A trip to Austria

Our son Hannes is going to study for a Masters in Geophysics in a program that covers three universities; Delft, Zürich, and Aachen. Normally, it would not be a problem to go from Sweden to Holland for the start of the semester. However, this year is not normal. Swedes coming to Holland had to be in quarantine for 14 days. It would have been expensive to stay so long. He could not come into his student hotel until 1 September. Instead, we decided to go to Austria. Martin, my husband, was already there and had arranged for a corona test the day after our arrival. Otherwise, we would have had to spend the entire time in quarantine. It has been difficult for Swedes to travel this summer, although it has eased now. Well, as Donald Trump says: "It is what it is."

We took the car in mid-August and drove 16 hours to arrive in Innsbruck in Innsbruck. A long drive indeed, but it went very well. Less traffic than usual and fewer queues by the roadworks made for pleasant driving. The morning after we took the test and the morning after that we got a positive reply; that is, that the test was negative!

We had a pleasant two weeks in Innsbruck, with beautiful, sometimes too hot weather. The time was used to fix around the flat we have, but we managed to do one wonderful excursion close by. We went to Wolfsklamm in Stans. It is a huge gorge where they have built wooden paths and stairs which winds its way through the gorge. It is one hour walking straight up. Stunning place, I am not sure the photos will make it justice. 








The cliffs, the waterfalls, the ponds, and the vegetation made me believe I was somewhere in a jungle in Asia. It was quite surreal. Once up you come out on a small plateau. The first thing you see when you lift your eyes to the sky is a monastery on top of another mountain. Stunning.

Martin said we should go up there. After the one hour climbing straight up, I was not in the mood for another climb. He said that it would be possible to eat something there. Well, that is always a very good argument as far as I am concerned. When I saw a sign to the 'gasthaus' and it said 15 min by foot, there was no more arguing. It actually took us 25 min but we made it slowly since the road is almost going vertical. We crossed a beautiful, old, wooden bridge with a roof built over the gorge to enter into the monastery. It had an old church and a restaurant where we could enjoy something to eat, admiring the spectacular view over the valley.

One might think that going down is easier, but it is not. It takes a toll on the muscles in the legs. I did some stretching but was rather stiff in the next couple of days. Tirol is a beautiful area and I can look forward to more outings on my next visit. 

Comments

  1. Jeanie16 September 2020 at 04:38

    When I think of Austria, I think of "Sound of Music" country -- mountains and cities and churches, not this beautiful countryside. It looks like a stressful hike but a good one. Now I know a bit more about Tirol and that makes me smile!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisbeth 21 September 2020 at 14:21

      I think a lot of people see Austria through "Sound of Music" and its beautiful landscapes. It was filmed in Salzburg which is not so far from Innsbruck. However, here the mountains are slightly different, although there are great green meadows there as well. This was a spectacular sight.

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