Climb Every Mountain // Austria

Okay, not going to lie, but the title of this post was definitely inspired by The Sound of Music. You'll get it if you've seen it, but how can you NOT think of it when in the Austrian mountains??

I'm really glad I married an Austrian so that I have the perfect excuse to go as often as possible. It's been a year since we were back in Austria (which makes me a little sad), so I thought a little bit of the views from last summer would cheer me (and you?) up a little bit. 

You know a hike is going to be good when it starts out with baby goats. Seriously. We did make a few animal friends along the way...

The views! I so miss this place!

Counting down the months until we get to go back to enjoy mountains, family, and friends!

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Have you ever hiked in Austria?

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Skopelos

Whenever I thought of Greece, I thought of Santorini because I wanted to see all the pretty white houses and everything that was in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It's been on my bucket list forever, and when we started planning our Greece trip, I thought I'd be able to cross it off. Well, it's still on my list because we went to Skopelos instead. But I still loved it. As long as I have water, beaches, and my honey, I'll be content. The world has many places to explore. Here are some photos from our trip!

I inherited my grandmother's motion sickness, so I'm never a fan of ferry rides. Sitting inside got me so sick that as I stumbled out into the fresh air, I thought I might tip over the railings. Alas, the fresh air did me good. See? Not everything about travel is glamourous. 

Very cool though: we saw dolphins swimming alongside the ferry. I didn't even bother taking a picture because I was enjoying it far too much. I had never seen them in the wild before.

I was still happy to see white buildings once we reached our destination and could have explored for hours more!

I mean, how cute are these window sills?!? I could have spent more hours walking through these streets!

I'm pretty certain that I photographed every cat I saw in Greece, but I'm sparing you from most of those pictures - be glad. 

I think I was most impressed by how clean Greece was in general! I definitely was not expecting that. We had a fantastic time!

Visiting Zeus on Olympus

We had the incredible experience of climbing Mount Olympus this last summer. We mostly agreed so that we could have the bragging rights, but it was so worth every sore muscle and every stone we tripped up and down. 

We started out finding some pools. It was really hot out and they looked so inviting, but as I neared the water, I saw.....A SNAKE!! If you know me, you know that I am TERRIFIED of snakes and right then and there I decided to not go into the water. By this time, it had swum away (probably because I was screaming so loud), but I was extremely paranoid. 

Eventually, the water called to me - that, and the sun was beating down quite warm on my back. I shed my garments and jumped in. I, of course, got right back out - just in case. We enjoyed a few hours jumping off edges into the pools. We did see another snake later, so I ended my swimming time. My husband did say he was really proud of me for overcoming that fear - but I had a few more fears to conquer before this adventure was over!

We continued on our way up but on our way, our car....well, we ran out of gas :) That set us back quite a bit, but help eventually came and we were off!

When we finally got started, it was getting pretty late already, but we still had some energy left. We climbed and climbed and climbed - our step count was pretty impressive.

We climbed until we got to the place we slept that night. It was really strange sleeping covered in sweat and grime from the mountain, but trying to shower in ice-cold water in the dark was not an alternative we decided to opt for. 

The sunrise the next morning was amazing though - my eyes were barely open during the whole thing, but I did manage to snap a quick photo.

And then we were off to conquer the rest of the mountain! We had no idea what was waiting for us.

It was steep and scary, and I'm (or was after this!) afraid of heights! It was about to get even steeper and scarier! By the way, I should mention that my husband is a total gentleman champ! He carried all of my stuff so I could be free of all burdens! He's the sweetest :)

See those helmets? Yeah, we needed those. 

Both arms and legs were definitely needed for this stretch. I don't think I've ever been more scared - though getting down was way worse than the ascent. J made it to the top first and was able to snap this. It was so steep...incredible! It didn't help that there were markers along the way where people were remembering those who died doing this....God is good and protected us! We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! Adventure indeed!

The views at the top were worth it, and we even found a treasure box filled with goodies people had left.

After hanging out a bit, signing the guest book and having a snack, it was time to descend the mountain. It. Was. Hard. And I wanted to give up so many times. But the thought of jumping into the ocean at the end (and a hot shower!) kept me going. 

Oh hey, I discovered my FIRST EVER sunburn on the way down! 

Would I climb Mount Olympus again? Maybe. But next time, I'll be sure to wear more sunscreen and maybe train my legs - walking, and any movement really, was painful for a few days afterward!

Meteora // Greece

Our adventure to the Meteora monasteries was probably Instagram's fault. Seeing sites on Instagram makes you want to see it in person, so that's what we determined to do. Fun fact: Meteora is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is actually under two categories: nature and art and apparently, it's the second most important site in Greece. I didn't know about it until we got there, embarrassingly enough. 

Monks went to Meteora in the 14th century because they wanted a safe place to be. The only way to access the monasteries was by rock climbing or being pulled up in a basket. There aren't as many monks there now due to tourism, but those who visit are welcomed with Greek hospitality.

We didn't want to spend much time there outside - it was so crazy hot out! It was dreadful because I do not like sweating without earning it. 

The views, however, were incredible. 

Turns out that Meteora means "suspended in the air," which I would say is a very fitting name. 

A Trip Through Some Tulips // Holland, Michigan

Every Spring, there is an amazing tulip festival in Holland, Michigan. I was cleaning up some files on my computer and came across some pictures we took on our very first trip there, and thought I'd share a few. 

Unfortunately, we were a little short on time, so we didn't get to explore to the full extent we could have, but we did make sure to watch the traditional dances!

We, of course, had to end our time by going to the State Park. Even though it was pretty chilly, we had fun. We brought a picnic basket and enjoyed the sunshine. 

Sometimes just driving a few hours or even just 30 minutes helps create that going-away feeling that we all need sometimes. And I don't know about you, but there's not much better than taking a nap on the beach...even if it is a little chilly.

Living near the lake, I feel, has truly changed our standard of living! I always wanted to live near a body of water. I'm already sad to move away, and we don't know when that will happen. For now, we will count our blessings and enjoy every second of it.