God’s Great Country-Salzburg, Austria

Dear Readers:
I’ve felt as of late, that I’m barely making it up the mountain in my life, while being passed by others who don’t seem to mind the climb. While reading this scripture this morning, “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” Jeremiah 31:25, I was reminded of this scenario.

Just outside of the city of Salzburg, Biceps and I found a hostel that perched atop a mountain, promising spectacular views. We had to take a train to get there, but trains meant croissants, hot coffee and jam. Stepping off the train and onto the desolate track, with our backpacks firmly in place, we began the long ascent on foot to Haus Lindner.

A couple of Billy Goat school-aged kids had hopped off the train with us. Dressed in their dark blue uniforms, they immediately passed us by. Their backpacks were only packed for the day-not the entire month. And the Billy Goat kids’ calves and lungs were used to climbing the mountain home.

Biceps and I were sucking wind within five minutes.

With my best attempts at speaking plain German, and hoping they’d understand, I asked how far it was to our hostel. They replied (I think), “Just up that hill.”
The hill was a mountain. And it wasn’t a small one. “Follow us,” they said, looking over their shoulders.
Determined that the whippersnappers would not get too far ahead, and wanting to make America proud, Biceps and I picked up our pace.

Finally, after reaching the top, the Billy Goat kids pointed out our hostel and trotted off for home. My legs ached and my backpack seemed to have gained an extra 10 pounds on the long climb up.

But, the scenery spread out before me-bright, spring-fed grass covered the mountain, the sun had begin peaking its head over the horizon, the terra cotta roofs dotted their way down the lane we had just climbed. It was breathtaking.

The Billy Goat kids had been conditioned for the climb-they were ready. And although I am a runner, my midwest legs only knew slight inclines-I wasn’t ready for the mountain.

But determination of not being the weak link and the promise of more croissants are rather motivating factors for this girl. I knew that I had to just get inside the hostel, set down my backpack and the breakfast would be waiting. The climb had been worth it.

I knew there would be rest eventually for me-”the weary”. If you are, like me, struggling on your mountain climb today, know that there will be rest for you. God in his faithfulness will give you rest and hopefully a croissant.

Fall time in Europe

Awhile back, Biceps and I saved our pennies and vacationed in Europe for an entire month. This morning, as I sat in my housecoat with coffee in hand, a slight rain drizzled outside. While the water splashed on my windows, I was reminded of the mornings in Europe we huddled together waiting for our train, usually snacking on some sort of pastry and wishing we had packed warmer clothes.
We wouldn’t trade those moments for the world.

This tiny little town of Hallstatt, Austria is less than 1,000 people and only accessible by boat. We flitted about in the off-season, unencumbered by the usual tourists-drinking coffee and hiking its mountains. It was quiet, to say the least-except for the occasional cow bell.

 

The path to Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss) is lined with ever changing colors-which can be seen in great depth-if one is too cheap to pay for transportation up the mountain and decides to walk the 5 million miles on foot, uphill….

 

Simple. Beautiful. Fun to climb for the first 20 minutes, then prodded on with the promise of coffee for finishing the hike by a certain someone with a name that rhymes with Ticeps.

 

I wanted to rent a house and live here forever. But then I realized I wouldn’t be able to see my parent’s or Biceps parent’s or my brothers or my cats…..needless to say, no house was rented.
We were thankful to see Europe in the fall, the colors were vibrant, the tourists were sparse and the weather just cool enough to warrant a jacket a handful of coffee.
I would love to go back soon. I hope Biceps is reading this. Hint, hint…..