Europe Spring 2025 - Day 5

After another fairytale breakfast in our guesthouse, we hit the road to explore the lake district around us. There was a larger lake up the hill, so we headed that way to check it out. We drove around the lake through charming little villages, taking in the majestic views. At the far end of the lake, we entered a larger town with a lakeside promenade and some beautiful churches. It was about time for our next coffee of the day, so we decided to stop and explore.

Mondsee was quiet, cute, and not touristy at all. We found a warm little café full of locals, where I spotted a pretzel holder on the wall filled with pretzels. My kind of place! Sitting in that quaint bakery ambiance with my cappuccino is when I feel the most European. After our coffees, we strolled over to the church, not expecting much—but we were blown away. Built in the year 788, it was over 1,100 years old! The church was ornate, heavy, and dark, filled with intricate details and a few notable relics, including the molar teeth of 10th-century Saint Wolfgang.

To our surprise, as we exited through the tiny gift shop, we noticed a signed photograph of Julie Andrews. It turned out that this was the very church where the wedding scene from The Sound of Music was filmed in 1964! Julie Andrews had returned in 2014, and we saw another signed photo from that visit. We keep stumbling upon these amazing sights!

After our time in Mondsee, we returned to our little hamlet across the road from the monastery, just in time to attend the morning meditation with the monks and Brother David. Although Brother David is a Benedictine monk, he also spent years in Zen Buddhist monasteries. At one point, he spent five days sitting in silence from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day at a monastery in Big Sur, California. He brought that deep meditative practice into the Benedictine tradition, and now their monastic life includes silent meditation with a bell, in addition to the daily services.

We didn’t meditate for five days, but we did join Brother David and the monks for a beautiful half-hour session. It was deeply special and, as always, helped me bring awareness to my mind, spirit, and connection with God.

Afterward, it was time for an adventure! We really wanted to visit the salt mines—I’ve heard stories about my grandparents’ visit to Salzburg for years, especially their time in the salt mines. There were two options: Salzburg or Hallstatt. Since Hallstatt had been on my wish list ever since I saw a stunning image of it years ago, we chose to go there.

We made the scenic drive through the Alps, the landscape becoming more dramatic with every kilometer. We stopped in a tiny town nestled beside a gorgeous green-blue mountain river. The town was old and mostly empty. Judging by the still-operational canal and waterworks, there must have once been a large water mill. We climbed ancient staircases that led us to a tiny square and stepped into yet another historic church, this one dedicated to Mother Mary.

Next to the church was a pristine, quiet café—so very Austrian. We sat in the sun with more coffee and pastries, taking it all in. Then, it was onward to Hallstatt.

We arrived at the Salt Mine, but the ticket price just to take the funicular up the mountain was already steep, so we decided to skip the tour and simply ride up for the view. We had no idea what was awaiting us.

As we reached the top, we were greeted by a view so stunning it felt like heaven. We stood high above the lake, looking down on Hallstatt and the neighboring villages dotted around the water. We breathed in the crisp mountain air and took in the sweeping panorama.

Apparently, prehistoric people lived in this area from the 12th to the 9th century BC, during the Late Bronze Age. They buried their dead in the shadowy slopes of the mountains, and in 1846, the first archaeological discoveries were unearthed. Along the hiking trail, we encountered an exhibit explaining their burial sites and showcasing some of the ancient metalwork they had created.

And of course, this being Europe, there was a café at the top of the mountain! We got an incredible table and enjoyed some Hefeweizen and French fries while listening to a medley of languages around us. Below, tiny boats made their way across the lake, and the mountains surrounded us like massive, impenetrable walls of stone.

Eventually, we descended into the town of Hallstatt itself—the most touristy place we’ve visited so far, but for good reason. It was gorgeous! We learned that after Easter, this region gets much busier, so we had timed our visit perfectly. The town was stunning: ancient buildings nestled right up to the lake’s edge.

We wandered up winding stone stairs to the church and peeked inside. Several cats wandered the walkways, soaking up the sun. The whole place felt peaceful and timeless. I hadn’t been sure we’d get to visit Hallstatt on this trip, so I feel incredibly fortunate that we did. And ironically, it was our search for the Salt Mine—even though we didn’t go in—that led us to one of the most breathtaking views we’ve ever seen.

Keeping our expectations low and avoiding over-planning gave us so much space to be surprised, to feel grateful, and to experience the magic of the moment. We are so grateful.

Europe Spring 2025 - Day 4

We woke up this morning to the sound of our alarms. I had somewhere to be—Salzburg, to see my friend Magda! We had to leave early enough to run down the hill into town and catch the bus over the mountain. We went downstairs to see if they perhaps had some coffee for us. It looked dark and quiet; we were already imagining having to wait for coffee until later. Then we heard a friendly "Hallo," and the guesthouse owner ushered us into the dining room, where a breakfast spread fit for royalty lay! She made us coffee and chatted with Roel in German. The only thing I understood was, "Does your wife not speak any German?" She left us to our feast of three types of good bread, boiled eggs, cheese, yogurt, fruit, juice, and chocolate.

When the bus dropped us off in Salzburg, Roel and I parted ways. I went to the café to meet my friend Magda, who was living in Peru at the same time as me. We were good friends in Cusco, meeting about once a week or so to chat over coffee and go on adventures together every once in a while. I was very lucky to have found a friend like her. We’ve stayed in contact, and when I told her I would be in Salzburg, she said she’d love to come visit me! She lives in the German countryside, about an hour and a half away.

I walked into the café and spotted her smiling face right away. How wonderful to reunite with a friend you haven’t seen in years. I was a little nervous at first, but very quickly we warmed up and were excitedly catching up. She told me that it can be hard to return home after you’ve lived abroad because you’ve changed so much—and sometimes people don’t understand that. I think that’s one reason she and I connect so well: we’ve both experienced leaving our nest and exploring the world.

We caught up on so much over our breakfast and multiple coffees. I told her how fortunate I felt that she made the trip to see me, and she said that next time I need to come see where she lives!

Roel was right around the corner waiting for me—he had gone to the airport and picked up our rental car while I was with Magda. We were across the street from Mirabell Gardens (Sound of Music scene!), so we walked through the beautiful park. Early spring is definitely a gorgeous time to be there. The tulips were just about to pop, and all the other flowers were blooming. 

After strolling through the gardens we headed toward the old town. I looked to my left and saw a lonely, winding staircase going up. “Let’s go up there!” I said.

The staircase climbed up and up, underneath and through the ancient buildings, then along a stone ledge where we saw tiny gardens behind gates belonging to little old apartments. “Who lives there?” The views started to get impressive. Then we reached some type of monastery—the doors were closed. We headed down an old stone walkway next to the monastery. We walked along a stone wall, encountering benches and a few couples sitting and taking in the views. Across the river we could see the Salzburg Castle sitting majestically upon the rocky hill. Below, the teal-blue, wide Salzach River flowed briskly beneath pedestrian and auto bridges, cutting the city in two. I have completely fallen in love with Salzburg.

We kept walking (and I kept taking photos every few steps as the view changed, of course). Eventually, there were no more people at all—we had the fortress and the ancient stone walls with turrets all to ourselves. We imagined it in the Middle Ages and how they built the city to defend from attack. With the castle built on the hill and the towering Alps behind, it wasn’t hard to also imagine a princess and a dragon as part of the fairytale. 

After not seeing anyone for the 20 minutes—and looking up at a very steep, very tall staircase—we wondered, Are we lost? We kept thinking there would be another way down, but eventually realized the fortress walls didn’t have any weakness; it seemed we would have to go down the way we came. We found a different path that wandered through the woods, back to the monastery and the original stairs we had climbed up.

I’m so grateful to have stumbled upon a staircase that led us to a whole world we didn’t know existed up there! We wandered through more of the small, winding streets, walked out on one of the bridges over the river and got some food (the prices in Austria are great—we are pleasantly surprised!). We agreed that tomorrow we’ll explore the other side of the river and the castle on the hill.

We found our Volkswagen (my friend Magda, from the state of Bavaria, told me it’s the richest state in Germany because of Volkswagen, Audi, and BMW). It was fun to see Roel driving comfortably halfway across the world. I told him I would’ve been too scared to drive myself here. He reminded me he is European, after all. He told me that being back in Europe and traveling made him feel so in his element, that he missed this part of himself, and that it felt like home.

We arrived back at our lovely Mulahof (our guesthouse). We sat on the balcony in the sun with the snacks and wine we had picked up at the market. We relaxed, chatted, and enjoyed. Roel got ready to go across the road to the monastery for a service. As the sun dipped down behind the trees, I put on my wool socks and wrote a blog post. When Roel returned, we went off in our car to find some dinner.

Everything is working out so magically on this trip, and we are both in favor of the “go with the flow” type of travel. So rather than look something up online, we decided to drive around the lake and see what we could find. It was a gorgeous drive, and we passed underneath a tram going to the top of a mountain that we want to check out!

On the other side of the lake, we drove into a tiny town called Saint Wolfgang that looked like a Austrian town straight out of a fairytale. We passed a dimly lit but still-occupied restaurant. That’s the one! We shared a lovely dinner. This really feels like our honeymoon.