Dirndls and Climbing

This is my Dirndl. It is the traditional outfit of the area. Liederhosen would be the guy equivalent. I'm fairly certain every family owns at least two or three pairs. People thought I was a local when I wore it. It was awesome. I've gotten to the point where almost everywhere I go the people initially speak to me in German and only when I falter do they speak in English. It is pretty cool!

Eiskogel is the name of the mountain we climbed this weekend. It was the highest yet.

We left Salzburg at about 10 in the morning on Saturday and started climbing around 11:30. We made it to a hut called Aton-Prosch Haus at about 4pm where we stayed the night. The evening was so much fun! There were some Germans in the "restaurant" area (it was the bottom floor with tables set up) and we talked with them for a good 2 hrs. One of them could speak decent English, but would humor us and speak some German with us. It was great to just sit around, us college kids talking with the generation above us. The man that spoke decent english also knew a few Zauber (magic) tricks and they kept us entertained. He was definitely a hit at the bars back in his day : )

The stars were spectacular that night as well. We stayed outside for about 30 just looking at them and admiring the fact that the mountains on the horizon were the Alps, but the stars we were seeing everyone back home could see as well. We were able to pick out the Milky Way and the Big and Little Dipper!

The ten of us in the class all slept in the same room. It had a giant bunk bed in it. We shared a mattress on the bottom and everyone shared a mattress on the top, 5 and 5. It was like a giant slumber party until we realized we had to get up at 7:30 the next morning and hike.

Sunday morning we began the trek up the mountain to the summit. It was steep and rough going for a solid 3 hours. This mountain was definitely the most physically demanding. However, the view from the top was by far the best. The clouds gave us a little bit of grace and we could see some of the distant mountains. It was the farthest we have ever been able to see.
There was a guest book at the top! Yes, Leonard, Oklahoma will forever and always be in the history books of Eiskogel!

Fussball and Festival

We went to a Professional Soccer game! The guy that owns Red Bull lives right outside of Salzburg and owns the Fussball (soccer) and Ice Hockey teams, so we rooted for the Salzburg Bulls. Their colors: red and white. The game was a blast! There was rowdy a section that was standing up and cheering in German the whole time. The opposing teams fans were sitting behind a net and we found out later that it was because at a previous game fireworks had been shot off by the opposing fans.

Today is St. Rupirts Day. It was a holiday for all of the kids and there is a big festival going on. It reminds me a little bit of the Green Corn Festival back in the day when there were a lot of rides and more than a few booths.

Leopoldskron

This is Leopoldskron, the place. Leopoldskronweiher is the lake/pond that is reflecting the house. In the background you can see the castle/fortress that is located in the main part of town. This incredible view is where I was trying to study yesterday. It is about 5 min from our house and I love just looking at it!

I am an official European, because I have a basket on my bicycle!

Zwoelferhorn

This hike was a total of 4 miles and a lot steeper than yesterday. It was more physically demanding, but it felt more rewarding making it to the top! It wasn't even as tall, just a lot harder to get up.This is the group within the big group that I hiked up with.

Kara, Jordan, me, Tim, Chris

We all walked at about the same pace. At the time of taking the picture we were in a cloud. It had been really hot climbing up, but when the cloud passed over it dropped a good 20 degrees instantly.

This isn't quite at the top, but is one of the best views I have. The cloud kind of made taking pictures a little difficult.

So far I've decided that I want to become a bum and summit every peak in the Alps. Ok, maybe not every one, but hiking up these mountains has been unreal. The view is spectacular not just from the top, but all of the trees and flowers and random stuff on the way up. To just be able to go climb on the peaks when every you feel like it. These people are so lucky! I can't wait until next weekend to see the next challenge.

An update on the bikes: They are awesome. It makes getting around a little easier, because we don't have to go by the bus schedule. I went to the Billa, local grocery store, and bought some chocolate and an apple juice spritzer, apple juice and mineral water, and then headed to the Leopoldkronesweiher. It is a pond near our house. The house that is on the pond is the one in the Sound of Music. As I sat there I considered taking up painting. The trees surrounding the house were being reflected in the water and the sun was hitting the house just right. It was so cool to just look at and admire. The mental image will be there forever. It made reading for class very difficult. I haven't figured out how people get anything done here. With the Alps and the beautiful scenery there are so many other things to do.

Eisriesen Welt

Today we hiked to the worlds largest ice cave! We started the morning off by meeting at the train station. The joke of the semester is how we just show up place and somehow we always wind up going some where. So your instructions were to meet in the main area of the train station at 7:50 in the morning. All ten of us are there by 7:30, but our instructor is not. It gets to be 7:45 and we are a little worried, but eventually he made it. It was then another hourish train ride. It was cool, b/c we got to go past part of the river we rafted on. When we got off the train it was another 30 min bus ride about half way up the mountain. From this point it took us 2 1/2 hrs to hike up to the path that lead to the ice caves. A total of close to 3 hrs to just get to the caves. However, the weather was amazing, the sun shone all day! And the view, I hope the pictures can show even half of what the Alps looked like. It literally took your breath away to see such a beautiful landscape! The ice caves themselves were just as amazing. We walked inside the mountain into darkness, thank goodness for the old school lamps that you could shine on the different parts of the ice walls and structures. The song that kept going through my head was "Shine your light and let the whole world see. Singin' for the glory of the Risen King! Jesus, shine your light!" Once we got out of the caves back into the sun light the song was, "Into marvelous light I'm running."

Today was truly a great day! I couldn't imagine spending it any other way. The people are fun, the scenery breath taking and hiking is just fun in general!

Pictures from Rafting

The story: Our guide thought it would be absolutely hilarious if all of would rush to the front of the raft. Us just enjoying the ride thought this was just a way to enjoy it even more. Little did we know that we were coming up on a giant wave. With all 5 of us in the front of the raft we hit the wave and it completely covered us (image 2). Our instructor was in the back of the raft just laughing, he thought it was so funny. After the initial shock of having freezing cold water soak us, we found it almost as funny : ) If you notice we aren't even visible in the second image. The wave completed consumed us!

A Bike!!!

I know have a bike!

Our host family found some bikes for us. They are old 1970s models and they have bells and lights. Both are required to ride a bike or you can get fined. The light is really cool, the power to make it turn on is from pedalling, so no batteries required. Our first adventure was going into town this evening. It was great! The evening temperature was perfect for a bike ride. And it made a 20 min bus ride a 15 min bike ride. The town has opened for me! I can't wait to start exploring the town even more on my bike.

I hope everyone is doing great back home!