Travels && Adventures: Tyrol/Hopfgarten, Austria [part 1]

Day: 7

Before I begin..I feel embarrassed to admit that Im really confused where we stayed. Im pretty sure the town was called Hopfgarten, but then the map said Tyrol on it. Not really sure if its like a Hollywood/LA thing, but whatever, it sure was more badass than Hollywood, so thats all that matters.

If you already didnt know....Austria was my FAAAAVE! It was my favorite for many, many reasons. Lets start off by showing up to Austria, getting suited up, and heading toward the rapids! Last year I was bummed I couldn't go White Water Rafting in the Dominican due to an ear infection. But this time...I came prepared and ready to get those ears wet! An awesome team was assembled and essentially named 'Team Fuck Yeah!" We thought we were cool because we wanted to flip our raft.

White water rafing in the Austrian Alps was exciting! The water was icy cold, but with all the adrenaline pumpin through my veins, I couldn't feel anything. There was even a time when I got pulled (or shoved, either one) into the water and I decided to just let the current take me alongside the raft. I was in the water for a good few minutes and felt fine, but once I got back onto the raft I felt the coldness shivver down my spine. Our little British guide, Mark, pointed out the famous Paramount Mountain (the icon in Paramount Movies) which was really cool because I never heard anything about that connection before.

So, quickly "Team Fuck Yeah!" became "Team Suck Yeah!" (thanks to Erika) since apparently we were incapable of flipping our raft, not on one..but TWO attempts. But it was still fun jumping into the water and pulling others in. After the wild rafting, the Austrians (actually I think most of the guides were British) gave us all a shot of schnapps. Ps. NASTY. Then we hung out for awhile at the lodge eating some Goulash. (click for recipe)

After, we headed to cute little Hopfgarten, where I hope to one day raise my kids. For those who live in Hollister...imagine San Juan size, but a few less stores, a better church, a ski lift, a lake, greener grass, and wayyy better houses! I absolutely LOVED this place!

We got to rest and check out Contiki's own Gasthof Schöneck. It was the only "budget" place that we stayed at..and it was actually my favorite. It had its own bar, an eating place, internet/meeting room, bikes, and even a swing. I felt more at home when I was at this place because it wasn't like a traditional hotel, it was more like camp or something.

Since there isn't much to do in the town at night...we went to the local (and possibly only bar) called the Silver Bullet, where they gave 10 beers for 20 euros, good deal. Another memorable night at the least. I won't go into too much detail, except that we played a fun little game called "Would you rather..." with things like "Would you rather have no arms or no legs." We got into some pretty intense conversations with our Kiwi friend Ryno and the very mature Marky-Mark.