Day #17 - Venice to Steyr, Austria

---

Day #17 - Venice to Steyr, Austria

We left Venice today with some heavy hearts as we loved the city so much. However, we were also filled with anticipation to meet up with a very dear friend that I met when I did the Camino de Santiago in Spain 2 years ago. In addition to meeting my friend Walter, I was also going to have the honour of meeting his wife and 2 young boys, I was both very nervous and very excited.

We have been going in an out of the Alps for several days during our trip but today our drive would take us from the south side of the alps right through to the north side of them. It turned out to be a beautiful drive. The Alps are so much different that I am used to with the Rocky Mountains. First, I believe they are taller than the Rocky Mountains which is impressive. Second, there are much more mountains, or more compact, than the Rockies, so they have a very much different feel to them. There are all sorts of alpine villages that you associate with Austria and the are simply splendid. I love the Rockies but I also have found that I love the Alps as well. Mountains are beautiful and these mountains are especially beautiful. The drive was long, about 6 hours, but it did not seem nearly that long when you have the scenery we did along the way. The only uncomfortable part of the day was the very long mountain tunnels that dig their way under trillions of pounds of Alps. Some of these tunnel were 7 kms long and at times very narrow. The engineering is impressive but I think I would prefer not to find my way under a giant mountain 😊

Walter and I had a very enjoyable and delicious meal together tonight. Sydney was nice enough to keep herself busy in the hotel room while Walter and I caught up on old Camino memories. We talked about old friends and memorable experiences, many of which that had slipped my mind. It was so good to see him again.

The town of Steyr is a wonderful little town of about 40,000 people where Walter lives. We have a hotel in the main square of town which looks very much like the typical Austria village you would see in old paintings. It is a beautiful a peaceful town. I will tell you more about the town tomorrow when Walter gives us the grand tour.

---