experienced.
In Australia, you might want to think about buying a plane ticket to get to another country but here it’s completely different where all you have to do is drive ten minutes down the road and you’re in a whole new country. Last week we did just that as we crossed the Austrian border and drove up into the beautiful Austrian Alps. We drove for two hours through the jagged mountains seeing many old castles hidden among the trees up above. We drove through several tunnels that weaved through the mountains and came across endless lakes that glistened in the sunlight until we made it to the top of Mt Feuerberg and our ski resort, home for the next five days. The resort looks over the Alps and the many lakes down below.
When we walked into the lobby of our resort, I was surprised to see everyone, even little kids, walking around in bathrobes and even when we went to lunch we were the only ones without robes on. The first thing we did was have lunch and we had a large banquet which had a mixture of Austrian, German and Italian foods. After lunch we went to our chalet (which was like a small house) and we picked our rooms. The chalet had two storeys and from the second storey you could see out over the valley.
Once we were set up in the chalet, we went off to explore the resort. We went to the beautiful gardens at the front of the resort and enjoyed the magnificent view from sun lounges. It was so relaxing, we almost fell asleep on them so we got up and continued to explore, finding five outdoor swimming pools that were spread across the resort. My favourite one was the Bergquell pool that was 35 °C and it had panoramic views of the valley and the massive mountains on the horizon. For the rest of the day we relaxed in the pools and took in the spectacular views.
Throughout the week I spent many hours in all the pools and playing soccer with Rebecca’s brothers. We also climbed to the peak of the mountain, which was 1,911 metres high and enjoyed a 360-degree view of Austria. There was no snow which was a shame but there is always next time. ☺ Everyday Rebecca’s two brothers woke me up early and we went to either the stadium to play soccer or the gym.
On Wednesday we went to a small lake called the Felsenseen which was hidden away on the side of the mountain. A little bit further up from the Felsenseen was an Asiatischer Garten (Asian Garden) which is a small rock garden designed by Johannes Matthiessen during the summer of the Olympic Games to commemorate the 2008 earthquake in China. On the way back to the resort we came across many little hunting huts which were scattered around the mountain.
On Thursday night we all went and sat around an open fire near the lobby of the resort and we met some new people who we found came from Bavaria. That night the whole family got together and watched Bayern Munich play and they ended up winning 5-1 so everyone was happy.
Friday was our last day in paradise and we all had one last swim in the Bergquell pool before we jumped in the car and headed back to Germany. Our trip back home took an hour longer because every car was being checked for immigrants trying to cross the border illegally into Germany.
I have seen, done and learnt so much in the last three weeks! In particular, I have learnt that Austria is a country where their slogan is true because you certainly do ‘arrive and revive’.
Callan
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