The Hills are Alive!

From Venice, we headed to the Austrian Tyrol. When I saw on the itinerary that we were going to be spending two days in this place, I was a little confused. I had never heard of Tyrol before let alone the town we stayed in, Hopfgarten. But, nevertheless, I was excited to go to Austria because I am abnormally obsessed with The Sound of Music, which takes place in Austria. A little lame, I know. Don't judge me.

So, first order of business in Austria? White water rafting. We get off the coach, and are handed wetsuits, helmets, lifejackets, boots, and waterproof jackets. Quite the get-up. We slpit up into groups of 8 or so, and hop into the boats. Once in the boat, our 21 year old Scottish guide began giving us instructions for what to do to keep us from dying in the freezing cold water we were about to enter. He spoke so fast and in such a thick accent, I caught about the first 20 seconds of his 5 minute spiel, and then I was lost. So, when we picked up our boat and headed out to the waves, I was slightly nervous about what lay ahead.

After the first set of rapids, my fears subsided, and I began to have a lot of fun. The course they brought us on was not so difficult, and our guide gave us instructions along the way. After a few tricks on the boat and tipping the boat over at the end, I felt great. When we got out of the water, we were greeted with a tray full of shots. One for each of us. I like Austria. After peeling off our wetsuits and warming up in the sun, we were given a bowl of goulash. Delicious. I really like Austria.

That night, we went to a bar called the Silver Bullet in Hopfgarten. Hopfgarten is about the size of Fort Recovery, my home town. So, our group of 30 or so people basically took over the bar. They had a special that was 10 beers for 20 euro. Perfect. I split the ten beers with a friend, and spent the night getting to know my fellow travelers and our tour manager. 'Twas a wonderful night.