the hills are alive!

[edit: thank you for all your prayers/happy thoughts for my safety during my travels! the trip wouldn't have been so perfect without them!] going solo to austria and switzerland might be one of the best decisions i've ever made in my life. and i'm predicting it will remain as a climax in my life for a long time. how to go about explaining how great it was? i wish i knew. each day i kept thinking "there can't be a better view than this," or "it can't get more beautiful than this," but everyday and every step just got better and better! and now i've returned, more in awe of the world, more in love with creation (including the people who live in it), and more at ease with myself. i went with high hopes, expectations, and questions. i came back with more satisfaction, answers, and peace than i thought i would ever experience. this is the advantage of travelling alone--it would have been much different had i gone with a friend. i would still have come back happy, but it would have been a different kind of happy.

 scene from my hike in the Alps

(by the way, i suggest you click on the

pictures with mountains for a better,

larger view. they're so great...)

i don't want to sound tacky/sappy/corny but have you ever felt your heart smile? or have you ever experienced that airy/open/wide feeling in your chest? or a silent sigh in your brain? i'm not sure how aware i was of these feelings until i saw soft clouds mixing with cold, distant mountains, and glacial water flowing from wherever the heck a river begins. what was more exciting was looking at other people looking at what i was looking at. haha! the best part about being in scenic environments is that there's always enough beauty around for everybody's eyeballs to feast upon.

there's no way i can summarize my trip--i hope you understand. but here are some snippets! i'll narrow it down to a few pictures from each city. the rest you can see on facebook (when i get around to uploading my photos!)

Salzburg

 salzburg

did i do the Sound of Music Tour? of course, i did! how could i resist?? and yes, the hills were very much alive with the sound of music :) the tour was so cuuuutee--we sang all the songs on the bus ride to various locations in the countryside, and i learned a lot of fun facts about the film. below are a few pictures from some memorable scenes.

 last scene in Do-Re-Mi

 the Captain's backyard

this is one of my favorite pictures from my trip. i stumbled upon this while roaming about Salzburg. what an epic moment! huge fortress on top of a mountain (which i climbed to see), and a huge chess game below. 

Vienna

sadly, i was in Vienna for only 11 hours. but my backpack and i got around to see a lot. i didn't expect Vienna to be so beautiful and so big! i was upset that i only planned to stay for less than a day.

 Schobrunn Palace and the city of Vienna behind

i think the pointy building is Rathause... 

i love the old man with his hands behind his back :)

 i came across upon this building...not sure

what it is but it looks important!

taking the overnight train was definitely one of my favorite parts on the trip. SO COOL!! if you ever go backpacking in Europe, you must consider one night in an overnight train. get the top bunk of the train cabin. you have to be very creative with how you squeeze everyone and their luggage in the small, tight cabin. and there's nothing better than being woken up by someone knocking on your door, opening it to find a man speaking german, serving you tea and a croissant for breakfast, but being distracted by the amazing Alps looming outside the window!

Lucerne

wow. WOW. WOW

let's just say, i love switzerland. and i am determined to go back, despite how expensive it is.

on my very last day, i climbed Mt. Rigi. it was pretty badass. it was a lot more difficult than i imagined. but so AMAZING! i don't know how many times i stopped because i couldn't get over how awesome it was. for some reason i found myself taking very deep breaths...as if i could breath in the scenery...which is silly. but trying to see everything you possibly can in the Alps is an immensely vast task. 

the very top of Mt. Rigi

(those are mountains in the back! click click!)

there are many different ways to get to the top of Mt. Rigi (by train, by cable car), but i chose to hike it...i rode the cable car that took me half way up the mountain where the hiking trails began. it took me 2.5 hours to get all the way to the top!! 

view as i headed down the mountain...

then i hiked down for another 3 hours on the other side to see a little town in the middle of the mountains. there, i found a gem in the middle of the nowhere: a small chapel with a dinky/plain exterior, but an absolutely dazzling interior!

and then i took a train from the town to go back to the top of the mountain again, just because i could. (and because i paid a shit ton of money for my day pass on the mountain...)

throughout my hours hiking, i stopped quite often to enjoy the view on a bench, and read some scripture. what a different take on the book of Job! especially Job 28. the imagery in that chapter left me in a daze that day. check it out. imagine reading that on a mountain with the view of the Alps...powerful. and the last verse is just perfect.

on my boat ride back to lucerne in the evening, i made some new friends. we had a great time trying to communicate with a mixture of english, french, german, and spanish. hahaha!

Zurich (for two hours before my flight home)

beautiful.

and delicious.

 fondue

last thoughts (thank you so much if you actually read everything thus far!): first, i'm very thankful that my parents--despite how upset they were with me when i told them i was going on this trip after i bought everything--were willing to let me do this! second, when i think back on the trip, there were so many moments that could have gone very wrong. but each time, God gave me courage to make some very firm decisions. one of the new friends i made (the boy on the left in the group picture above) told me i was very bold to be travelling alone, without my phone and laptop. i felt bold. and i'm very proud of each adventure i had. now i just need to translate my newly discovered boldness into my daily lifestyle. lastly, i leave you with a famous verse by Babcock:

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

His hand the wonders wrought