Feeling a little stressed out? Need to get away from it all? Want to know of a quiet, restful vacation alternative to a beach or a cruise with fantastic scenery? One place I would recommend is Auland, Austria.
You say you’ve never heard of Auland, Austria? Neither had I. It was during a 1984 European tour when the tour company we used chose to have us spend the night in the tiny village of Auland instead of in Innsbruck. There isn’t much to do in Auland, but the scenery is amazing. If you love mountains, that is. Auland is completely surrounded by them. I was there in May, but the mountain tops were still covered with snow. In fact, much of “The Sound of Music” was filmed near there.
The architecture of most of the homes and the two small hotels was exactly like the chalets in Switzerland. From one end of town to the other is only the equivalent of a couple of blocks and a less-than-five-minute walk. In addition to the two tiny hotels, they have one general store, two churches (one Catholic, one Protestant), and a disco.
The disco movement remained strong in Europe long after it died down here in the States. The hotel lounge television seemed to be permanently turned to an Austrian equivalent of MTV. A hotel employee, who strongly resembled Rick Springfield, but spoke only German, pointed to the TV screen (which was showing the “Beat It” video at the time, smiled and said, “Michael Jackson.” I smiled in return. “Ja,” I replied, thus establishing that we both knew who Michael Jackson was and exhausting a large portion of my German vocabulary. I turned to my Mom, who had learned German at university, but she shrugged her shoulders. It seemed she had promptly forgotten all German upon graduation.
After dinner, which was the one disappointment — I had hoped for something very Austrian, like wienerschnitzel, and had been served fish and green beans instead — we went for a walk (the Rick Springfield look-alike very gallantly helped me on with my jacket, at which time I used another large chunk of my German vocabulary by responding with “danke”). Quickly completing the one-end-of-town-to-the-other circuit, our next option was up or down the side of the mountain. We chose up. Being basically a lazy person, I figured I would rather come down when it was time to head for shelter.
Walking along a dirt road, we came across a small stone bridge spanning a rippling stream. Standing on the bridge, we looked down into the valley below where the stream chased itself over rocks and around boulders, sometimes cascading briefly into a small waterfall.
A rough log railing ran the length of the bridge and gravel had been strewn upon the stone beneath our feet. The air smelled crisp, clean and fresh; the view was spectacular; the only sound was the rushing water. I breathed deeply, content that this was a little piece of heaven-on-earth.
When we turned to go, we found ourselves face to face with a very large and not altogether friendly cow. She had managed to sneak up on us because the sound of the water had drowned out the jingling of the bell around her neck. She looked at us; we looked at her; she spoke first. “Moo-o-o-ve,” she said and we did, although I did think she could have been more polite about it, seeing that we were out-of-town guests and all. I suppose, however, that it was her bridge.
We returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening sitting on the balcony outside of our room, staring at the mountains and at a small bottle of peppermint schnapps (one sip had been enough for us each). This was our only night in Auland and we never did get to Innsbruck. We had been invited to a yodel-and-polka fest in Innsbruck that night, but had turned it down to get in some relaxation time.
When it was time for bed, we went to sleep with the faint strains of that old chestnut “Disco Inferno” wafting up from the disco about a quarter of a mile down the side of the mountain.
If you were to opt for Auland and find that the peace and quiet is too much for you after a few days, you could always to into Innsbruck for some excitement. They have everything a city has to offer, including restaurants, movie theatres (American films dubbed in German), nightclubs, shopping, etcetera. However, Auland is a great place to rest, read, write that important novel, or simply stare at the mountains and contemplate the meaning of life.
Since returning home, whenever I start to feel somewhat overwhelmed by life, I’ll often meditate on that place and find myself transported back to the stone bridge with the rippling stream in Auland, Austria — minus the cow, of course.
