Stunning Austria - Of Mountains and Lakes!

I opened my eyes, it was 7:00 in the morning...I looked out of the window, awestruck by what lay before me - a beautiful lake, amidst the snow-capped mountains, sparkling with pride as the first sun rays fell on it – the glacial mountains now forming a clear image of itself on the lake; I kept gazing out of the window, wondering if what I was witnessing was a dream! But no it wasn’t…all this was for real – how I wish I could get up to the same sight every day!

First sun rays falling on the lake..

Spectacular view from our room!

I was in the Salzkammergut region of Austria.  The dreamy place I just described about is one of the most beautiful lakes (and relatively less commercialized) in this region – Lake Gosausee. We had put up at a family run guest house by the name of Gasthof Gosausee - the only one located by this lake, offering spectacular views of this lake surrounded by the mountains.

We started from Vienna in the morning – taking short breaks at regular intervals, we were able to Gosau towards the evening. As we entered Gosau, some stunning views greeted us – lush green meadows, pretty quaint cottages with smoke billowing out of the chimneys, snow - capped mountains – it was a treat to our eyes. Here on, we had to drive for another 15 mins to reach our destination - Lake Gosausee. After checking into our hotel, we decided to take a stroll around the lake – the picturesque scenery and the chilly air acted as a panacea for our tired body and mind – we felt refreshed. 

As for the views, I will let the pictures do the talking –

One of the first lakes - lake Gmunden - enroute to Gosau

First views of the Gosau village..

Surrounded by the lush green meadows

Breathtaking - not my fault if couldn't take my eyes off!

One of the many stops we took as we strolled around the lake..

On the other side..!the small red cottage at the other end is where we were staying:)

Beautiful evening

With the pretty flowers..:)

Next, we visited the breathtakingly beautiful village of Hallstatt – a UNESCO world heritage site, surrounded by mountains, located by the pretty lake of Hallstatter See.The place is famous for production of salt, dating back to prehistoric times. It is a small place – we did a foot tour of this village, boated around in the lake – covering all this in a couple of hours.

It is not possible for me to describe this lovely place in words; it is more like an artist’s impression of a  picture perfect place – bright colourful village with the backdrop of mountains, located by the stunning lake adorned by white swans – simply wow! Let me take you through a picture journey of this place –

Stunning Hallstatt

God knows what we were looking at!

Bright and colourful..

From a distance..

Captured from the boat

Sneak peek into the colourful town of Hallstatt

Picture Perfect

Next, we visited the Dachstein ice caves – it was a 15 minute drive from Hallstatt. Once there, we had to take a cable car and then hike for 15-20 minutes to reach the cave entrance. As we entered the caves, I was amazed -  ice had formed different structures in varied shapes and sizes -  I had never seen something like that before – it was a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed; or rather photography in flash mode was not allowed – as such we weren’t really able to capture the beauty of the place as it was dark in there.

We covered all these places over a period of two days. It was then finally, time for us, to bid goodbye to the ethereal place, surrounded by mountains and home to umpteen lakes…

Recommendations -

•  Base out of one place and then make day trips to various beautiful lakes and small villages in the Salzkammergut region
•  Do a self-drive tour of this region – it might not be convenient to explore some of the more stunning but remote places in this region using public transport
• Stay in a lake side hotel/guest  house

Dubrovnik - Pearl of the Adriatic

There are places in this world that make you believe in fairy tales - Dubrovnik is one of them.

This beautiful walled city is also the filming location for “King’s Landing” in the famous “Game of Throne” series – Lovrijenac Fortess has been used as the “Red Keep”, A small museum used as Rector’s Palace (city of Qarth), certain scenes have been shot at the nearby Lokrum islands, the famous “walk of shame” being shot in the old town of Dubrovnik.

But there is so much more to this city than Game of Thrones..

The beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik ringed in the Azure blue waters of Adriatic

We reached Dubrovnik around 11 at night; we were completely exhausted and decided to retire to our beds. Next morning, I opened the windows of my room (still half asleep) to get some fresh air - the sight that greeted me made my heart jump with joy! Glistening turquoise waters stretched as far as my eyes could see...sound of the waves soothed my soul...the calmness, the happiness I felt at that moment is something I cannot describe in words. I stood there, gazing at the azure blue waters, with cool breeze caressing my face; I felt rejuvenated.

Before I knew, it was time for us to get ready and explore the magical town of Dubrovnik...

The 100 odd stairs from our Apartment to the Old town were good exercise after all the margharitas(pizza) we had!

We crossed the gate and stepped into the old town – as we walked through the narrow alleys discovering the hidden corners and cafes, a mystical charm gripped us all. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the streets of the old town. 

First view of the Old city

Wandering in the narrow alleys..

Stradun Street

In the evening, we took a cable car to Mt. Srd to get a view of the city from top...And what a spectacular view it was! The best part was that we were able to reach Mt Srd just before the sunset enabling us to feast our eyes with varied views of the city – the vast sea around the city changing colours as the last rays of the sun fell on it; the city coming alive with bright lights as the night set in, shining like a pearl in the vast Adriatic..

We just stood there, dazzled, as the city transformed itself...

View of Old city from Mt.Srd just before the sunset

The Perfect sunset

No wonder it is called the Pearl of the Adriatic!

We were forced to tear ourselves apart from that splendid view as the winds started getting chillier up there. We, then, went back to the old town – trying to choose a place for dinner from amongst the innumerable cafes that lined the brightly lit streets of the town. The city, with all the lights around looked even prettier!

Brightly lit Stradun Street

With these lights..it looked even prettier!

Just outside the walls of the old town

Next day, we started early as we wanted to spend a good amount of time walking around the city walls...This “Walk” was one of the best parts of our trip to Dubrovnik. It provided stunning views of the old town – the bright orange rooftops - with the backdrop of the ocean. It is difficult for me to find words that justify the magnificent views from the city walls...So, I will let pictures do the talking here –

View from the walls with Lokrum islands in the background

The distinctive bright orange rooftops..

Picture Perfect!

Sun shining bright over the city

A large part second half of the day was spent lazing around at the Lokrum islands nearby – walking around in the island and sitting by the sea doing absolutely nothing.

Swimming hole in the Lokrum islands famously called as "Dead Sea"

One of the shooting locations of  "city of Qarth"

Queen of the seven kingdoms..;)

We returned to the town of Dubrovnik in the evening, and headed directly for Fort Lovrijenac. However, we could spend only about 20 mins there as the fort shuts down for tourists at 6 pm. Nevertheless, we were treated by some amazing views from the fort.

View from Fort Lovrijenac

We spent the night, once again, walking through the streets of the old town – charmed by it, yet again! Soon, it was time for us to say good-bye to this magical old town of Dubrovnik as we were to leave early next morning...

Charmed..yet again!

We left Dubrovnik, early next morning, with the hope of going back to this fairy tale town someday..

Hopefully..we will come back someday!

Tips:

• Rent an Apartment in the Ploce region of the town..Although this would mean climbing up and down a flight of stairs..one shall be rewarded with some stunning views. Also, it is a short walk away from the old town.
• City walls tour is a MUST!But, it is better to do it as early as possible in the morning to avoid the crowds
• Tour to Dubrovnik is incomplete without visiting Mt Srd to get some amazing views of the city. It is advisable to visit Mt Srd around sunset.

Slovenia - A hidden gem..!!!

We were to travel to Ljubljana (Slovenia) from Salzburg (Austria) in the afternoon. We reached the train station an hour in advance; it took us sometime to figure out the coaches we had to get into – not our fault, the display board showed the destination station as one located in Austria; it was after we enquired that we got to know that only the last three coaches of the train would go on to Ljubljana!

Four of us were traveling together - Prateek, Madhav, Varttika and Me - this was after we had settled in the train

...And then began our spectacular journey – passing through the snow-clad mountains, lush green valleys and picturesque small towns tucked into the hillside – as our train made its way through the mighty Alps. We sat in the train, looking through the window – soaking in the surreal beauty and wishing for this journey to never end...

Lush green pastures..

Through the Alps..

Soaking in the surreal beauty..!!

Snow clad mountains with a waterfall in the background..

Posing!

But then all good things do come to an end...to make way for even better things!

We reached Ljubljana early in the evening; as we were trying to navigate our way to our Apartment, we realized that there were not enough people on the street for this time of the day – the streets that led to our apartment were almost deserted – had we met the right decision by choosing to explore this city? After all, this was not a place frequented by tourists! Only time could answer this question.

After dropping off our luggage at the Apartment, we decided to visit the city centre. We reached the place in 10 mins – and the first sights of it left us dumbstruck! Ljubljanica river ran through this part of the city, dividing it into two parts - bank of this river was adorned by umpteen open air restaurants, with some fabulous lightings – it was vibrant and lively. As I sat by the bank of the river, on a moonlit night, gazing at the beautiful city, a feeling of complete tranquillity washed over me..it was like a dream that I never wanted to end – how I wish I never had  to leave that place..! Sooner than we realized, it was time for us to return to the apartment and get ready for the next day. But this was not before we tried the icecream at one of the various ice cream parlours – it tasted simply amazing..!!! And thus, this fabulous day came to an end..

The Triple Bridge..

Lightings along the river..

The pretty city!

Beautiful moonlit Ljubljana

The Posers..!

And we too..:)

Musicians performing at the city center on International Music day

Next day we planned to visit the Skocjan caves – located around a couple of hours away from the city of Ljubljana, It is a massive underground canyon – almost 150 meters high with some breathtaking views and sights. There are two parts to the cave – first one known as the silent part have numerous wonderful stalagmites and stalactite formation. We were simply awestruck by the massive and varied formations that appeared before us! As we approached second part of the cave, we started hearing the river gushing through – no sooner we could see the river flowing 90 metres below us...what we saw and experienced left us speechless – it seemed straight out of the Lord of the Rings! What a fantastic experience it was! Unfortunately, photography is prohibited in this cave and as such all we have are the wonderful memories of this place that will remain etched on our brains forever. 

A few clicks of the Skocjan we were able to capture at the exit..

By the time we reached Ljubljana, it was already late evening. We spent the rest of the evening by the Ljubljanica river, enjoying the beautiful sights the city had to offer...

Next day, we decided to visit Lake Bled. I had heard a lot about this place, while researching about Slovenia. However, as we had already spent three days in the lake region in Austria, we were a little sceptic about visiting “another” lake. But, then we decided to go ahead and explore it...and thank god we did! The first sight of the lake made my heart jump with joy...it was simply breathtaking –perfect like a postcard – surrounded by lush green mountains with a castle in the middle of it, pretty white swans swimming swiftly through the lake – how I wish I could go back! 

Mesmerized!

Bled castle..

Pathway around the lake

We took a walk around the lake with Prateek breaking in between, going ahead with the Mala Osojnica trek known for amazing views of the lake – Not that we did not want to accompany him, but its not an easy trek and we weren’t fit enough for this (as we had to move fast for we were to leave for Zagreb that afternoon!) – and he was rewarded with some stunning views of the lake from the top. After completing our little walk around the lake – which took us about 2 and a half hours – we sat on a lakeside restaurant to quickly savour on the famous cream bled cake...it was simply yum!

Walking around the lake..

Bird's eye view of the lake 

Savoring on the Bled Cream cake..

Post this, we returned to Ljubljana as we were to leave for Croatia that afternoon. And thus ended our two-day tryst with the beautiful country of Slovenia..at the end, we only wished we had some more days to spend in this place..!