Alpine Adventures

I’ll tell you what, the hills are definitely alive with the sound of music.

Sam and I began our Eurailing adventure through Austria on Sunday. A Eurail Pass is a universal ticket for mostly all European trains. There are a bunch of different options, like single-country passes, 2-4 country passes, and 5+ country passes within a set amount of time. Sam and I have a “Global Pass” of 5 countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Spain), valid for 5 travel days within a month. Although the Eurail Pass can be pricey (our student ticket was 309 euros), Eurail Passes give you flexibility to travel on any train, any time, usually without a pre-booked reservation. I’ve been calculating the price of our train rides so far, and we definitely would’ve spent more than 309 euros anyway on individual tickets.

I wish the US had an efficient trans-continental rail system. It might make the Midwest less like flyover states for Americans and foreign tourists alike, making the US a more accessible and  travel-friendly country. And train travel is just an amazing way to travel and get to to know places, anyway. I would never have the same experience on a Ryanair flight as I do on a train, whizzing by piney hills, rocky mountains, and picturesque countryside.

Hallstatt, Austria

So on Sunday we traveled from Munich to Hallstatt, Austria. Hallstatt is one of those cozy-looking gingerbread house villages in the mountains that you see on Pinterest. My dad unknowingly had it as one of his desktop wallpapers. There’s even an entire replica of the town in China, which explains why pretty much every tourist there was Chinese.

But anyway, Hallstatt is nestled in this beautiful valley on Lake Hallstatt and is home to the oldest salt mine in the world. Although you can stroll through the town in a couple hours like we did, I wish we could’ve stayed longer than half a day in order to explore the surrounding area by hiking, kayaking, touring the salt mines, the ice caves, and taking a cable car up to a viewing platform in the clouds. We did take a cable car up to a shorter platform, though, and the view was just as breathtaking. We ended up sitting up there for an hour or so, breathing in the mountain air and irritably watching tourists with their selfie sticks come take their picture and go — how can they barely glance at the magnificence surrounding them?

Sam and I did try to convince ourselves that we were living in a simulation, though. Hallstatt is too eerily perfect for it to be real…we’d pass the occasional Austrian grandmother sitting on her porch, waving at passersby; swans swimming in circles in the lake; flower boxes on pastel window sills bursting with vibrant, colorful flowers; mountains in the distance looking like painted backdrops. Were we in a Grimm fairytale or Westworld? The glitches we tried to find, however, didn’t ruin its perfection. We left Hallstatt with an unbelievability that we’d actually been there.  

Salzburg, Austria

We took a train back to Salzburg, Austria, where all of my Sound of Music dreams came true. On Monday, Sam and I took a Sound of Music bike tour, which at first I was afraid would be lame but it actually ended up SO being worth it. The day was beautiful and sunny and for three hours we biked all over the city and through the countryside around the foot of the mountains. Among others, we saw the Von Trapp house, the gardens where they sing “Do Re Mi”, the Abbey, and, my personal favorite, the “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” gazebo. My starring moment as Liesl Von Trapp in high school came rushing back — if only Rolf were there to do the dance with me! Sam, if you’re reading this, thanks for playing along with my singing and only rolling your eyes a couple times. I know you loved it, too.

We spent the rest of Monday walking around Salzburg, seeing Mozart’s birthplace, and having a pint at Augustiner Brau, Austria’s largest brewery and beer garden. Salzburg is such a dream — I didn’t have many expectations, but a historic, Baroque city nestled in the Austrian Alps (even if the locals don’t care about The Sound of Music) is so magical.

Interlaken, Switzerland

The last stop on our Alpine Adventure was to Interlaken, Switzerland, a famous summer spot in the mountains. We got there at the very beginning of the high season, so luckily it was still pretty dead and many activities/places to stay were cheaper. We stayed in Balmer’s Hostel, which is actually one of the top 10 hostels in Europe. It’s the charm! The hostel was so cozy and cabin-like, with wood-burning stove fireplaces and cushy plaid couches and a converted barn hammock room. The weather wasn’t that great in Interlaken (50s and raining), but falling asleep for a late afternoon nap to the smells of the Alpine trees and the soft patter of rain in a hammock is one of the most soothing feelings in the world.

If the weather were better and we had more time (and DEFINITELY more money), I would’ve absolutely gone up to the Jungfrau, which is one of, if not the, highest points in the Alps. Unfortunately it’ll cost you around $200 to get up there (on top of another $150-200 for each activity you’d want to do in Interlaken. Switzerland is SO EXPENSIVE). But I’m sure it’s just insane. I would really love to go back with my dad someday.

Of course, there is so much to do around Interlaken — skydiving, canyoning, bungee jumping, paragliding, etc — and since we only had a day and limited funds, Sam and I went white water rafting. I’d never been before but I’ve always wanted to do it, but I was kinda freaked because the weather was so crappy and I was going to do Level IV rapids (out of V) as a beginner.

Honestly, though, it was SO much fun, I can’t even describe it. We rafted through the Grindelwald valley through freezing cold glacier water and I’m really proud of myself for pulling through and doing really well. Afterward, as we rafted into the crystal-clear, clean waters of the lake, Sam and I got to jump out of the raft and swim back shore. It was probably the coldest water I’ve ever swam in (and I HATE cold water more than anything), but after rafting for two hours and sweating through our wetsuits, the water felt incredible. I’ll never forget looking up from the raft and from the lake at the clouds misting over the snow-capped mountains. Over the next few days, my whole body felt like jell-o, but wow was it worth it.

The best way to recover from an Alpine rafting experience is with Swiss hot chocolate, a hot shower, and a hammock nap.

That was five days ago now and, believe it or not, a lot has happened since! Look out for a double post, maybe coming at ya tomorrow rather than today — it’s been a long few days. I go back to the US in less than TWO days . . .