Adventure – Page 9 – Valerie's Voice

Memorable Hikes – Söll, Austria 2018

When we checked into our wonderful B&B in the farming community near Söll, Austria we were visiting with the friendly woman at the front desk and asking her about hikes in the area. She suggested hiking to Alpengasthaus Stallhäusl which would take about an hour. That sounded good to us…

She gave us directions and told us the signs to follow so, after lunch, off we went. Fortunately we wore our hats and we brought some water because it was sunny and hot.

The hike started on the lane behind the B&B. We walked passed a riding stable and a barn where Haflinger horses are bred. We walked past cows with bells clanging around their necks grazing in the fields, and past chickens cackling near their cute coop with flowers blooming in it’s own little flower box. Then we started our ascent…we kept climbing and climbing and climbing, for a hour and 30 minutes, climbing up the mountain.

Even this chicken coop had flower boxes!

We did not expect this – the woman forgot to tell us this part – but the vistas were amazing, and we were hiking in the alps! We knew we were on the right trail by the signs.

The signs didn’t use distance for a gauge but used the number of minutes to the each destination…35 minutes to here, 5 minutes to there…it’s an interesting way of letting one know where you are.

Finally we made it to the top after stopping several times along the way to look out at the amazing views (and to catch our breath). We passed beautiful chapel tucked into the hillside (who goes there???)

We were hot and tired and thirsty when we arrived at our destination, the Alpengasthaus Stallhäusl. We sat outside on their sun terrace and ordered something cool to drink and said “Prost” (Cheers!) to toast our accomplishment, and cool down before hiking back to our B&B.

We decided to walk back on the road, complete with hairpin turns (that we wanted to roll down to make our journey shorter). Going down is not always so easy…but walking on pavement makes a big difference. It took less time to walk back to the B&B.

It was probably good we didn’t know ahead of time what kind of hike we were embarking on or we may not have chosen to do it…but we’re really glad we did!

Fair Time

Even though I’m not much of a fair-goer (because of the crowds) we heard about the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna so we decided to check it out. When our sons were young we would go to the Dakota County fair – it was a nice size. And we did go to the Minnesota State Fair a couple of times for the experience of a big state fair.

Gold Star Amusements at the Steele County Free Fair.

The Steele County Free Fair was a nice size too. We watched youngsters enjoying the rides in the amusement park. We meandered through the indoor arenas where exhibitors set up booths. We ate some “fair food” from the many food concessions stands. We walked through 4-H and fine arts buildings, animal barns, produce exhibits and flower displays.

Red Kanagaroos. There are 50 species of Kangaroos.

As we walked around looking at the animals I kept thinking it’s a very good idea for folks, especially town folks (like me), to see the animals and be reminded of how creative God is…There are so many different types of animals, each one unique and amazing in its own way.

That applies to flowers too. I love flowers. Flowers can be so intricate and delicate and there are so many varieties.

And vegetables…so many different vegetables.

We didn’t get to see everything at the Steele County Free Fair but we saw enough to want to go back next year…and maybe we’ll go to a zoo in-between time to see the long necks on the giraffe, the pouches on a kangaroo, a llama’s big bulging eyes with long eye lashes, a pig’s snout, a bird’s feathers, fishes scales…o my.

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:31 (NLT)

The Old Jewish Cemetery

On of the most unusual sites we visited in Prague was an old Jewish Cemetery in the Jewish Quarter in Old Town.

The land is only the size of one or two large city blocks, concealed behind a wall, but there are 12,000 tombstones crammed into this cemetery.

The oldest gravestone recorded dates from 1439 and the final gravestone is dated 1787, with many dates unknown. The inscriptions are mostly eroded and written in Hebrew. During this time the cemetery was the only place where the Jewish people of Prague were allowed to be buried. Because of this, it struggled with lack of space so they would add another layer of soil to add another burial…it is said there are as many as twelve layers in some areas and 85,000 people are buried in this small radius. The land inside actually became higher than the land outside of the enclosed cemetery because of adding layers of dirt. (Graves were never relocated because of Jewish belief that once buried a body should not be moved.)

The tombstones are described as a “dense forest” of stones. They are crooked, leaning this way and that, and are piled right next to each other designating several people buried in several layers below.

It’s hard to describe the feeling as we walked through the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was an impressive sight, yet melancholic as we reflected on the people buried in this cemetery, and those burying loved ones, layering one on top of one another.

Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.”

Prague Castle

Prague is home to one of the largest castles in Europe and we went to see it along with hundreds of other tourists. We took the tram to the top of the hill…most castles are on a hill because they are fortresses. We arrived, along with many others, and took our turn “oohing and aahing” over the hugeness of it. It dates back to the 9^th century.

What impressed me the most were the cathedral, the vistas, and the tiny houses.

Another side of the St. Vitus Cathedral…to get a flavor of the Gothic architecture and the hugeness of the cathedral.

On the castle grounds is the Gothic style St. Vitus Cathedral. There was an earlier church on this site in 952 but this cathedral’s construction began in 1344 and was not completed until 1929. Even today, the Cathedral is steadily being restored. It has two tall spires, 270’ high, and is very impressive. It has spectacular stained-glass windows, and one amazing window painted to look like a stained-glass window and it’s hard to tell the difference. There is so much history and opulence inside these cathedral walls.

One of the stain-glassed windows of St. Vitus.

Inside St. Vitus…note people in foreground of photo to get perspective of how big this cathedral is.

There were great views of the picturesque city of Prague from the castle on the hill. Prague is a beautiful city with the Vltava River running through it and diverse, beautiful architecture everywhere, complete with burnt-orange clay tiled roofs.

And then there is Golden Lane.

Golden Lane is a row of tiny houses built into the castle wall. It was a medieval merchant street and it captured my interest. The houses, I’m guessing, were approximately 8′ X 10′.

In 1484 a fortification of the north wall of the castle formed some kind of vaults that were used to house “lesser goldsmiths” until the revamping of the wall in 1591-94 when repairs were made to the vaults. In 1597 artillery men at the gate of Prague Castle asked permission to build little houses within the newly repaired walls which would take up only the depth of the original niches (vaults). The King agreed, however, the dwellings were not given to the men, they had to build them at their own expense. The houses were occupied until WWII, when the government bought them and now are a part of the history of the castle.

Even though the lane was overcrowded with tourists, it was quaint and fun to see these tiny houses that were built so long ago (and I thought the concept of tiny houses was a new one.)

One house on Golden Lane – you can walk in a few feet and look through plexiglass to get an idea of how the tiny houses were arranged inside.

What I find amusing is that we were surrounded by the opulence and magnificence of the castle and I was intrigued by one row of tiny houses built into the castle wall.

Seeing the grand castle and the tiny houses made my own modest home back in Minnesota feel “just right.”

The Hills Are Alive and So Are The Flowers

We had so many adventures during our time in Austria it’s hard to know where to begin…”Let’s start at the very beginning, A very good place to start”…well maybe not…my postings of our trip will not be in chronological order.

I’ll begin with the beauty of Austria…the mountains and hillsides, the streams and waterfalls, the wonderful alpine chalet-style homes with flower boxes dotting the green landscape.

It was a treat to be in a vehicle driving across country. Our friends had a small, white Renault with plenty of room for four people with just enough space for our luggage in the back… it was a puzzle each time we had to repack our luggage but it worked. In the cities we would leave the vehicle parked for days and walk.

Outside the cities, it was wonderful to have the freedom of a vehicle, and having drivers who were used to driving in Europe. We relied heavily on the GPS system. It took us through rotaries (round-abouts) and often took us off the main road unto narrow back roads for a short-cut – sometimes we wondered why – but it added to the scenery and always brought us back to the main road…well, almost always.

The Grossglockner moutain peak is 3,798 meters (12,461 ft), and is the highest mountain in Austria.

One of our planned routes was the Grossglockner Alpine Drive in the Austrian Alps. At one viewing point you could see ten mountain peaks over 3,300 meters, (10,000 feet). We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day. There were lots of cars, some buses, motorcycles and bicycles climbing switchbacks up to the end of the road, to see the glacier. There were many places without guardrails and the roads were narrow and we wondered how the bicyclists could dare pedal up the mountain, especially in all the traffic. Whew…

Austrian Alps: The plaza where you could stop and look at 10 peaks over 10,000 feet.

Austrian Alps with glimpses of the Alpine Drive road.

The flower boxes on homes and business added even more to the beauty of the Austria countryside…they are abundant, overflowing, colorful, often multi-tiered, and just spectacular. Even though I was unable to get many photos of them, much to my dismay, the professional photos we see of these chalets with flower boxes are real. The flowers are that stunning. Here are a few photos but my photos do not do them justice.

Small restaurant along the Danube River.

Even this chicken coop had flower boxes! I love it.

Another Turtle on the Trail

Last week we were, once again, biking on the new trail in town when we noticed a turtle on the path. We stopped to take a look and discovered this turtle was a different species than the turtle we saw a few weeks ago.

I took a picture, hoping to identify it later. When I first saw the turtle I thought it was a snapping turtle, but I didn’t test it by dangling a stick in front of his face to see if he’d snap. After a quick research, I’m pretty certain it is a snapping turtle. Click here for more information.

I wonder how many species of turtles are in the area along the river, and near the path? Hopefully we’ll see a new and different one the next time.

A Table Creation

When my friend and I travel we often say it would be fun to look back on a map showing all the places we dart in and out of in one day. We criss-cross all over town, rarely following an organized route anymore since we have GPS. We have a list of the names and addresses of places we want to visit and plug the info into GPS. We also stop at places along the way that look intriguing.

We both agree, a map of our day would look somewhat like Billy’s trails portrayed in the comic Family Circus.

At the end of one day, on our recent trip to Oshkosh, we were headed back to our hotel when saw a garden shop so we stopped in for one last escapade. The nursery had slim pickings of annuals, and no perennials. So we decided to go into the gift shop next-door. As we looked around we noticed a few tables made from glass tops put over different items. We both thought a glass-top table might be something we could make (we’re always saying, “We can make that!” HA.) We had been looking at small tables on this trip, because I wanted one for our living room.

Back in Northfield I told my husband the idea and he thought it just might work. So we ordered a piece of glass cut to the size and shape we wanted. We found a mirrored, ceramic pot at Menards that happen to be the right size and height we wanted, and I cut a circle out of a place mat.

We turned the ceramic pot upside down, placed the cut-out place mat to secure the glass and to cover the bottom of the pot (which was now the top), and put the piece of cut glass on top of it all…and voilà…a wedge table to fit between our two recliners!

I have learned… you never know what ideas will generate when you step into new places.

A Rare Sighting

Last week while riding our on the new trail from Northfield to Dundas we stopped for a large turtle on the path.

We got off our bikes to get a closer look and found it was an unusual turtle…one none of us had seen before. We enjoyed looking at it, and wanted to touch it but decided not to. All the while it just stood there (do turtles stand?) waiting for us to leave.

We took in the wonder of it all, then got back on our bikes and continued on our ride. On our way back the turtle was gone.

The next day my friend did some research and found this turtle is called a Trionyx muticus. Click here for a link for more information. It is a soft-shelled turtle with and interesting snout and apparently considered a “special concern species in Minnesota”, which I think makes for a rare sighting.

It was fun to see this creature on the trail and hopefully it will find a safe place along the riverbank to make it’s home.

Memorable Hikes – Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Nerstrand, as we affectionately call the Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, is one of my favorite local state parks and I think it’s because I go there often. It’s only 20 minutes from our house where we currently live, and we used to drive down to the park from Burnsville where we lived years ago.

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, Spring 2018

There is no date for this memorable hike because I do not remember the year. We have gone on numerous hikes in Nerstrand-Big Woods over the years – too many to count or keep track of: wild flower hikes in the spring, long hikes in the summer, fall leaf hikes in the fall, cross-country skiing in the winter.

But the hike I’m writing about for my Memorable Hike series is when our two boys were young. We drove down to the park from Burnsville for the day. Gary had picked up a couple candy bars (which was, and still is, an infrequent treat) to put in his pocket for our hike. While hiking on one of the longer trails at Nerstrand Gary got the idea to go on ahead and place the candy bars near a tree. He wasn’t that far ahead of us to notice he was missing, and he did it quickly. Then when we were all together again, he mentioned to the boys that he thought there was a candy stand somewhere up ahead. The boys were young enough to get excited about that. We continued hiking and, lo and behold, there were candy bars on the ground under a tree. The boys were thrilled. It was silly but was quite fun, and to this day we talk about finding that candy at Nerstrand.

Who knew?

Whitewater State Park

A change in plans for family members opened up an opportunity for Gary & I to go camping over the weekend at Whitewater State Park, in one of their camper cabins.

This is Rainbow Trout, the name of the camper cabin we stayed in.

The camper cabins are cute…there isn’t a better word…just like baby animals…baby cabins are cute! The one we stayed in was only a year old. The cabins are like children’s playhouses. Inside are two bunk beds, a small picnic table with two benches, large, screened windows, electric lights and a ceiling fan and extra outlets. Each cabin has a small screen porch attached. Everything is built with knotty pine. The cabins are simple but functional and are a lot of fun to stay in.

Inside the camper cabin, from the porch.

Growing up in a kid-friendly neighborhood we had a shack in our backyard. It was a great place to play with the neighborhood gang. This camper cabin, which of course, is larger and much nicer than our backyard shack, brought back some fun memories of playing in, and on top of, the shack.

It doesn’t take long to get settled in to a camper cabin. Soon we were enjoying the great Minnesota outdoors. Whitewater State Park is in southeastern Minnesota, in a valley. The Whitewater River runs through the park, and beautiful, rocky bluffs surround the river and park.

One morning our hike took us up the bluffs with vistas at the top overlooking the valley. As we ascended so did our body temperatures, and at the same time the outside temperatures were climbing… into the 90’s, very unusual for our spring season.

Gary hiking on the trail. An interesting cavity in the tree.

Needless to say, we were very hot at the end of our hike so we quickly changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the spring-fed swimming hole in the river. It felt wonderful. This is something I rarely do anymore, but our bodies needed to cool down. I believe there is something very healing having your body surrounded completely by cool water. We could almost feel our body temperatures lowering to normal as we lingered in the water. Of course, many others in the park were also enjoying the swimming hole, but surprisingly it wasn’t crowded. It seems people stayed in the water just long enough to cool their bodies down.

Looking down on the park from our hike up the bluff. The swimming hole is the opening in the river with a sandy beach.

After we got out of the water we took showers in the shower house and then went out for an ice cream treat.

We found some fun ways to beat this unseasonable heat.