Up, up, up

 Day 15: Arriach to Ossiach

Hours walked: 8:15 - 1:15

Kilometres walked: 12.7

Quote of the day: “I’m the special one! I’ll never be done! I’m the one that’s fun, I’m the special one!” - Tova’s song (Frozen fanfic)

Jesuses seen: 3 

It was a little easier to get the kids out of bed this morning because it turns out they really like when hotels have breakfast. Nonetheless, we were all a little tired and sore as we started our day of uphill walking. Our plan for the day was to make it to the top of Gerlitzen Alpe; I’d spent hours for looking for accommodation there, and in the end the only one I could find broke the budget threefold. We mulled over this Alpe Adriatic conundrum for a long time, moving from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C and so on. In the end, we struggled to even find accommodations in other towns as we were moving into a long weekend. Given the price point we had to adjust the trail to allow us to spans the night indoors. The children were very happy with the new plan which involved hiking up the alp, taking two cable cars down, and taking a boat to Ossiach. All this to say that most of our day involved walking up a mountain. 

The monotony was broken up by a team of roadkill (mole and toad, so Wind in the Willows) and Jakob’s stories. We are a fortunate family that we have Jakob who has the ability to tell stories without pause while walking up a steep hill. While the first kilometres were on a gradually climbing forest road with heaps of logs stacked on the verge, later in the morning we joined a trail meandering through gorgeous, dewy emerald-green woods with birds chirping all around us. 

We had a quick bite of lunch at yet another stone table - we’re not sure what the significance of stone tables are but they seem to be a key element in mountain trails and are listed in all the trail maps. Realising we might be in time for the early boat to Ossiach - which would mean arriving in time for the girls to try the treetop net playground, we powered up the mountain at record speed. With more complaints than usual - it really was a constant uphill all day, and very steep for the last hour or two. 

But the girls had a grand time taking the ski lift and cable car down - and Jakob gratefully forewent the descent, since downhill is pretty hard on his back. We played cards and enjoyed the view on the boat, staying well downwind of other passengers. Ossiach turned out to be absolutely charming: it has a music school / Benedictine Abbey by the waterfront, stunning views of the mountains and lake, a nice playground and lots of convivial beer gardens. We did a much-needed load of laundry, the girls spent an hour and a half running back and forth in the treetop playground (where do they get the energy?!) and opted for the economical-yet-popular pasta with fresh mozzarella and passata for dinner. Tamar and Jakob snuck in a romantic visit to the graveyard at nightfall, and now the day is done.