We wanted to come one more time to the mountains before the winter season ends and we booked the hotel in our favorite town in the Austrian Alps for the long Easter weekend a few weeks ago. I was so excited about this vacation, even though I usually fly to my home town for Easter. I was pretty sad though that I will miss Easter with the family this year so I spontaneously invited my mom and brother on Monday to join us in Austria which they accepted so I quickly booked them at the same hotel.
Travel day
I came home earlier than usual from work on Thursday and prepared everything I wanted to take for the weekend. Packing is always hard, I tend to bring too much but I have to pack light when we drive with the car because we have only 2 seats and a small trunk. I woke up on Friday morning early without the alarm so I did a Kayla Itsines BBG workout and then finished packing everything. It was late so we decided to skip breakfast and have some food on the road so we left around 11 o’clock. The usual 4 hour drive turned into 5 1/2 because of traffic jams. At one point we were stuck in a traffic jam and I was so hungry that we stopped at the first place on the highway for some food.
We arrived and checked in at the hotel and waited for my mom and brother to arrive. It was so good to see them again and spend a few days with them because I visited them in December last time and unfortunately I usually don’t have much time to Skype with them. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant on Friday evening and I wanted veal schnitzel but they didn’t have veal so I chose fish instead.
Spa day
It was raining whole evening and it was cloudy on the next day so we decided to spend it at the spa. I was swimming a lot and did a water aerobic class too. We took a nice walk afterwards since the sky cleared and it was warm. We visited the city and the castle nearby. Of course we had to go to my favorite cake place and have some delicious Austrian cake and coffee. I called our favorite Italian restaurant and reserved a table for the evening. We shared a plate with antipasti and I had the tagliatelle with pesto rosso and shrimps as a main dish.
Skiing day
I woke up surprisingly very early on Sunday, even though we changed the time, and the weather was so nice and sunny that I woke everyone up so we can go up on the mountain as soon as possible after breakfast. We took the bus, rented skis and got a ticket for the lift for my brother. We started on a small ski area where the lift was closed and he learned how to break, how to stand on the mountain, how to climb up on the mountain and how to take a left and a right turn. This was important for the next ski area where the lift was working and there were many people and kids skiing so we had to make sure that he won’t run over anybody. He quickly advanced to the final newbie area where he spent the rest of the afternoon and we literally couldn’t get him off the slope. I was walking around, making videos of him and enjoying the weather. We took a break at the restaurant and had some yummy Kaiserschmarrn and a cappuccino. The snow was all melted in the afternoon and many people were on the slopes after lunch so we returned to the hotel around 4. I did a short Freeletics workout and then learned for my Microsoft exam that is next Monday. Dinner on that evening was at the hotel restaurant so that my brother can try the Sunday roast and I had a pancake soup and chicken salad.
Hiking day
The weather was so beautiful on Monday morning that we decided to hike to Bad Gastein along the creek. I double checked the route at the reception and we even got some colored Easter eggs for the road. The first part of the hike was all flat ground along the promenade until we reached the waterfall way at Bad Gastein. This way was steep and narrow but so beautiful, it took us climbing up on the mountain along the waterfall. There are three bridges along the way and we stopped at the second that was right in the center of the city. We took a short break at a cafe with Sacher cake and cappuccinos and afterwards took the bus back to Badesee so we avoid having to climb down the mountain. We walked back to Bad Hofgastein and we had dinner at the hotel restaurant again, it was a buffet this time with many choices of antipasti, main courses and desserts.
On top of the world
On Tuesday we went up to the top of the mountain at 2050m, the sun was shining and we spent a few hours on the terrace enjoying the weather and looking at people skiing. After some Kaiserschmarrn for lunch again, we went back down and took a walk in the city. I did another Freeletics workout in the hotel room. Our last dinner was a delicious 4-course menu with grilled vegetables, beef soup, linguine with spinach and salmon and blueberry panna cotta.
Home
I slept bad on Tuesday night. There were a bunch of drunk kids yelling at midnight and I woke up very early on Wednesday morning. I planned to have late breakfast and perhaps go running before that but I was too tired so we packed, went for breakfast and checked out to get early on the road to drive back home. There was a lot of traffic on the way, many were heading home after the long Easter weekend just like us and we arrived home in 5 and 1/2 hours instead of the usual 4 hours.
Unpacking – done. Cleaning – done.
I am spending the next days resting, relaxing, learning for the Microsoft exam that is next Monday, doing some sports outside if the weather is nice (otherwise exercising inside) and watching Build online.
All the pictures are available here.
FitGeekGirl 
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