Germany/Austria day 5

Day 5

Garmisch, Germany

Hallstatt, Austria

- On top of Germany on the Alpspitzbahn

- Drive through Salzburg

- Hallstatt heaven

I realize I sound like a broken record...but my lanta... I am in heaven.
Today was incredible. 

Remember how yesterday was just the cloudiest of cloudy days and it kept us from going up on a mountain? Well today cleared up and we decided to go for it! There are a few gondolas to choose from... the biggest was the one we saw covered in snow yesterday (boo) which is actually the highest/tallest point in Germany! We went for the second highest gondola ride to avoid the snow, possibly clouds, aaaaand it was about half the price! 

 gooooooiiinnnggg up! 

This picture almost made me miss the ride. haha

It was so fun going up and up and up! And the scenery just got better and better!

Look at how that mountain is just going STRAIGHT up here! Wowee

 Looking back from the top! 

 It was mostly clear skies, but some clouds were teasing us for a while up there...

There are these incredible look out platforms that seriously just stick out into the freaking air. 

so spooky. so incredible. 

Honestly that's the floor... you should have seen how slowly and cautiously we were walking down that platform! hahah I crack up every time I picture us both being so nervous.. but we warmed up

 That VIEW THOUGH!!! Germany... you are the biggest joke.

 Obviously so bright. But wow I wish these pictures even did justice

 I'm not kidding you, we felt the dang thing swaying and we both about wet ourselves.
I had to sneak a pic mid scare!
(ps- how great is my Russian scarf?! woot woot)

 Heart melted into a puddle

I'm sorry for posting so many pictures of this...
but I am trying to let you understand the amazingness of all of this!!

Here is Kody hanging out. Literally

 My favorite panorama... INCREDIBLE VIEW

 The clouds started comin again and covered everything up, so we decided to just head back down... Look how spooky that looks! 

 By time the gondola was actually going down though it cleared up and we could see again :) 

Kodester took a little time lapse so you could ride down the gondola right with us :)

After that, we hit the beautiful open road toward Austria for about a 3 hour drive.
We even drove through Salzburg which is especially known for Mozart and the Sound of Music.
We turned on Edelweiss (one of Kody's go-to-songs to sing at random times for some reason- it's the absolute best) and not too long after that we pulled up behind this beauty. haha awesome. 

And then, all of a sudden.... we were in Lindsay's paradise that is Hallstatt Austria.
Beautiful lake, surrounded by gorgeous mountains,
and the most charming little town you ever did see.

And the cherry on top- freaking swans just swimming around. SWANS, PEOPLE!!!

 
We explored the town a little bit and I just couldn't get over it.
Check out that little waterfall in the distance.
My quote of the day that was repeated over and over, "Are you kidding me?!"

 I mean, honestly

We grabbed our favorite version of fast food here - a doner and fries, and parked it here on this little bench. We made friends with a swan and shared our dinner with it.
Best. Picnic. EVER. 

 The view i've been dreaming of forever. boom.

 Swan paddle boat?! I die.
Everything was closed/closing down at this point, so we will have to explore more tomorrow!

 We had a silly little issue with the hotel we had found before... saying it was only 10 miles away, but when we punched it into the GPS it said it was an hour and a half drive...ummm...no.
Se we had to use this trusty (but slow) tourist information touch screen thing to find us another place. Kinda tricky- but it worked out for us!

It got too dark to take a picture of the place we are staying in tonight... but it's an air bnb kind of place where people just rent out a room in their darling little home. I'll have to take pics tomorrow to show.
Can't even wait for more Hallstatt tomorrow! 

Germany/Austria day 4

Day 4
Garmisch

- Eibsee Lake

- Olympic Ski Jump

- Partnach Gorge

Today was pretty cold and rainy and those darn clouds were covering up the 

breathtaking views of the mountains all around us! Biggest bummer about that was that we were hoping to go up gondola to an incredible view point- but it would have been pointless cause all we'd see would be clouds... Well and SNOW! The place had a video showing what it looks like up top and here is what we saw... yikes a bee. Well..that saved us some money, so there's the silver lining!

We headed over to Eibsee Lake which was just mystical and magical. I kept singing that song from the Hobbit "I See Fire" about the misty mountain something or other

 Check out all of those clouds above us and then the misty mist over the lake. mmm. 

 As we were standing there, these ducks just walked right up looking for food and even pecked at us! 

 It was so beautiful there. The water was so clear- I can only imagine how much more you can see when the sky is all clear! 

 green green green!

 Boys and rock throwin n skippin...always

On our way back we saw this awesome Olympic Ski Jump that was used in Olympics forever ago! Ok technically they had different ones built, and this one was fixed up in 2007. Look how it's just free standing! Pretty awesome

 We saw people climbing up the stairs along side it, so we joined in too. Holy...my legs!

 Here we are right at the ledge where they make the actual jump!
I couldn't even imagine ever goin off that thing! Sheesh...

 But my gosh the view was incredible!! Worth the climb for sure!!

 thumbs up for Deutschland! 

 Climbin back down. That view + Kody!? COME ON!

That funny moment when we desperately needed to find an ATM...
we only had this many Euros to our name.  

 I'm sorry- but I just can't help but take pictures of everything around me! It simply doesn't do it justice though... I'm in heaven

 And speaking of heaven.... Magnum ice cream bars!!
Mine is "Gold" which can actually turn your lips gold, with vanilla and caramel inside.
Kody's is a vanilla chocolate with strawberry inside. 

We are suckers for these. 

Our last activity for the day was up to Partnach Gorge. So awesome walking on this path right next to this crazy river, occasionally walking through a cave, and small waterfalls are falling all over. 

Like I keep saying.. A dream.

 The pathway is there on the left. 

 If the little waterfalls weren't getting you a little wet- there was always water dripping from the rock above you. It was freezing too!

Goin into a tunnel

wooty-woo!

 Where's Waldo? Kody's blending right in here in this shot!

 We took it easy for the evening, just enjoying sitting down relaxing and reading while we drank our go-to sparkling apple juice, and German chocolate. Of course, the clouds decided to kind of clear after we got home and everything would be closed! We were glad to relax though! 

I mean seriously- here's our view from out window. My heavens.