Gaisberg Trek

We had such a fabulous weekend, even if rather tiring.

On Friday night we went to a BBQ with some friends from church, or moreso "friendly acquaintances" I would say. Anyway, there were about 10-12 of us there and we had a good time all hanging out, talking, having LOTS of good food. One thing that made it super fantastic... they had 3 cans of AW Root Beer from a friend and we had root beer floats... sooo yummy! The silly Europeans other than Lukas didn't really like the root beer... whatever, us Americans enjoyed it a lot! haha It really reminded me of summer and home and it made me a bit more homesick, but it was really nice too. We ended up getting home around 11pm which was kind of crazy since we wanted to go hiking the next morning but hey, cant stop a good thing once it gets going, right? :)

We planned to head out around 7 or 8am but in the end we got out of the house around 9.30 and got to our hiking start at 10... not so bad :-p We had a crazy 2.5 hour hike up the mountain. I think it would have been a lot faster but I was super tired and super out of shape so that made it a bit slower. We also were retarded and didn't bring any food with, just water, and since I have problems with low blood sugar anyway that was pretty dumb. I got really dizzy for the last 40 minutes of the hike which then made it even longer because I had to take even more breaks than before. I'm surprised Lukas didn't just leave me and hike on without me, or push me off the mountain for complaining so much lol.

Anyway, the first part of the hike was a nice scenic route through beautiful Austrian countryside complete with darling farm houses and lots of cute cows :) It was a bit rough tho because the road was REALLY steep at parts when we were climbing up. After an hour of hiking we got to the woods and that is when the strenuous part really started. It was slightly slippery due to all the grass, moss and dead leaves. On top of that it was also very stony with random large stones and sticks all over blocking the way. I stepped on one branch and it swung up and smacked me in the hand harder than a catholic nun with a ruler! That wasn't too fun :-p lol. There were a lot of steep switchbacks going up which added to my slowness but hey, the map said it would take 2.5 hours and we took maybe 2 hours and 40 minutes... not so bad if I do say so myself! It was a great work out tho and at the top we were super glad we did it.

Unfortunately we missed the bus by a couple of minutes and the next one wasn't going to come for another 2 hours so we got some food and hiked back down... another 1.5 hours.

It was a long and strenuous hike but definitely good for us and I'm glad we did it. My goal is to get in better shape so that next time (provided we aren't stupid and DO remember to bring food lol) I will be able to keep up better and not be such a whiny wuss :-p

Today at church went well and then we came home and laid out in the sun a bit and just had a relaxing afternoon at home which is always welcome and always appreciated. I have to say that I definitely love the fact that we believe in honoring the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy. I love just being able to focus on the Lord and family and friends instead of work, homework, exercising, shopping, etc. Its just great having no commitments other than church and just being able to relax one full guilt-free day :)