*~ Austria - Day 6 - Wurzeralm ~*(17th May 2008)

Austria Day 6: Our long-awaited hiking trip @ Wurzeralm~

Thanks to Didi, we had a very special hiking trip at Wurzeralm. And a wonderful home visit to his place in Wels where we met his amazing wife and children.

Our guide had warned us, not to bring our umbrellas when we go hiking! :) (But later i think Chris told me he had accidentally left his umbrella in his bag??) :P

It was a 2 hour drive from Spitz hotel in Linz to Wurzeralm.. but along the way was just beautiful scenaries after beautiful scenaries! I had prayed hard for good weather especially for this hiking trip, not forgetting also working very hard to finish my food everyday. :) As Austrian tradition says, you will get good weather if you finish your food :P

*~ Spitz Hotel to Wurzeralm ~*

So Didi picked an easy path for us which i had eventually rated abt 1 or 2 out of 10. :P In order to be Didi-certified beginner hikers, we were to complete this hike in about 2 hours.


*~ Our beginners hiking path ~*

Anyway very lucky for us, the day we visited Wurzeralm, it was just declared the start of Summer and so it was finally safe to go hiking in the snowy mountains!


*~ Didi explaining the hike path ~*

We bought tram tickets to get to our starting point. Its €14 usually, €13 each for a group of 3 (I hope i remembered this correctly..)


*~ The Wurzeralm Tram ~*


*~ and there was Light! ~*


*~ A paranomic shot at our starting point ~*

Didi explained that water in Austria is extremely clean. In fact the ice or snow or streams are all so clean you can eat or drink from it. Thirsty for ice and being a copy cat, seeing Alan digging into the pile of snow, i had to get some too!


*~ Got a little thirsty for ice.. ~*

These markings of the Austrian flag is to mark out the hiking paths. So if you don't see any along your way, you are probably lost.. :P


*~ yup, we're still on the right path! ~*

Didi handed me a little yellow flower for good luck! :) Still praying for the good weather to hold up, so this became my lucky charm.


*~ flower for good luck! ~*

I actually like looking at people from their backs.. a little influenced by a japanese tv series or movie.. i forgot.. but it made me realise i prefer to watch people walk away then for people to watch me walk away.. does that make sense?


*~ Alan & Didi walking ahead :) ~*

In singapore, we would have to scratch our names in the mud.. but we were lucky because the mountains were still snowy! Also made the hike extremely cooling. Warmer than we had expected, and cooler so we didn't all get sweaty and tired.


*~ Didi's name in the ice, also for luck ~*


*~ i followed suit and put mine in the ice too! ~*

Although I rated the difficulty about 1.5 out of 10, there were still steep slopes which were difficult to walk through because of the deep layers of snow. I remember getting my one leg sink too deep into the snow and tripping against a tree trunk..


*~ steep snowy slopes... ~*

Finally, we reached our destination where we were to stop and have our lunch in the middle of the quiet nature. :) The feeling was amazing! The weather was cool, the place was nice and quiet. Surrounded by so much nature and sitting in the middle of snow where the sun just feels warm. Alan and Didi were talking about how nice it would be to have a book and read half the day. Me? I think I would just day dream half the day. :)


*~ we found ourselves a table in the ground! ~*


*~ our sumptious mountain food! ~*


*~ looking at the nature around us ~*

A little doggie we passed by several times during our hike. He was hiking too, with his owner. Seeing him made me miss wangwang so much at that point of time. :P


*~ a little hiking doggie ~*

Finally, Didi congratulates us on graduating from his Beginners' course. :) Yay! We conquered umm.. the mountains in Wurzeralm!! Next stop was to Didi's home in Wels. :D


*~ next stop: Didi's home! ~*

Didi's home was so great, in a nice friendly village in Wels. With a nice pool and a pool house by the side. Of course the actual house and its super cool basement which feels cool on a hot afternoon, filled with toys and lego. We didn't get to see the cat because she was too shy and hiding under the bed.

The boys were really shy in the beginning, and Didi explained that Lukas was frustrated because he couldn't speak English to us. Well.. its probably how frustrated I had felt cos i couldn't speak German. :(


*~ my new young friend, Lukas :) ~*

The wonderful family. Looking at them will make people envious seriously! I already miss the short amount of time we had spent with them.


*~ The Strasser Family, Didi, Lukas, Matthias, Dorli ~*

To break the ice, we sat down for some games and fun! Alan, being a father of 2 kids, was really at home when it came to playing with children. :D


*~ Our game of Lotti Karotte~*


*~ and a game of UNO ~*

Hurray! Dinner is ready! We were soooooooo fortunate to have tasted lasagne so perfect! I have to be honest that this is so far the best I've had!! And I finished EVERY bit of it *proud* :)


*~ YAY! Lasagne! ~*


*~ us enjoying our wonderful dinner ~*


*~ and dessert! ~*

It's supposed to be common for Austrians to make their own homemade wines/liquors every year. This nuss likor (nut liquor) is good for health and extremely good after a heavy meal! My goodness, it tasted great, and in fact also tasted very healthy! ;)


*~ homemade nuss likor (5l) ~*

Time always flies when you are enjoying yourself. But there's always so much to look forward to. :) Many thanks to our hosts for the wonderful day!