Autumn in this country is hard to beat and boy do the Austrians know it! From late-September, as the leaves start to set fire, Austrians young and old don their walking boots and take to the hills.
When October rolls around, pumpkin recipes line the pages of supermarket magazines, appear on every street corner and are celebrated (bordering on *worshipped) at their very own festival in the hills above Vienna.
Luckily for me, teacher-ing means many holidays so I had two blissful school-free weeks at the end of October to enjoy all things autumn. Half-term commenced with a trip to the hotly anticipated Hallstatt - a lakeside town so picturesque that it's been recreated, to scale, in China..!
In a bid to avoid the tourists, we set off on a walk (another *vertical scramble) up to a lookout point above the lake. I'm not sure if it was the exhaustion or the view but I've yet to enjoy a gherkin sandwich more.
After a quick scan of the shops and an extortionate coffee, we boarded the ferry back to the station and headed home.
Next up in the October Adventures was a hike from Payerbach to Puchberg, crossing Lower Austria's highest mountain, Schneeberg, en route. Of all the hikes I've done, this was absolutely the most extreme but made tolerable, nay TOLL, by the consumption of Buchteln just before the descent. They deserve their own gallery below.
Silence loomed and plates were left dishwasher clean following mass consumption of these glorious pillowy buns.
Continuing the foodie theme, a friend and I took to the Vienna hills one day to attend the annual Kürbisfest. Yes, a pumpkin festival. But this was no simple carving party. There were stalls selling everything from pumpkin beer to Kürbis-Kaiserschmarrn while a Lederhosen-adorned band trumpeted into the mist. If they go this all out for autumn, I can only imagine what a post-Covid Christmas will look like. Bring on the Christmas markets!
It's now November and the weather is suitably grim - wet and grey but an excellent excuse to stay inside and try to finally recover my destroyed legs from the Schneeberg hike over a week ago!
Comments