Third Annual Hiking Trip In the Alps

My annual meeting with the Alps happened again. This time we traveled a couple hours away to the Lünersee in Austria. This was actually a tough climb and a lot of steep parts but hey…when in Rome!!

With our group of 25 people we climbed up the first portion to a lodge (6,495 feet above sea level) for lunch and a few drinks. Note to self…don’t drink beer before you hike another 3 hours! Muscle will not function properly! Lucky for us there was a band there playing all the special German songs in their drindls and lederhosen which our group naturally helped out here and there! 🙂

After lunch we headed out to our overnight lodge which was a good 3 hour hike. Straight up. It was pretty rough and quite a few people struggled but the thought that carries you through is the beer you get to have once you get there!

7,824 feet above sea level we arrive at our lodge for the night. Sleeping is literally bunk beds but not the kind you’re thinking of. We are sleeping 5 across…one right after the other. In my room alone we fit about 18 or so. Lucky me…this meant no sleep with all the younger, crazy guys!

In the evening we were served a 3 course meal (not bad for so far up the mountain. Remember…everything needs to be brought up there!). First course was a flädlesuppe, also known as pancake soup. Then on to Deer meat goulash. I opted for noodles of some sort. And dessert was icecream with pineapples. Not a bad set up! After dinner the music started going, people were singing loud, playing cards, and drinking away. A standard night up in a lodge over 7,000 feet high in the middle of the Alps. Right?

The next morning…after ZERO sleep, we headed even farther up the mountains behind us and at this point, I started panicking I’m not sure what it is in my old age but as I get older the more afraid of heights I am. I’m not necessarily afraid of heights, let me rephrase. More like my body just starts to turn to jello and I feel wobbly. Like I will lose my balance at any moment and plummet to my death. But nonetheless, I survived…obviously!

Hiking down is of course a lot less horrible and less work but when you haven’t had a lot of sleep the only thing you think is, GET ME OFF THIS DAMN MOUNTAIN! Or at least…those were my sentiments.

A killer view like this is worth it though. How often do you see a massive lake high up in the middle of the Alps. It’s one of those gifts that the world gives us. And for a very brief moment nothing else seems to matter. The world has a funny way of putting things into perspective for us.

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxo

Throwback Thursday – A Fitness Transformation

Ah yes, another Thursday is upon us and in light of my new (hoping to make it an..) obsession, I decided with my wedding coming up in one year, it was time to get myself into a habit I can love and really hold on to for years to come. I’ve read a lot about a few fitness guru types and the one I really seem to like is Tracy Anderson. Fitness freak to the stars but I like that she utilizes the idea of keeping things small and lean. I do not like the look of bulky muscles on me so I would prefer the “ballerina” style. So, the 90 day metamorphosis transformation has begun. Just finished workout number one and I want to kill myself! lol. She’s no joke and with my back issues, its not easy. I can’t lay on my back for the abs workouts so I’m going to do her standing ab workouts during that time in the video.

In honor of my day 1 achievement, I felt it was fitting to post a picture of my younger, thinner self. Motivation! Try to be like in my 20s…those were the good old days!

This was my 21st birthday. Such a great birthday! Had a bunch of friends in a hummer limo and we bar hopped…mixed way too many different kind of shots. lol. Eh, it was all in good fun! Felt like a million bucks bags of sewer water the next day but what a fantastic memory. And more so, look at that 21 year old body! AH! How did I let myself go?!