Day 20- Austria

Wednesday, May 12 (Day 20)

We woke up and went downstairs for breakfast, at the hostel, at 7:15. We ate- not a very good breakfast though. We loaded up in the coach and headed to Austria. We got here around 4 and checked into the Contiki stopover, which is just a hotel/hostel that Contiki owns. After bringing our bags up two flights of stairs, we changed and met downstairs for our bike tour. Although, we found out that we did not have a guide for the bike tour; we were simply renting a mountain bike and going exploring. Carli, Erica, and I all went on this bike tour. We rode down a local road and found some cows (all of which have cow bells!! So cool!!) and really pretty houses and fall running down the mountain. We also saw a creek running through the town over river rocks and there is a logging company right near where we are staying that was cool to see. Then we rode into town and went to a souvenir shop and a local supermarket. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a local bakery and Carli and Erica bought a pretzel which was really good.

The views and landscapes in Austria are BEAUTIFUL! This is where “The Sound of Music” was filmed and it looks exactly how it did in that movie. The town we were in was Tyrol (Tirol in German) and was surrounded by mountains covered in bright green grass. Trees populated the top of the mountains and there was a bit of snow on the very top. The fields were covered in bright yellow flowers and Erica and I, then Carli and I frolicked in the field of flowers, skipping, and spinning in circles.

We got back to the hotel and got re-dressed and did some laundry. After that we went downstairs and waited for dinner. At 6:30pm, we all had a welcome from the staff and hung out for a few minutes and went to dinner. We had turkey schnitzel, salad, potato salad, and apple strudel.

After dinner we went back upstairs to get ready for our party- themed cross-dressers! So the girls borrowed the guy’s clothes and the guys borrowed the girl’s clothes. It was hilarious getting ready for this party! I have to say, I have been to a party with the same theme before but this group of people took it to a whole new level!

Carli ended up wearing Ben’s rugby outfit and his sneakers that were way too big for her. Lisa wore Bob’s outfit that was khaki shorts with a tan plaid shirt tucked in and Sperry’s with long white tube socks. Erica wore some scruffy clothes and made some really dark 5-O’clock shadow and looked like a cross between Jesus and Luke Wilson. Paula dressed as a gangster and wore jeans with a black button down and a hat. I wore a black, golf polo shirt with a pair of khaki pants with a brown belt and Sperry’s.

We all put on make up to look like guys: made our eyebrows thicker and not neat, scruff on the face, goatees, mustaches, beards, and some drew hair on their chest and legs with an eyeliner pencil. Some of the guys came to our rooms to get made up and they got eye shadow, lip stick, a fake mole, new eyebrows, and nails painted.

We all met downstairs around 9:30pm and the party started off with a “battle of the sexes” which was confusing because they would say, “Guys to the right, girls to the left” and we didn’t know who they were referring to… the guys DRESSED as girls or the girls DRESSED as guys… haha

After the battle of the sexes, we danced around a little bit. Because of the way my make-up looked, I took on the role of the creepy guy that stands in the back and just stares at people while dancing very subtly. I was told that I never break character and I was in fact, creepy. I thought it was really funny and a ton of fun. I was tired though; we have been going for 19 days now, nonstop. After a bit, Carli and I went upstairs to shower and go to bed.