Obertraun and Wolfgangsee
Today was a day of extremes; from walking through 30-degree ice caves, to swimming in an enormous lake, I feel like we did it all! Our day started with a short drive from the hostel to the base of the Dacsteinhöhlen. We hopped on what was, by far, the steepest cable car we’ve been on yet, traveling up the side of the Schönbergalm mountain. Upon reaching the base station, we hiked about 10 minutes to the entrance of the Dachstein Giant Ice Cave, one of the three largest in the world. The tour through the cave lasted almost an hour, and provided breathtaking sights of the underworld ice palace. Water, dripping through cracks in the cave, forms amazing natural ice sculptures. Hiking through the cave was, at once, exhilarating and awesome.
As we exited the ice cave, we quickly hiked 20 minutes to our next stop, the Mammoth Cave. Similar to the previous tour, the Mammoth Cave visit also lasted roughly one hour. During this tour, we learned more about the formation of the natural limestone caves in the area, as well as the process of cave trekking. Kendra and I both agreed that it would be fascinating to do a day trek through a cave, though neither of us is interested in spending the night inside of a mountain!
We worked up quite an appetite from all of our hiking and cave trekking, so the four of us boarded another cable car that brought us up the next leg of the mountain, and then across to the Krippenstein mountain. Looking out the cable car windows, I found myself both terrified and awed. I tend to work up quite a sweat while gripping the handles inside the car while admiring the stunning view of the treetops and valleys below.
With our feet planted safely on the ground, we headed to a lodge for food. Though the meal of sausage and fries was just average, Kendra was very excited to see Germknodel listed on the menu. A favorite treat of her grandfather, we’d been scouring restaurants from the moment we’d set foot in Austria, only to be disappointed each time. One waiter told us we’d only find it in a remote village on top of a mountain. Luck was with us today, and we split the tasty dessert, washing it down with some lovely cappuccino. It’s hard to describe, but the shape and size of this dumpling is roughly that of a grapefruit. With the texture of dense cake, the outer layer of the Germknodel is soft and chewy, complimented by a plum jam filling. The entire dessert sits in a pool of butter, and is topped with crushed poppy seeds and sugar. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agree with Kendra’s grandfather – this is one amazing dumpling!
Having filled up on food, our next course of action was to walk it off! We trekked up the mountain, stopping to take in the amazing view of the surrounding Alps and glaciers. As we climbed toward the summit, we spotted a paraglider gliding off the edge of the mountain. We increased our pace and as we reached our destination, we were pleasantly surprised to see no less than ten paragliders preparing for takeoff. We watched as six of them ran down the slope of the mountain, one after the other, and gracefully lifted into the air. There were several friendly folks who were happy to impart their knowledge of the sport. As afraid of heights that I am, I would definitely leap (no pun intended) at the opportunity to try paragliding. We sat back and watched for a good 30 minutes, enjoying the seeming ease of jumping off the mountain, as well as the 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains, including the Dachstein and its impressive glaciers.
The trip down the mountains on the cable cars was almost as harrowing as my experiences ascending the mountainside. Though I enjoyed our trip, I was happy to be back in the car, heading toward our next adventure. While listening to the cacophony of snores coming from my three passengers, I cruised along the roads of Austria, stopping once more at the Wolfgangsee. Instead of merely taking pictures, this time we slipped into our bathing suits and enjoyed swimming in the clear water. It was quite refreshing to jump in after having worked up a sweat during out hiking endeavors. As the sun began to set, we lifted ourselves out of the water and walked to a nearby restaurant on the lake. The dinner was excellent, as were the desserts; however, the service was greatly lacking. Despite this, we made the best of it, and played a few more hands of gin rummy before setting out for Salzburg.
It was nice to be back in the dorm, though I truly enjoyed our weekend and most certainly treasured driving through the beautiful countryside of Austria. Tomorrow should be another relaxing Sunday, as Kendra has lot to do to prepare for this week’s exams!
