What better to get to know your co-workers than by traveling with them?
On Saturday morning (Oct. 17th), I stepped aboard a charter bus that was parked near the business school in Rohrbach. Ready there and waiting were several of the teachers I would be spending time with over the weekend: Walter, the proud Austrian; Klaus, my contact teacher/supervisor; Ingrid and Isabelle, the two English teachers (who always enjoy speaking English with me); Beate and Wolfgang, the German teachers who I like hanging with (figures, eh?); and Katherina, the lively and socialable blonde.
We departed from Rohrbach on a rainy Saturday morning for what would be a 4-hour bus ride into the province of Styria. Although scenic, the route was at times nausiating as we were driven around tight bends and through dark tunnels. After driving south from the lowlands, we reached the more mountainous region of Upper Austria, which borders with Styria.
Me and the teachers taking a coffee break from the bus ride.We found our accommodation in Schladming at the Posthotel, which turned out to be a great place to stay. The interior was traditional Austrian, with antique-furniture in the lobby and dining room, yet very modern bed rooms and bathrooms. The staff added a unique touch to the place by setting out bowls filled with fresh apples in every room. After unpacking and settling our things, the teachers and I gathered again in the lobby to plan out what to do with our afternoon. The decision: A hike up the nearby Planei mountainside; but, to make it less strenuous, we used the bus to get us up past the snow line (the point in elevation where snow begins sticking).
After riding our bus up the mountain for 30 min, we found a place to begin the hike. The trail we chose was ca. 400 meters up the Planai mountain range, which was covered at the time with about 4-5 inches of snow from the previous days. Hiking up a snow-covered mountain in Styria is very scenic and idyllic, especially if you are from a flatter, and, um, less exciting part of the US (Great Plains, for instance). After 1 1/2 hrs. we reached an alpine pasture, called an "Alm" in German, and, being a very Austrian/European/fun group, we found an "Almhütte," or hiker's lodge, and went in for some beer and schnaps. While we were enjoying ourselves, guests at a nearby table began performing a few folk tunes on accordion and banjo. My teachers wanted to have some fun with me, so they ordered me a little schnaps.
The high-point of the 2-day trip was our visit to the
Hallstat salt mine. The village of Hallstat is very small, with under 1,000 inhabitants, but it's history is rich in economic success. Since the 1300s it had been a trading-hub for salt, which is still mined out in the Salzkammergut region in which the village is situated. Today, a main attraction in town is the legendary "Salzwerk," or salt mine in a nearby mountain. As a group, we took a mountain train similar to an incline (very similar to the mountain incline in Pittsburgh) to quickly ascend 1000 ft. uphill. We entered a large facility at the summit, where we dressed ourselves in protective clothing and headed with a tour guide into the mine. Before we could see any of the inner caverns, we had to first walk through the lengthy tunnels in the mountain, and this distance under the earth meant temperatures were very neutral and the air was humid. After more than an hour of touring the inner caves, tunnels, and caverns, and learned numerous facts about the mine's successful past, we exited via a tunnel train (
check out my footage).
After touring the mine: Isabelle, Me, and Ingrid
Having finished the trip in Hallstat, we headed back to Rohrbach in the bus. Altogether, it was a great trip with the teachers. I learned to know them better, and I even picked up a few words of the Mühlviertlerisch-dialect here and there. Now it's time to give my co-workers at the technical school a try and getting to know me... ; )
Photos!
-Stephen
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