Traunsee and the area surrounding the lake is one of the most naturally peaceful places I have visited.
The lakes you see have this distinctive green tinge that changes when the sun hits. To stop by one of them and sit with your feet placed in the water automatically calms your mind, body and soul.
We only spent a few days over the Easter holidays there, but we came back feeling relaxed and renewed ready to go back to work.
Up on the high peaks of the Austrian mountains Bojan decided to take me on a Via Ferrata. For those of you who do not know what this involves I will explain.
A Via Ferrata is made with iron ladders, iron pegs, brackets and ropes secured to a climbing route on natural rock. You have a harness, a helmet and two slings with carabiners.
Once you start on one of these there is no turning back, and this is exactly what happened to me.
After trudging through the snow ankle deep forest and up a scary falling rock area we finally ended up at the bottom of the Via Ferrata. On YouTube videos we had watched this looked super easy, but once I was at the base of this wall of rock the fear took over.
Thinking I had to climb up this with only two slings and two carabiners securing me freaked the shit out of me. The whole way up B had to deal with me crying and shaking. The only time I relaxed was when we made it to the top. Here I was able to sit and enjoy the magnificent view.
Let me tell you about one of the benefits of doing something that is out of your comfort zone is being able to play it up for the next few hours afterwards.
Here you can score yummy cake and amazing wine while taking in the views and the mountain fresh air.
The rest of our time around Traunsee was a lot more relaxing. We went on a mountain hike in the ski field area of where we were staying, afterwards enjoying a traditional Austrian meal by an open fire.
On the lake we hired a boat and drove around exploring … well Bojan mainly drove around while I sat in the back soaking up the sun. And lastly we went to see to some Austrian wild life which was amazing for me.
Traunsee is definitely worth a visit for a long weekend. It is a place for relaxation and a great romantic holiday escape (just avoid the Via Ferrata).
I was amazed by this placed and shocked it had taken me two years of living in Austria to make the visit. We will be going back there soon on another long weekend to explore more of the surrounding lakes and to soak up the fresh mountain air. Maybe this time I will freak out less on the next Via Ferrata!
