The Alps have been absolutely amazing over the last couple of days. Today has been one of the most relaxing days so far and also one of the most enlightening.
After a breakfast of ham, cheese and coffee I heard rumors of fellow students wanting to hike to Heukuppe, the summit of the Rax Mountain, which we are staying on. (I am now kicking my butt that I didn’t grab the extra jacket that my mom tried to give to me before I left!) I wanted to get up today with the small group that left to watch the sunrise at Ottohaus, a small bed and breakfast close to where we are staying, but I soon realized that I did not bring proper dress for the trip. This is unfortunate not only because I can’t go with the group, but also because it means I need to better take the advice of my mother.
At 9:45 AM I took off with Melodie, Natalie and Jan for a hike towards Ottohaus to see what we could find. The Austrian greenery is gorgeous!, with purple, yellow, white and orange flowers covering the surrounding hills. It was nice to be out of the busy city life and back into fresh air and a sense of freedom. We stopped at a few alters along the way to Ottohaus and Jan said that there are still people that will make pilgrimages to the sacred sites. The girls and I decided to "put on our hiking boots" and climb the difficult way up to Jakobskogel, a giant cross that overlooks Austrian valley. There are a lot of these crosses that can be seen from various mountaintops throughout the Alps and they date back to a time when Christianity reverted to nature and to marveling at the wondrous things that God can create. I imagine myself on the hike making my own pilgrimage, although I'm not quite sure what the end goal is supposed to be. It feels like I am at the top of the world on that mountain.
After we climbed back to Ottohaus and I had an AMAZING lunch of chocolate and a radler beer (great hiking nourishment!) the group hiked into an alpine garden towards a rock face that had been cut open manually. There was another cross that I had wanted to hike to but it started raining and I didn't want to fall of the rock face. The rain came and went the entire day, it couldn't really make up its mind whether to rain or be sunny. Jan and I took that chance that it would stay sunny (and it did!) and we went hiking together further up the mountain.
This time is probably what I enjoyed the most because we could relax at our own pace and talk about all sorts of different things. Jan was in many ways my saving grace on the trip because I feel like I related to her on more levels than some students who just wanted to party all the time. She is working on her PhD so it was nice to be able to "pick her brain" about not only school but life in general. The further up the mountain we hiked it seemed like the prettier the scenery became. Before we knew it we reached a sign that said "Ottohaus 1hr", and it only seemed like we had been walking for 20 minutes. By the time we got home it was already 5PM, so we had been hiking for roughly seven hours!
I think that is part of the point that Kathy was trying to make by brining us to the Alps. She was showing us how Austrians spend their free time away from the city and in nature. Many of the people who live in Vienna live in apartment buildings and complexes, so getting away to nature is important. There was a plethora of age groups and skill levels hiking in the mountains and in many ways I wish that Americans could be more in touch with nature and fitness. I would love to go back to the Alps during the winter and do some snow skiing. Apparently Jan trained to be a ski instructor in Switzerland, so maybe I can take some cues from her!
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