ALPS!!

The German Word of the Day is: Gehen which means to go.

I feel like the German Word of the Day is very appropriate for the activity we did.

This by far was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I really love the outdoors and Raxalpe struck a chord within my heart. Raxalpe is located South East of Vienna in the last part of the Alps. It comprises of many different little ski lodges. The Alps are extremely beautiful and I was so excited to get hiking. We took a ski lift ride up the mountain to our lodge which was named Berggasthof. This lodge was very accommodating and had a very beautiful view.

View from lodge.


Camelia, Alex, Tyler and I decided that it would be awesome to get hiking early and do as much as we can. We planned on catching the sun rise from the next hut up the Ottohaus then proceed to climb all the way up the mountain and summit. Luckily the place where we were staying at packed us breakfast which enabled us to leave the hut before dawn and start our hike.


Sunrise.


Sadly the morning sunrise which was at 5:45 am wasn’t as beautiful as we envisioned it but none the less it was great be outside and hiking around. I was surprised how easy going the trail was. We passed marker after marker and before we knew it we reached the summit at 10 am. I felt that it was for the better that it was relatively easy. After having a long plane ride and not exercising for about a week and half, a brisk walk up and around a mountain was very satisfying.

Summit! The rock says Heukuppe 2007 meters!


It is amazing what beautiful plants live up in these mountains. It makes you feel as if you are walking through the garden of eden, especially when you can stop your hike at anytime and proceed to the nearest hut for food and nourishment. After reaching the Summit we decided to continue on and proceed to the Habsburghhaus. These alpine retreats are not just little old wooden huts. They are huge lodges that can hold many people and are warm and beautiful. As we looked at our map, (which turned out to be a children's menu map.) we decided that we were going to make make one big loop of our adventure. This would put us right back at the Ottohaus and then from there it was only a short walk back to Berggasthof.

Karl-Ludwighaus:


The color of the flowers in the Alps are so amazing!


In all we were out hiking for about twelve hours. Through the rain and wind we made it around the mountain. Tyler, Alex, and Camelia are great hikers and I would go hiking with them any day. I can’t wait to come back to the Alps and do some more hiking, maybe even some skiing! Austrians have such a different life style then Americans. I feel like they are more in touch with nature. Instead of just sitting at home watching t.v. they go hiking in the alps or relax in the numerous city parks. This type of atmosphere allows them to live happier more relaxing life’s.

This is part of a song we made while we were hiking around. It is sung to the style of Glory Glory Hallelujah.

First:
-Here we come walking from the mountain high.
-We’re tired, wet and hungry but we are well and alive
-At 5:45 are eyes beheld the dawning of the light
-And then we marched on

Chorus:
Glory, Glory we made it to the top.
Glory, Glory we thought it would never stop
Glory, Glory we ate all the nutella we brought
Thank you for bringing us here!

Second:
-We stopped to take a tea break and much to our surprise
-Anthony was Steaming hot right before our eyes
-We continued on our journey and right at 10 o’clock
-Then we reached the top!

Third:
-On the way back down we decided to explore
-We wandered through the meadows like kids we were before
-We hiked down to the valley where we saw some deer.....

Thats all we finished but it was alot of fun trying to make a song while hiking through the Alps.