Awesome Austria
Day 6
The drive to Austria was lovely, winding along on a two lane road in the hills, with cows, deer, luxurious wild flower fields, some wooded areas, meadows, and the snow-topped Alps thrusting forth in the background. Chalet-style buildings were everywhere.
We got to our hotel, Gushof zum Schluxen, a large chalet-style hotel in the country not far from the German border. I had another new roommate, Jenn. Our room had fluffy down comforters and pillows, cute matching pine headboards, armoir, table, chairs and mirror frame. We had lovely views of the hills around us. The hotel had a charming dining room, and a restaurant with a bar. There were washers and dryers, and the staff washed and dried laundry for us for a small fee. There was even an internet connection in the hallway.
Day 7
We got up early and had a magnificent breakfast. The dairy products were out of this world! I had a seeded roll with prosciutto and swiss cheese, rich yogurt with fruit salad and a pastry with poppy seeds and raisins. There were also eggs, pastries of all sorts, museli, and so forth, and so beautiful that I took a photo of it.
It was raining, so the group hike and luge ride were cancelled. We had a little time until Juan arrived with the bus, and many of us walked around in the light rain.
Everyone ended up taking Juan’s bus to the incredible Neuschwanstein castle. I kept blinking to see if I was dreaming.
It was like a storybook turreted castle placed magically in the mountains, bigger than life. It was magnificent inside as well, with oil paintings, frescos, leaded glass windows, ornate tapestry curtains and carved wood paneling covering every square foot of the walls. The intricate mosaic floor in the chapel was astounding. There was an elaborate swan theme in several rooms, as well as depictions of various Wagner operas.
We walked back down through the woods to the bus, hoping that we could still experience the luge ride, but it was not safe in the rain. We ended up back at our rural hotel. Some people walked around and looked at the bunnies in the hutches, did their laundry or took bike rides in the drizzle. I played Scrabble with some tour friends.
Our huge buffet supper that night was incredible. There was a salad bar, asparagus soup, all kinds of meat- spareribs, rabbit, pork, sausages, lamb chops, different kinds of fruits and breads, cheeses, apple streudel and cheesecake for dessert. It only occurred to me later that I may have sampled some of our little bunny friends for dinner!
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