Last day and home

We had a wonderful last day: our friends from Munich picked us up, took us to Chiemsee for a walk, lunch at a family owner brewery/biergarten, a survey of maypoles in various villages and then to their home to relax before taking us to the airport at an unreasonably early time the next morning. Perfect way to wind down after the seminar. Uneventful flight home, and now we're just trying to dig out from all the stuff that accumulates when you're gone for a month.

Last post for this trip....

Salzburg

The work finished at midday, so free afternoon. We felt lazy, so had a nap, then another stroll around the lake and a swim. In the evening, they had a short of grand finale: Prosecco on the terrace, a piano concert (classical, and very good), followed by a "banquet" which wasn't actually as good as our regular meals.

Now need some time to think about the content, but don't need time to know I have some super new friends, both at SJSU and elsewhere.

Salzburg

Another full day of sessions, but a bunch of us went to a biergarten after dinner to relax and just hangout. Delightful! It wasn't so hot today anyway, and a thunderstorm further freshened the air. This time we were smarter and only got a half liter each!

Salzburg

Another full day of sessions, but lovely walk around the lake after dinner.

Salzburg

Free afternoon! Tried for a bike ride, but though there are many great bike paths, they are usually shared with pedestrians, and for some reason everyone expects you to have control of your bike. We decided we didn't, so after a couple passed along a canal near the Schloss, we opted to return the bikes and walked into the old town and spent a pleasant afternoon just wandering around.

Salzburg

Cooled off--yeah! Whole day in sessions...

Salzburg

Busy day with the seminar. Sessions are interesting, but gorgeous as the Schloss is, it's not air conditioned and the tennis are continuing to be in the mid-90s and humid. We did have a long enough break to visit the big swim center more-or-less next door for a refreshing break.

After dinner, we had a very interesting talk from a team of conservators (a professor and 4 students), who are here inventorying, evaluating and making recommendations regarding conserving everything from the building itself, including the rather amazing stucco work, to art works to archival materials.

Trip to Königsee

Spent the day with our friends from Munich, who drove to Salzburg, picked us up and took us to spend a lovely day at and on the lake. It was another super-hot day, so it was nice to be on this gorgeous lake. It's almost like a fjord, with very steep walls and no access to much of it except by boat. We also tried some traditional foods to eat in a Bavarian beer garden: a kind of cheese called obazda, and a platter of various meats and cheeses (and shredded horseradish).

Salzburg and around

Started out with a walking tour of Salzburg (audio guide, so our own pace). Very interesting, but so hot it was a bit hard to pay attention. Lunch started with a brioche from the oldest bakery in Salzburg, darting from the 12th century. Followed that up with sausages from a street food truck.

Home for a short nap, then to Hohenwerfen, a quite spectacular medieval fortress. Unfortunately we only got to see part of the "birds of prey" flight demo, but what we saw was terrific. There were some rather hokey but gun anyway demos of tours of fighting (swords, knives, dueling pistols, etc.) Then a tour of the whole place from the dungeons to the clock tower. Nice walk down through the forest (we're smart enough to take the funicular up!).

Dinner at a gasthof/biergarten near home. Austria has apparently adopted gulash, and has many varieties, so we decided to try fiakergulasch. It turned out to be a beef stew with a fried egg, hot dog, gherkin and some kind of giant dumpling. It was good, but rather heavy. Fortunately, our serving dish was a green salad with chanterelles and pieces of smoked fish. Plus beer, of course, but only a half liter each. Very pleasant and necessary walk home along the river.

Salzburg plus a stop on the way

Finally got ourselves out of Innsbruck (too much fun talking to our hostess) and headed for the Silberbergwerk, on the way to Salzburg. It's a mine, originally for Iron, 3000 year ago and for cooper and silver in the middle ages. Very interesting tour (and the cold air deep in the mountain felt great).

Then on to Salzburg. Our host suggested a traditional beer garden for dinner, and of course, beer. You buy a coupon, then pick a ceramic stein, wash it in a fountain to make sure the stein is cold and hand it to the guy who is filling them directly it from wooden kegs. Yum, but we were persuaded by our host that we should get a full liter each. Neither of us could could finish! We're such cheap drunks. Then lovely walk partway home along the river (bus the rest of the way--the car stayed safely parked at home.

Last day in Innsbruck

It was too darn hot (mid 90's). Went to the Alpenzoo where the animals had better sense than we did-- they were mostly tucked away in caves or trees, sleeping. Not sure why the bear was roaming around, but it's fur looked wet and there were some waterfalls in his area. If I were him, I'd be sitting in the waterfall! Still, it's a very nice zoo with large, natural habitat enclosures. Finally, we followed the animals' example and headed for a nap ourselves.

Dinner: Italian for a break from so much heavy duty meat. Pizza and a lovely, big salad.

More Innsbruck

Started out with more museums,  and by the time we finished, it was too late to go to the zoo. Given temps on the 90's plus aching feet, clearly a nap was necessary. Eventually, made it out for dinner: pot roast with horseradish/green apple sauce,  potatoes, and veggies. Also a salad, and of course, beer.

Innsbruck, day 2

Started with a visit to the Glockenmuseum. It's both a museum and still a founder making bells, mostly big ones. Very interesting, and they even explained about tuning them and had some you could whack to check out the sound.

I think we took a slight wrong turn and ended up with bruschetta for lunch, with a proprietor who decided to speak Italian to us. Not sure why.

Then back to Tirol, with a visit to the Hofkirche (all about Emperor Maximilian I) and the Tirolean folk culture museum. Traditional clothes, elaborate carvings on everything from tools to furniture, and more. Both the church and the museum were well worth a visit.

An hour rest in the Hofgarten, then off to a Tirolean dinner plus music and dance show. The show was for tourists, of course, but very well done and quite varied. A fun evening.

Innsbruck, day 1

Walked into town along the Inn river. The old town is very attractive though noisy and full of tourists (we've gotten spoiled bring in less popular places). Took a very nice 1 hour guided walking tour, then found a place to rest/people watch in a park. Then a visit to the Golden Roof Museum. Interesting audio tour though the museum itself wasn't so exciting. Dinner of kāsepātzele, salad and local (we think) wine. Then home for laundry and homework (readings for the seminar).

Innsbruck, notes coming in a separate post

From Wörtersee to Innsbruck

Quite a day! First challenge was to escape the Iron Man race. That accomplished, made our way to Millstatt and had a lovely panoramic cruise on the Millsättersee.

Then to the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern and over the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße. Basically, it was a trip up and over the mountains, with spectacular views of the Alps, and especially the Großglockner, which is the highest mountain in Austria. Didn't have time for any hikes, and most visitor centers/exhibits were closed, but stopped for many scenic overlooks. Saw spectacular waterfalls, beautiful flowers (at lower elevations) and...marmots. They were to busy running away, so no picture. We're really happy we're ahead of the season! The thought of the enormous  parking lots bring full is pretty scary. Fortunately, they were all pretty much empty.

Gorgeous, but made us much later than we expected. Only option for dinner was McDonalds, which turned out to be a welcome respite from all the meat! Yep, grilled chicken Cesar salads, then on to Innsbruck.

Museum day

Rainy day, so headed to two museums. First was the Handwerksmuseum which turned out to be about "trades". There were exhibits about everything from the expected blacksmith, whose sign is in the photo, and barrel makers to hairdressers and glasses makers. Many of the tools were from the 50's and 60's, or so it appeared. Hair dryers from that time look like torture instruments.

The other museum was a folk culture museum, and was in many ways similar. It was in a palace, though, and included other stuff like an old school room (complete with big abacus), equipment for mountain sports (my favorite was the lineup of mountain climbing boots as they have evolved from the late 1800's to now), complete huts for dairy maids who made butter and cheese up in the high mountains with the cows, etc.

Wörtersee area

I seem to have done something so I can't comment on the same post as the pictures, so today it's separate posts. Oh well. Here's today's story and what the pictures are.

Stop 1 was the Burg Hochosterwitz, a medieval fortress that was never conquered. You get the idea seeing it perched up there on the hill. Then there are the 14 gates on the narrow path to the castle, each with a different method to do in the enemy. Met a nice young couple at the bottom, and ended up wandering around the whole castle together. He's Czech, she's Russian and then there's us. Several people were so curious they actually asked us how we all knew each other. Good fun.

Picnic lunch, as has become our habit, but particularly nice today with beautiful weather and beautiful views. Then to the Pyramidenkogel, a huge wooden observation tower from which you get a spectacular view of the whole lake and also the surrounding mountains. The tower itself is very interesting construction, and I think, beautiful though a bit odd sticking up off the top of a hill.

Wörtersee area

Graz to Auen (Wörtersee)

Left our wonderful hosts in Graz and headed west. First stop a museum about hunting and agriculture. I know what you're thinking! But it came highly recommended and turned out to be really good. Very interactive, trying to identify animals by habitat, by fur or feathers, sounds and more. It was made extra challenging because we didn't know what most of the animals were to start with.

Next stop, the Lipizzaner stud farm. Gorgeous horses. The best part was the barn with moms and foals.

Then on to our new home for a couple days in the Wörtersee area. It's beautiful, but very crowded at the moment. It seems there is an Iron Man on Sunday, which will complicate our departure a few days from now with road closures. We'll manage! The picture of the lake is from our table at the restaurant where we had dinner. We tried kasknudeln, a local specialty. It's sort of a giant ravioli stuffed with fresh cheese. The cheese was a little bit sour, though not as much as yogurt or sour cream. Very tasty.

Graz, day 2

Gorgeous day with beautiful weather and lots of fun stuff. Spent most of the day at the open air museum in Stübing. It's basically old farm buildings from all over Austria, so you can see regional differences. We still don't know what the little hut is that was made completely off bark. Sorry, no picture here. But you can see the beer keg in an ice box!

Then went with our past of our host family to the berg, to see views of the city and the famous clock tower. Introduced the 11 year old daughter to knock knock jokes (she started the joke telling, in English!).

Then home for a delicious BBQ, with various kinds of meat and grilled veggies. Dessert was also a local specialty--an ice cream version of an apricot dumpling. Yum. Stuffed! Good thing we're walking so much.

Graz

Drove to Graz on pouring rain. Managed to park fairly easily, and by then the train had let up. A very nice woman in the tourist office gave us an excellent brochure for a walking tour, an intro to traditional foods of the area and told us where her favorite ice cream place is. By then, the rain stopped, so we got the walking tour (and ice cream) with very nice weather. Lovely city. Very quiet today with a lot of candles in street memorials because 4 people were killed by a crazy man who drove a car straight into them.

Then to our couch surfing hosts for a nice dinner and good conversation.

The photos are one of the old buildings in Graz (maybe you can spot the lips and noses amidst the flowers) and a double-decker bicycle rack outside the train station.

Day at Dachstein

Spectacular day! Nice weather for going up to the high mountains. Visited an ice cave (spectacular ice formations), then took the second stage of the cable lift even farther up where we got spectacular views of what remains of the Dachstein glaciers and of the lakes/valleys/towns far below.

Back for a short nap, then dinner--more saibling, and decided to try the trout. Both were delicious. Hungry for vegetables, though. We'll have to work on that...

Raining again tonight, but at least we had a clear day for our trip up the mountain. Quack. Wish we could send some home.

A day in the salt mines, literally

Started the day touring a salt mine. Turns out it is the largest active salt mine in Austria, and they have a lot of salt mines. This particular one was also used to store art treasures the Nazis had "collected" during WW2 to keep them safe from Allied bombing. Very interesting and fun. The picture is a chapel the miners had. The light is just ordinary light bulbs behind blocks of salt.

Then a hike from Gössl, on Grundlsee, to Toplitzsee (thanks Brooke, for the suggestion). Lovely-- felt like a rain forest though fortunately not actively raining. Then a wander around Bad Aussee. How do that many dirndle shops stay in business! And another hike, this time to a waterfall up the hill (mountain) from our pension.

Dinner today around 2pm. Some kind of roast pork and beef liver. Both good, but not exceptional.

Altaussee, day 1

Successfully made it from Munich to our cozy pension in Altaussee.  Went to a botanical garden and saw our first Edelweiss. As you can see (at least, I hope you can), its not quite in bloom yet, but it's good enough for us. The mountains are spectacular, but it would certainly be nicer if it weren't raining and cold. Oh well.

Dinner tonight was the fish called saibling,  right out of the lake. Yum. Also spinach dumplings (knödel), also delicious.

Day at the Deutsches Museum

Photo is of a flat knitting machine at the Deutsches Museum, a humongous technology museum. Basically, spent the day there looking at everything from mining equipment to textile equipment to musical instruments. Dinner at a traditional beer hall: pig's knuckle and cheese spätzele (and of course beer).

Munich

Started with a 3 hour walking tour around the Marienplatz area and, of course, saw the glockenspiel. Interesting, but then had to go home for a nap. For lunch, leberkäse semmel with sweet mustard. It's basically a slab of some kind of meat loaf on a roll and has nothing to do with either liver or cheese. Also tried roasted pork burger, which was sort of like a BBQ pork sandwich (burger send to mean sandwich). It was good, but not as good as NC BBQ.

After nap, a couple hours at the Bavarian National Museum. Nice, though we were still too tired to pay full attention. The violin is some kind of metal, out maybe just enclosed. Couldn't understand the label. Would love to hear what it sounds like. Resonator violin? Then dinner at a small beer hall. The beer was, of course, great. For food we had a sampler platter of Bavarian sausages. Very good, though we prefer spicier ones.