The view as we rounded the hill

Headlines for today - “Just when you think you’ve seen it all”   OR “Dave! now that’s far enough”

The start of the walking path to Walderalm

For our final day in Austria and on our way to Germany for the last few days, we looked up the small Alpine village of Gnadenwald,  Austria.  It is only an hour west of our last stay in Kramsach.

The city of Innsbruck far below

Actually we had information of a farm  “where 70 cows share their meadow with the clouds”  up there that you must walk on up to.  We found the town and only an information board for a TI so asked a young man walking his dog close by. 

Had to throw a snow ball or two

He directed us over to the map and showed us 2 ways of getting up there.  One was to walk the path up from Gnadenwald which he said would take about 2 hours or the other way was to drive up most of the way by another route as far as you can go then walk the last 20 minutes. 

We chose the  latter mainly because over here if they say it takes an hour you may as well “double it and add 30” - a little bit like conversion from miles to kilometers.

Some of the locals people enjoying the sun

We found the “road” pointing up there - a paved one laner - that twisted and turned for 6.5 km. while climbing steadily skyward.  Wouldn’t have been too bad but I had to drive on the opposite side of the road half the time so Jean wouldn’t yell at me for getting too close to the edge.  As it was,  at one point - hence the words in the headlines, we arrived at the Parkplatz  and what a view even from there and we were not even “there” yet. 

Some kind of Noodle soup - very tasty but couldn't find the noodle.

After loading our backpacks on we headed around the corner and down a bit then on up higher on the gravel trail.  Low and behold we hear a truck and soon he appears around the corner - a empty semi-tractor-trailer log-hauler on his way down. 

Many trails led up there from all directions

Could not believe it - the trail was barely wide enough for a car to navigate.  He had obviously done that before - must have made a wrong turn somewhere ’cause there was no logging that we saw.  The color of the leaves and the blue sky and the snow-capped mountains and the city of Innsbruck below were truly a breathtaking picture. 

The views were fantastic - even pics cannot do justice

Up over the last ridge and there appears a cluster of farm buildings on the high plateau like we have not seen before.  Carlos would say “Oh my laws”.  Again I say “truly a picture to behold”  

A para-glide jump off ramp

At the main farm house they were serving coffee but it was their good soup that was recommended to us.  Jean ordered Speckknoebelssuppe mit 2 knoedel  and  Dave ordered Nudelsuppe mit Wuerstel.  We split them half and half to try each - very tasty.  There was a constant stream of serious hikers coming and going from every part of that alp.  Many were drying their clothes in the warm sun on the shrubs and bushes.  Obviously they had taken the other route up there.  We sat and marveled at the views from up there - truly we are blessed to be able to be here at our age and stage.
The Germans have a greeting that applies “Gruss Gott” = “God is good”

"Gruss Gott"

Crazy Cannucks - biking at 4 degrees C = 39 F

Mostly Jean writing today:

Another beautiful day today, we are so blessed.  The Tyrol area of Austria is one that we had not visited on previous trips to Europe, and we were wanting to be in and see the area instead of just passing though. 

Some  straight stretches

 One of the things Jean wanted to do was bike along the Achensee.  We had seen pictures of it and did a bit of researching it on the internet before coming, so today was the perfect day to do that.
We headed out about 9:30 with the temperature in the car reading 4c.  Us Crazy 

Bike path alongside the tunnel through the mountain

Canucks heading further into the alps to bike when the temperature was that low!!!  But we decided to do it and are so glad we did.  We set Gertie for Pertisau as we knew it was “up there” and she would eventually get us there.

Some views with snow capped mountais

Once we arrived at Maurach we realized Pertisau was on the side we did not want to bike along, so we found a spot at Maruach, paid $3.00 Euros to park until 2:00pm, unloaded the bikes and started out.  

Paved pathway around the east side of the lake

 The first pathway was level and that was good.  Soon we encountered a hill, then a dip, then more hills and more dips, but we persevered.  We biked on the right side of Achensee from one end to the other, starting at Maurach and ending in the village of Achenkirch, that was a 21km bike hike for us today.  The lake is very green looking at times and then it changes to a blueish colour.

The highway above

At one point there was a tunnel for traffic to travel under the edge of the alp, but the bike path was along the outside of the tunnel–when we looked to our left we saw the Achensee very close and way down there!!!  Biking there was up hills and down, but biking back was up hills and down and lots and lots of wind.  At times Dave had to hold onto his hat.  So, that made the biking back much harder.  It was a very nice bike hike and now I can cross that off my “bucket list”.
Back to the apartment to rest and nap and then we tried the latest craze here in Europe, e-biking. 

Emerald green/blue water

The apartment where we are staying has 2 for use, so we borrowed them.  We rode around the yard a bit to get the hang of them and then we were off, through Kramasch, over the Inn River, under the autobahn, and to Rattenberg.  

The terrain is ideal for hikers and bikers

We were trying to find a very nice bike path that Leo had told us about.  But we don’t think we found that path, but we did find one that took us through the village of Renfrew and out into the pasture land.  No cars, so that was a good way to get used to the bikes.  Well, I am sold on the e-bike, wonder what the price tag is?  And, you still get exercise biking!!! 

Coffee time

Once your foot hits a peddle, you are off so be prepared.  Yes, you still need to peddle them but it’s sorta like a self-propelled lawn mower, you peddle and the bike does the rest.  We wanted to “try them out” so Dave had his in 

Several small churches along the way

  8th gear doing 30kms/hr. 

 I was a bit more cautious and topped 7th gear doing 20kms/hr.  Over here they are the thing to have I can see as there is a power button to push when going up the steep hills.  The battery lasts about 5 hours and after it says no more battery, you still have 5 km.

Our new bikes - we wish - borrowed e-bikes - man are they easier

Sailboat slips abandoned for winter

Snow overnight

Museum of Tyrolean Farmsteads - Kramsach

When we opened the window blinds this morning we could see snow on the upper half of the mountains around us. 

Complete with flowers

It had been forecast but guess with all the rain the last 2 days we didn't really believe them.

A bake oven similar to ours at home as I bemember

With old farmsteads disappearing from the Tyrolean countryside, the locals here felt a real need to preserve the different styles of farm buildings that are characteristic of the region of Tyrol. 

An old Tyrolean house barn Combo

Alpine Mountain summer homes

Starting in 1974 they began to collect and rebuild 14 of these farmsteads complete with outbuildings and fittings.  It is a natural Tyrolean geographical setting with hill and valley dwellings as they would have existed and still do exist today.

Wooden cow stalls so much like ours at home

Some are composite farmsteads with house and barn connected.  Others are typical of the mountain huts used in the higher alps during summer pasture time. 

Kitchen with chimney upper left

Took lots of pictures as is my downfall but it just brought back so many memories of my growing up in our big log house and on the farm with all the related activities. So many of the old machinery, tools and equipment of house and farm life - have been there done that and I'm hardly sixty.

Flour mill powered by water

Seems like a lifetime ago in some ways. 

So typical of the area even today

It was a huge undertaking to disassemble and reassemble all those buildings - some of the numbered parts were still visible.  And such a natural setting complete with a working log run and saw mill powered by water from up higher.

Curved stairway like the old log house at home

A very enjoyable morning and highly recommended.
With the weather cooperating so well we decided to do the cog wheel train run from Jenbach, Auistria up to Seespitz a little town on the south end of the Achensee. 

No bridge at home but a nice pic

Waiting for my ride - never came

It is one coal fired steam engine with one old wooden car that held about 20 people.  We caught the last run of the day at 3pm so had a little time to put in at the bahnhof station in Jenbach. Just time to enjoy a coffee and sit on the station platform and watch the trains whiz by, some stopping for passengers but most breezing right on thru - would guess there was one train a minute on the 4 tracks out front.  Something not seen in Canada or USA - whole transport trucks on flatbeds as well as many containers and separate electric passenger trains - the latter were the speeders mostly.  Another thing not seen here is graffiti on the train cars - mostly clean and well painted.

The little steam engine that could with 180 HP

The ride up to Achensee was very enjoyable as we climbed steeply from the station platform and up through villages and into the Wald with old mature pine trees and the occasional glimpses of white mountain peaks above the treeline.

Our front seat ride

Soon we leveled out as we approached the station at Seespitz.  There was a wait of 15 minutes and we were back on the train for the trip back down to Jenbach.  By now it was after 4pm and the sun had gone behind the mountain so it was rather cold until we got down into sunny territory. 

Soon out of town and up into the Wald

Cold as well since we chose to ride outside on the rear  seats of the train car much like a caboose used to have - climbed up the steps sat down on the bench and the railing held you in.

The engine coming to get us

Thank you Lord for the rains but really thank you for the sunshine today - you painted the mountains with snow very well last night.

SNOW in the forecast

A major weather change today has caused these travelers to shut down for a bit.
Will just insert some pictures of the area not used previously.

The building looked like the toll gate at the entrance to the town of Alpbach

There is SNOW forecast for today Monday and Tuesday and it sure feels and looks like it will happen.

A farm house in town decorated with typical flowers

It started out this morning as heavy rain but the webcam for the ski hill here shows snow up there so it is likely on its way. Right now it is a cold drizzling rain.  We went out driving this morning to get some moola at the bank and kept on driving a bit.  Found a 4-storey mall so parked underground and spent an hour or more in there. 

Father and 2 daughters on their way to celebration

When we came back out around noon it was still raining so we decided to head for home for lunch.

Not much excitement here in Kramsach, Austria then today.

We are saving several museums for tomorrow and have reserved their e-bikes for Wednesday our last day here. 

A family in Austrian dress

We did walk out of town on the farmers back lane that curves around to the river but it was cold and winded and so were we.

Elderly gent tidying up the walkway at the castle - reminded me of my Grandpa Heise picking up apples at home on the farm.

Hallstatt, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Hallstatt, Austria

Hallstatt, Austria

Day trip to Hallstatt and Salzburg

Jean and Dave:
Today we are blessed with another very nice day when it was not supposed to be that way.  THANK YOU LORD!!! 

The cliff side village of Hallstatt, Austria

We had decided yesterday to head to Hallstatt and Salzburg today so at 9:00am we started out.  Of course on the autobahn.  We set Gertie to Hallstatt and 2 ½ hours later, we were there. 

Hallstatt, Austria

Stopped for a bathroom break at one of the rest stops and stopped another time to see what a bus and lots of cars and people were looking at around Golling. 

Hallstatt, Austria

Turns out it was some type of a gorge and the bus load of people sorta deterred us from going into it, plus, we wanted to save our going down and coming up for Hallstatt. 

Hallstatt, Austria

In 2010 we visited Hallstatt but really didn’t see much as it was a very very crowded touristy village that day and so very hot as well.

Back alleys and steps

We ate some of our lunch in the car en route to Hallstatt and the rest when we got to the parking lot.  Then headed down to the main street of Hallstatt. 

The Protestant Church from on high

When we entered Hallstatt we saw men and women dressed in period costume walking back a side street–in a procession - some had guns. 

Many steps to climb

On the way from the parking lot to downtown we heard guns – not sure what that was all about but it must have been some type of reenactment–and we missed it!!! 

Back alleys

Dave has always thought he might like to go up by cog rail and down into the salt mines and we had decided we would do that today. 

The end of the road

However, we decided to walk through the lovely town first, get some great pictures while the sun was still shining and then do the salt mine trip at the end. 

Proof we were there

Bad decision because we didn’t have time to do that salt mine trip.  It was fun walking to the top of the 4 levels of homes in this village.  From the bottom level it looks like the houses are completely on top of each other.  Very nice to see this and we enjoyed Hallstatt with the old wooden homes some natural and some painted pastel colors.  There were many steps to climb and alleyways to explore there on the side of the cliff.  There were still lots of tourists but not so many on the back alleys and stairs. 

Along the Salzach River, Hallstatt Austria

Then off about 2:00 for Salzburg, which Gertie said would be an hour’s drive.  Dave was concerned about heading into Salzburg from the north end as she was taking us - it brought back memories of 2010 a few times trying to get in through the Zentrum. 

Is that Jean trying her hand at graffiti work

So after passing Stobl, St. Wolfgang and St. Gilgens, we stopped and tried to type in McDonalds–well there were a lot of them, so that didn’t work.  Next we typed in Hellbrunn as we remembered we biked there while at Marietta’s in 2010 and it was nice and we found the same street to the Salzach River as we had used before - a good place to unload bikes.
 It was good to ride along and view the sites - just for old times sake!!!  It was busy as ever with families walking, bikers like us and people pushing wheel chairs and strollers.

Along the Salzach River

We enjoyed that little excursion today, about 1 ½ hours and then back to the car

The Hohensalzburg Castle along the river

and a quick stop at the McDonalds drive-through for coffee to go.  Back on the autobahn and Gertie said we should be home by 7:07pm–that was about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive.  However, she did not tell us about a traffic jam down the road and that wasted about 30 minutes at least.  It was therefore 7:30pm when we got home and Dave was tired driving.  It was a good Sunday drive and we should sleep well tonight.