This fall a few days were spent deep in the Austrian Alps in the ski-town of Bad Gastein.
Bad Gastein is a well renowned winter sports destination but during the off-season the lively town almost turns into a ghost town.
We explored the mostly empty streets. It was a different experience than last time I was here for 1,5 month in the middle of the ski season where the town was filled with people. Now, beautiful old hotels were abandoned. Some for good and others just for the off-season. It felt like walking around a Wes Anderson movie set.
It was fascinating (and a little creepy) to walk around among closed shops and empty buildings.
However, it was not only the town that was fascinating. The mountains made up a beautiful background and naturally we had to get out and explore them!
So, we went on a hike from Sport Gastein and back to Bad Gastein. The trail led us over the mountains towards Stubnerkogel.
Up high we were greeted by snow. A little unexpected and a little sketchy on some parts of the trail where there was a bit of exposure (a nice version of saying that you would probably die if you took a fall).
After trudging through the snow and a long descent back down to Bad Gastein on the ski slopes we were back at the Hotel, tired.
