Day Fourteen: Salzburg and Carinthia

Before we get going, Dave has some thoughts he wants to share, regarding wildlife in Austria:

Wildlife, as a term identifying animals in their natural habitat, is a bit of a misnomer in Austria. Whereas most of modern society goes to great lengths to keep wild animals out of areas populated by humans, Austria appears to share no such concern. Cows roam aimlessly through parking lots, mooing and with bells clanging, somehow drawing no one's interest. Horses have neither master nor domain - they are as free as any man. Sheep, agitated by incessant artillery fire, clog roadways as they travel alongside humans to the nearest McDonald's for news. I'm left wondering what an Austrian zoo would even look like.

This horses were not concerned about stopping traffic

After recovering from our canyoning adventure we woke up early on Monday morning, packed up our campsite, and drove west through the Austrian Alps to Hallstatt, a small lake-side town that gave way to gorgeous views.

Overlooking Hallstätter See in Salzburg, Austria

Dave and Sofie watch a two hang gliders over the lake

From Hallstatt we continued on to the town of Bad Aussee in the Styrian province, which is considered to be the geological midpoint of Austria. How the Austrians came to this conclusion, and which method they used to find the "geological midpoint" led to much debate within our group. We're still not totally convinced.

The main street in Bad Aussee

From there, we drove south to Turracher Höhe, an alpine ski town on the boarder of Styria and Carinthia. Sofie had brought traditional Austrian clothing with her, and we were all going to dress up and go to an Austrian festival... except, when we got there, it was raining and the festival was cancelled. Not to be perturbed, we dressed up anyway and walked around town. Dave especially enjoyed his lederhosen!

Dave and I dressed up in traditional Austrian clothing

We walked around town in our traditional clothing... and got some weird looks.

Finally, from Turracher Höhe we drove another hour south to Velden, the town where Sofie's grandparents live. Their house is just a short walk from one of the biggest lakes in Austria, Wörthersee, and has a spectacular view of the Julian Alps, which mark the border to Slovenia.

The view from Sofie's grandparents house in Velden am Wörthersee

For dinner, Sofie's grandma made us Kaiserschmarrn, which is a traditional Austrian dish. Essentially, it's a shredded pancake with cherries and icing sugar... and yes, they eat this for dinner (not dessert!) It was delicious and very filling.

Kaiserschmarrn

Sofie's grandparents have been generous enough to host us in Velden for two days. We are all enjoying some restful time in the sunny weather by the lake. But more on that tomorrow!

Cheers,
Heather