The Austrian Alps, in all of their glory, proved to be one of my favorite 
stops on this trip, but then again I might be a little biased because I am a mountain girl after all. We stayed in the posh Euro Youth Hostel in Bad Gastein, Austria home to the healing thermal waters, Felsentherme (more about this later). I felt at home nestled in the magnificence of the Alps, the waterfalls, the ski lift, the wildflowers, the afternoon alpenglow resting softly upon the mountain peaks. Plus, there were two significant experiences that made this memorable; canyoning and the naked sauna.
We signed up for a canyoning trip where you dive into waterfalls, slide down rocks, swim through rapids, and jump off 30 feet (10 meters) cliffs. Little did we know just how extreme it was...6 C degree (42 F) crystal blue (and COLD) mountain water! Did I mention it was COLD?! I suppose that is why they had us squeeze into 2 wet-suits, a wet jacket,
one thermal
jacket, and a life jacket. After struggling to get into these tight, cold and wet thermal clothing, they drove us up to the canyon and we hiked (like penguins) 15 minutes into a beautiful canyon. As we arrived at the point of where we were to be submerged into the canyon our guide, a german speaker, had a real look of concern...the universal look of concern. He finally announced, "We cannot go today, the water is too high and dangerous!" Ahhhhh, so, we hiked a bit more and stripped out of the smelly wetsuits. But, after seeing the canyon, we had to go back! The next day we decided to catch the later train and try again. This time it was a success 
and quite an AMAZING and adrenalin-filled experience.
The other experience...a NAKED sauna! On the penthouse floor of the thermal baths, there was a myriad of saunas (wet, dry, different temps). After my semester in Finland I have come to love saunas, so I decided to "bare it all" and take off the bikini (mandatory n
akedness) to experience the European philosophy of a naked body. Back 
in the U.S. a naked body has come to represent sex, therefore you can understand my discomfort in parading around a bunch of strangers completely naked. But, in Europe a naked body is natural, beautiful, and no judgements are made on the amount of meat or lack of meat that is presented (you can interpret that however you would like...) Needless to say, I enjoyed it so much that I went back the next day and dragged my innocent little cousin along. She can comment on how much she did NOT enjoy it.
stops on this trip, but then again I might be a little biased because I am a mountain girl after all. We stayed in the posh Euro Youth Hostel in Bad Gastein, Austria home to the healing thermal waters, Felsentherme (more about this later). I felt at home nestled in the magnificence of the Alps, the waterfalls, the ski lift, the wildflowers, the afternoon alpenglow resting softly upon the mountain peaks. Plus, there were two significant experiences that made this memorable; canyoning and the naked sauna.We signed up for a canyoning trip where you dive into waterfalls, slide down rocks, swim through rapids, and jump off 30 feet (10 meters) cliffs. Little did we know just how extreme it was...6 C degree (42 F) crystal blue (and COLD) mountain water! Did I mention it was COLD?! I suppose that is why they had us squeeze into 2 wet-suits, a wet jacket,
one thermal
jacket, and a life jacket. After struggling to get into these tight, cold and wet thermal clothing, they drove us up to the canyon and we hiked (like penguins) 15 minutes into a beautiful canyon. As we arrived at the point of where we were to be submerged into the canyon our guide, a german speaker, had a real look of concern...the universal look of concern. He finally announced, "We cannot go today, the water is too high and dangerous!" Ahhhhh, so, we hiked a bit more and stripped out of the smelly wetsuits. But, after seeing the canyon, we had to go back! The next day we decided to catch the later train and try again. This time it was a success 
and quite an AMAZING and adrenalin-filled experience.The other experience...a NAKED sauna! On the penthouse floor of the thermal baths, there was a myriad of saunas (wet, dry, different temps). After my semester in Finland I have come to love saunas, so I decided to "bare it all" and take off the bikini (mandatory n
akedness) to experience the European philosophy of a naked body. Back 
in the U.S. a naked body has come to represent sex, therefore you can understand my discomfort in parading around a bunch of strangers completely naked. But, in Europe a naked body is natural, beautiful, and no judgements are made on the amount of meat or lack of meat that is presented (you can interpret that however you would like...) Needless to say, I enjoyed it so much that I went back the next day and dragged my innocent little cousin along. She can comment on how much she did NOT enjoy it. 
