06 August 2014
Hallstatt, Austria (0 miles; Total = 526 miles)

We’re using Gina’s how-to-hike-with-cows approach (“don’t look them in the eye”) on the horses that are standing atop the viewpoint, around whose backsides we must tread in order to keep hiking. I’m not sure if this approach will work for horses, but then again, I’m not sure it works with cows either. Oh good, here they come too, so we can practice on all the grazers at once.

We’ve taken the local Post Bus to Lake Gosausee and then the gondola up to Gosaukamm Mountain for a bit of hiking. It’s a gorgeous alpine area with craggy peaks, green pastures, and villages dotting the landscape below. We spend a few hours dodging livestock and ambling about before taking a seat at the Sonnenalm Hut restaurant. Our waitress understands our two Cafe Lattes order but insists we look at the English menu before ordering our Frankenfurter. Maybe she thought we didn’t know what it was since it doesn’t exactly pair well with coffee, but who wouldn’t want to wash down their hot dog, spicy mustard, and spot of kraut with a shot of hot milk and caffeine?