Day 9 Gmunden to Fuschl

Travel: Reality Check Edition 🤪

Travel blogs often make it look like every moment is a postcard— photos from sun-dappled cafés, effortless adventures, romantic sunsets, and unexpected gems. And sometimes, it really is like that. This morning, for instance, we walked out to the Lake Castle Ort and explored this tiny idyllic island (see all the pictures—maybe future paintings?!?) Then we wandered into town for breakfast and stumbled onto an antique market. Those of you who know us, know that this is one of our absolute favorite things! And we walked away with a charming lake print that will forever remind us of this Austrian lake adventure—definitely a travel gem!

But here’s the other side of the suitcase (all of which occurred today):
   •   Wrestling with the Skoda’s technology to display Google maps on the large screen on the dashboard.
   •   Remembering to turn off “lane assist” every time we restart the car —this feature seems determined drive us insane (pun intended!)
   •   Struggling to ask for two spoons (in German) to eat the yogurts we bought for lunch at a supermarket (Paul was using both phones to try to get the car navigation to work so Sarah was without Google translate in the supermarket.)
   •   Arriving in Hallstatt to find hoards and every parking lot full with long queues… think Disney World over Easter break😩 . We looked at each other and just shook our heads. (We had skipped this famous spot back in 2006 when we were in Salzburg with the boys due to time constraints and had been really looking forward to it.)

So the truth is, travel isn’t all roses. Sometimes it’s roses mixed with a tangle of thorns. But that’s what makes the stories worth telling later and we had no complaints after arriving in Fuschl—the opposite in fact. Our base for the next week is definitely coming up roses! (Walks, swimming, gourmet food, and other nearby lakes to explore.)Read more