Neustift, Austria June 14, 2024

This morning I will have…..!

A new day dawns in Neustift and I greet it while enjoying a cup of coffee on my balcony.  

Breakfast time rolled around and I arrived first.  My dining friends came a few minutes later.

I decided to wear my new shirt hiking today!

Hiking!  Yes!  That’s what I came here for!  There are many options for hiking once you step off the Elfer Cable Car when it arrives at the top.  Today I headed off in a different direction with hopes of seeing pretty sights and finding that restaurant that’s up there some where.  Very soon after hitting the trail, the views appear.  

There were a few junctions along the way, the signage is excellent, no need to have the navigation app running but I did anyway, it does not use data.

After an hour or so, I arrived at a restaurant but it was not the one I wanted to find.  

The views were amazing even with the bit of cloud. 

After a few more kilometres, I saw something promising through the trees.  After rounding a corner then ascending some more, thee it was.  People were already there and I was ready to join them.

passing by the bar on my way to a table 

 cows were everywhere

I had an idea what the beer menu said but I had no idea what the food menu said.  He brought me an English version of the menu when I asked if he could tell me what the items were. The German menu said Hauswurst mit Rostkartoffeln und Sauerkraut, the English menu said fried sausage with fried potatoes and sauerkraut.  I spent about an hour here enjoying the beauty and working my way through the meal.  I knew I had some elevation gain ahead of me, I knew the beer and the food would not work in my favour for that but I just thought I would suck it up when the time game.

It was a slow go when I had to suck it up, but I did it!  I was so thankful when it was time to descend. I needed to be down there somewhere eventually.

I passed back by that other restaurant and it called my name, it looked so inviting!  I ignored the call and carried on down.

looking back at that restaurant as I passed by

The trail down was very steep, there were many short switchbacks.  It also followed along side a creek flowing downhill. 

A familiar sight that church is!  

Praise be I am  not far from my home away from home now.

pass through the gate 

round the corner 

ten more minutes and I was back 

blue is the cable car ride up

green dot is where I started from the cable car station 

red is my route

orange is where I had lunch

black grid is back home

When I arrived back to my home away from home the wood carving I requested from a local gentleman was waiting for me at the front desk.