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.

The alps in the distance.

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.

Renault; Scenic is the style name.

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.

 

20 thoughts on “The Hills Are Alive and So Are The Flowers”

  1. Absolutely Spectacular ! ! ! Having the wise Eoropean driver surely added to the trip ! Kay

    1. We were in awe many times during our trip…so much to experience in so many ways. I’m thankful we had the opportunity.

  2. Looks Amazing and those flowers are just so beautiful😁 I am wondering how they manage to get them all so big😲 Seems like a country we need to visit👍 I have been to Vienna and that was a beautiful city with a lot of interesting buildings. So many beautiful countrys and places in the world👏😁👍

    1. Yes there are so many great places to see, including beautiful Norway…someday we want to get back there!
      I think you would really like Austria.

      1. You are most welcome to come to Norway and stay with us😁😘 would have been so much fun🤣

  3. Stunning Valerie! What an amazing trip that must have been! As a lover of flowers, it would be difficult for me to leave the beauty of Austria! My son and family just returned from Norway and Sweden and took some phenomenal pictures! I am going to Switzerland and Germany in October and can’t wait!

    1. Thank you.
      You’ll have a great time in Switzerland and Germany and see lots of flowers too. YAY

    1. It was not totally without guardrails but there were several places…and it did make me a little nervous. 😉
      But definitely worth the drive.

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