Finding Love in Nature
I added Gosau on my to-visit list back in 2018 when I was travelling in Austria with my summer ticket and stayed in Graz. My couchsurfing host had a profile picture with a view from there (path along the lake) and I thought it’s something I’d want to see in real, too. That trip was already thoroughly planned and left me no space for being spontaneous. I decided to come back next summer and try my luck, but it wasn’t meant to happen. Increased workload left me without a summer vacation and I had to push my plans to 2020. Since 2014, the summer of 2019 became my first time when I didn’t visit Austria in summer (back then I was living in Russia) and it made me genuinely sad until I applied for a tourist visa in March 2020. Needless to say what happened next and soon enough I got my passport returned with a letter from the embassy saying no visas are being issued until further notice.
Two summers without Austria were something I refused to think of and I knew I had to find a way. Travels were not possible but who said it’s the only option. I became a student of Uni Salzburg and moved to Austria on 10/10/2020. This was a surprising move for everyone around me, but first of all for myself. Now I am happier than ever to live in a place where I could only make vacations a few years ago and keep noticing the signs of love that flows both ways (like that huge green heart in the middle of the mountain) in the most unexpected and amazing places.
Pictures and story by Valeriia Polozova
Location of the pictures: Gosau lake trail (Vorderer Gosausee)
