Day Sixteen: Velden

Today was our last day in Velden with Sofie's grandparents.

We woke up early and enjoyed breakfast together. Sofie's grandpa made us polenta, which is boiled cornmeal fried to give it a crispy texture. For taste, they sprinkle it with sugar. Dishes like this were popular during the Second World War, when there were less rations to go around, and people had to come up with creative ways to cook meals that were filling, but also satisfying.

Fried polenta for breakfast

After breakfast Sofie and Dave went for a drive. Dave was keen to learn how to drive standard when we came to Europe, and Sofie was trusting enough to let Dave have a go with her car. He claims he only stalled twice going in and out of the small parking lot, but from where I sat perched nearby it seemed like a lot more than that.

Dave ready to give driving stick a go!

Dave very focused as he stalled the car

The driving lesson being a moderate success (I'm sure round two will happen later) we got on with the day. We drove twenty minutes away to a medieval castle that's been converted into a pseudo-animal sanctuary and research centre, where they offer guided tours for a small fee.

The view from the walk up to the castle

We waited about 30 minutes to enter the Japanese Macaque exhibit as part of a guided tour. The Japanese Macaque is a type of snow monkey native to Japan. What was cool about this exhibit is that they let the monkeys roam free, amongst the people. We were warned before we entered the fenced area not to make intense eye contact with a monkey if it approached us, as it might take that as a sign of aggression, and before you know it, we're fighting the whole clan.

It's fair to say this advice put us a bit on edge.

This macaque was just chillin'

No signs of aggression here!

At this facility, the researchers run optional experiments with the monkeys. This means, they set up equipment, games, and puzzles, to study the monkeys' intelligence, but they don't force the monkeys to undergo any testing. Instead, it's more of an "opt in if you want treats" arrangement, which is more humane.

A female completing the plenko board puzzle

They demonstrated one of these puzzles with us, by putting an apple in—what looked essentially like a plenko board—and one of the female monkeys was able to move a series of levers to move the apple through the maze and down to the ground where she retrieved it. Interestingly, the tour guide said more than half of the female monkeys had figured this out, while NONE of the male monkeys could do it. Something about not wanting to work for their food...

It was very cool to be able to interact with the monkeys up close and personal—a totally different experience from seeing them in a zoo!

After saying good bye to our new monkey friends, we enjoyed lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant where Dave ordered yet another pizza. He rated it an 8/10, so apparently it was pretty good!

Dave's 8/10 pizza

I had this yummy pasta for lunch

After lunch we went back to Sofie's grandparents to pack up our stuff. Just before dinnertime we said goodbye to Velden, and began the three hour drive to Vienna, the last stop on our tour of Austria.

Fair warning folks, there will be no blog post tomorrow as it's my birthday (yay!) and I'm disconnecting from the Internet for the day. However, I'm sure there will be lots of updates on Friday. Also, I'm encouraging Dave to do a guest blog post tomorrow to fill the void, so maybe that will happen.

Until then,
Heather