Part I: Germany-Lichtenstein-Austria 27 July-4 August 2013

It appears as if my last official posting was in June.  We have not fallen off of the face of the earth.  Rather, we were busy with school letting out, and making preparations for our summer trip to Germany/Austria, as well as our annual trip back to the US.  Then, getting reengaged with school, and finding the rhythm of day to day life again.  Looking forward to being back on track!

Brief summary:  J's school completed on Thursday 11 July.  W/N's last day was on Tue 23 July.  We left for Germany on Sat 27 July, and spent 8 days there, arriving home on the 9th day, Sunday 4 August.  We quickly unpacked, washed, and repacked, to leave for the US on Thursday 8th August.  All 5 of us were there until the 18, when G left.  The kids and I remained another week, and left on Sat the 24 Aug.  Little W/N only had one full week, and two-3day breaks off of school.  They resumed school on Tuesday, 3 Sept, and J started on Wednesday 4 September.  I'll talk more about school later (another post), but just wanted to bring everyone up to speed.

We also are trying to coordinate our fall half-term holiday--just a long weekend that we'll be gone, as G needs to work.  Still considering locations.  Also trying to get things going for our Christmas break vacation, which will most likely be southern Spain.

I'll be posting on our Germany trip in parts, as I just wanted to get something posted.  It's been so long!!  Without further ado--part I:




Day 1-Saturday 27 July 2013

This excursion started well.  We had a 910 departure from Manchester airport for Munich airport via Singapore Airlines (which are very nice, I may add).  En route to the airport, we were talking about going through security, do any of you have belts on, any metal, etc.  W did say, in a very deadpan sort of way, that perhaps security would stop him due to his belly button fluff.  Little did we know, that W would be chosen to go through the heavier security check.  He was that guy made to take off his shoes for a full search and pat-down.  (He does have a pretty mean evil glare...)  As we were waiting at the end of the security check for our computers to finish being checked, W calmly rejoined us and reported without looking at us, "It was the belly button fluff."
     I am also happy to report to you that we had no blueberry pancake messes to deal with at the airport this time.  Trip was looking up already.
Flight time to Munich was 1:35.

When we arrived, it was 37C, or 98.6F.  I have not felt heat like that for a year!  Wow! We've been spoiled in the UK!   The car's ac couldn't even keep up!  To get to our destination, we drove on the autobahn.  There are no speed limits posted generally, but we could tell which sections had speed limits from the satnav.  If there was no speed limit, that part of the display just went away.  The roads were very smooth, and painted clearly.  They put the English roads highly to shame!  We drove from the airport, briefly went through Switzerland, but decided not to stop, as some of us were hot and cranky.  We passed lots of familiar sounding names-Schirmer, Schubert, Klein, Winkler, Schonn, Brenner, even a Buechel gravel yard.

Another familiar name we saw.....



Hotel Meierhof

It was on to Lichtenstein to check in to our hotel for the night, Hotel Meierhof.   In retrospect, the hotel was very nice, although it'd been built in the 50's (updated since).  They had a lot of extras that really made our stay more pleasant.  A good breakfast with homemade yogurt with honey and smoothies, candy and fruit and chocolates, jam on checkout.  Staff were more than friendly-looking things up for us, etc. There were even stamped postcards in the rooms.  I looked for a post office to jump out at us so we could mail them.  Later on, at a hotel with a concierge, we found out that postcards do not need an add'l fee to be sent air mail.  Wish I would've known that sooner!!!  Not sure if that is for the UK too--if it is, expect a lot of postcards from here on out!!


The hotel was not airconditioned, as usually it only reaches 82F in the summer in Liechtenstein.  Parts of Germany can get very warm, but generally not Liechtenstein.  We went downtown to walk around and check out the town a bit, then got a bite to eat.



Schloss Vaduz near our place in Liechtenstein

It seemed as if a lot of things were closed and everyone was on holiday.  We all hit the sack early, as the next night was going to be late (esp for the kids), and the kids and I are not used to the heat.  We are out of practice!



Shot of across the street from where we ate dinner-across the town square.

 

Liechtenstein scenery

 

Day 2-Sunday 28 July 2013
We departed Lichtenstein at about 8am after a typical European breakfast at the hotel.  Our destination was Innsbruck, Austria, approx. two hours away.  To get there, we passed though the Alps.


Some of the typical scenery through the Alps.  Unlike the UK and Scandinavia, people in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein are primarily Catholic, and churches were a dime a dozen.  There were many mountain villages scattered about, and you could always see the Church built on the highest part of the village, with a very prominent spire present.  Here there is some dwelling on the top of the mountain (ski lodge?), and a faraway village's church spire in the distance.



Another Church in the distance

G was happy the mountain roads were UNlike the ones in the Lake District of England, or Scotland.  Rather than going up and down and winding, narrow roads, we literally went through the mountain via tunnels.  And there were MANY tunnels we went through.  I think the longest tunnel we went through was 66.4 km, and took us 13 minutes to get through.  I believe that's the one we had to pay nine euros when we saw daylight, only to go into several smaller tunnels.  Other tunnels were long as well, and you'd pass through one and go directly into another.

We hit Innsbruck early enough to get to the Innsbruck's Bergisel Ski Jump Stadium.  It was used in the '64 and '76 Olympics, and re-built in 2001 for newer requirements of ski-jumping.  There were to be ski jumping exhibitions 1030-1130, and 1-2pm.  We made it to the place on time, paid admission, found our way (they also have a couple restaurants, a museum, recreational land, some official looking buildings, etc. on the same site).  And you need to ride up on the funicular (like a cable car), then catch an elevator to get to the top.  We were there, and no jumper.  We waited awhile, before asking at the restaurant where Jumper was.  Wait staff called around, and apparently Jumper was "sick".  A simple sign would've been nice, or even the fellow collecting admission fees could've said something, as we'd asked about it then, and the fellow had told us where the best viewing would be.  Anyway.....

This way to the ski jump....



Get your tickets here!

Glimpse of the ski jump from beyond the ticket booth.

There were decent views of Innsbruck, and you could see the Hungerburg area (where we stayed in Innsbruck) above Innsbruck.  Skiers practice in the summer by using the tracks with water running on them.

In this photo, you don't see about 1/2 of the jump area.

Can you see J in this pic?  He's standing at the top of the second set of blue steps (as you're counting from the bottom), near the railing.  He's wearing green.



Not to the top yet-you can see the belly of the ski jump on the right margin of the picture.

From the almost top.  When you're at the top, you can't even see the lighter green section, as it just goes straight down.

This is where the jumper's skis would leave the track.  You don't see most of the light green, as it goes straight down.

From the top.  They put their skis in the white track; in summer water runs down it so they can practice.

Some info on the jump.

Looking to the left at the top of the ski jump; partial view of Innsbruck.

Innsbruck at the base of the Alps.

Good bye-in what I think is German/Austrian?, English, Italian? and French???  Not sure.

 

Cool Austrian building on the area surrounding the ski jump.

Another view of Innsbruck.  The Hungerburg area is the small, higher section.
 



After looking at the beautiful panoramic views from the ski jump, we arrived at downtown Innsbruck, and found a place to eat. 

 Approaching downtown Innsbruck.  That's the Arch of Triumph in front of us, w the Alps in the background.

Imperial Court (Palace), Innsbruck
Former residence of the Habsburgs', ruling monarchy 1500s-1800s.  Maxmilian I was one--he's the one who built the Golden Roof-more on that later.
This building is a central feature downtown, and we walked by it frequently to get to the car park.

Stiftkeller, downtown Innsbruck.  Look at the little boy in the orange shirt (N).

We chose Stiftkeller for lunch, as it was large, and the name of a place I wanted to eat at in Salzburg (but wouldn't be able to, and I knew it, so this was a substitution of sorts).  It also had that "beer hall" feel.  It's been around since 1765.






Inside Stiftkeller, Innsbruck.  The boy in the orange shirt again (foreground).

I had Tirolean kedgeree of fried meat and potato w fried egg and coleslaw.

G had "wurstltopf" (should be an oomlot over the u, but we have a US computer...):  3 sausages w mustard sauce, pretzel and kraut

And J had veal and pork Bavarian style sausages.

After re-fueling, we wanted to tour Hofkirche, where Maxmilian's tomb was.  We were right outside the building, the lights were on, but the doors were locked.  We walked around the block, and found the Jesuitenkirche, another beautiful church.  The whole block is taken up by Innsbruck University, and Jesuitenkirche is attached to it, literally.  Various theological studies are done here (at the University).  After a little reading, I've found that the Jesuit College and HS was started in 1562, with support of Ferdinand I.  The Church was built during 1627-1646 during the 30 Years' War.  In 1770s, the Jesuit order was suppressed, and the college and church became state property, and renamed university church.  In the late 1830s, the Jesuits were reunited with their church and university.  In 1943, the church was a victim of bombing, and was essentially in ruins.  Most of the interior decoration was lost.  At the end of the war, the church was renovated, and in 2003-4 it was completely restored.  It was very beautiful.




Jesuitenkirche  (Jesuit Church Innsbruck/University Church)

Baroque altar at the Jesuitenkirche
 

After popping out of the Jesuitenkirche, we went back to our mission to find Hofkirche.  We figured out you had to enter through the nearby "Tiroler Volkskunde-Museum," a Tirol folk museum.  Only we had trouble finding this "nearby" museum.  When we did find it, you could pay for admit to the Hofkirche, the folk museum, or both.  We paid for just the Hofkirche, and the clerk pointed us in the direction of the entrance.  It was not marcated, and we had more difficulties finding the actual entrance.  A few questions later, we FINALLY found it!!



A bit about Hofkirche and Max.

After visiting the beautiful Jesuit Church just previously, and expecting a, well..., a CHURCH, I was a bit taken aback by the "introduction" to the Hofkirche.



Interesting how most museums these days have interactive exhibits, with flashing lights, loud music, automatic doors, etc.  This globe spun around, opened up and had various moving scenes within it.  I think I'm aging.

After the flashing lights, automated doors and theatrical introduction, we finally got to the Hofkirche.  Essentially, its a church built by Ferdinand I in honor of his grandfather, Emperor Maxmilian I.  Max had wanted to be buried in the castle cemetery.  However, the elaborate plans he helped make for his tomb would not fit in the castle chapel, so grandson Ferdinand made a new church in Innsbruck for his granddad.  For some reason, Maxmilian's tomb remained at the castle (lack of funds??), and Hofkirche is his cenotaph.



The tomb was HUGE, and the 28 figures surrounding it were larger than life.

Maximilian's cenotaph, found in Hofkirk.  He's buried in Vienna.

The 28 statues are of forefathers and heroes (King Arthur, among them) and are made of bronze.  The 24 panels on the tomb itself are also intricately carved and impressive, commemorating events in Maxmilian's life.  The tomb took 80 years to build.  Even the grille-work surrounding the tomb is beautiful.
Next, we wanted to take a city tour of Innsbruck, and had seen the meeting point for one while we were trying to get into Hofkirche.  However, when we came back for the tour, there was a sign posted at the meeting point:



Too hot for the tour guide?  Or maybe she was ill with Jumper.  At least she/he left a note.

So we meandered about downtown.

There's the boy in the orange shirt again.  They had loads of these thick felt hats for sale at various shops.  N tried one on and did a jig for us.

It was soooo hot out, the kids found a window to sit in, and they could feel the cool air from the basement.  Trying to get relief from the heat.  I believe this is when G went back to get N's chosen souvenir--a cuckoo clock.  Of course, cuckoo clocks are big here, as well as in the Black Forest area of Germany, which is essentially just NW of where we were.  They sell them EVERYWHERE!!!  We got N a cheap one (read: probably made in China-definitely not hand-carved!!)

A lot of the buildings had the painted frescoes on them, or just painted details.

Building looks dirty/aged, but you can still see the painted on part.

View of the Altstadt (downtown).

We then decided to move on, and check into our Innsbruck home.




Our place in the Hungerburg section of Innsbruck.  Here's one of the bedrooms.  All the hotels do the funny thing with the pillows (squishing them down in the center).

Part of the living room.  Kids found the smurfs on tv.

Kitchen with the smallest dishwasher on earth.  I was going to measure it, it was so tiny.  Hard to see from the photo, but it couldn't have been any more than 18inches wide.

Restroom.  There was a bidet also.

2nd bedroom, again with the funky pillow thing.

After refreshing, we attended a classic Tirolean folk show in the evening, as we were staying in the Tirol portion of Austria.  You could order an authentic meal with or before the show.  Wiener schnitzel with potatoes and apple strudel for all.  These are traditional AUSTRIAN dishes, not German, as we'd thought.

G drinking a Zipfer beer, J drinking his still water.



Heller means "clear, clarity, to shed light on and make clearer, illuminating".  Zipfer beer signs were everywhere in Innsbruck, and it all said in Heller glass.  Had to take a pic of this.

Our VW Passat wagon in the parking lot, w the steering wheel on the Left.  Note all the Zipfer lamps on the property.

Most of the cast for the show.  There were a lot of instruments in use-accordion, zither, country harp, tyrolean string instruments, xylophone, but alas, no stump fiddle!

Music played with alphorns.  They also played a song on a saw.

Playing music on the specially tuned cow bells.

The wood choppers dance-kids loved this one, and saved the wood pieces that were flying into the audience.  Couldn't help but think of the Syl Groeshel band during the show.

Kids with some of the cast of the show.  The ladies yodeled.

At the conclusion of the show, they sang songs from where the audience members were from.  LOTS of different nationalities were present!!!!  Must've been every country of the EU, as well as South Africa, India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc, and of course, the US of A.  Then--home to bed!!!!

Day 3-Monday 29 July 2013
 This day the temps were much more tolerable, in the 70s-ish.  We went back to Alstadt to finish up some of the things we wanted to do, and get the tour that we'd missed the day before.  The Innsbruck city tour was not meant to be, as it was a bus tour that went up to see the ski jump also, and we'd already done the ski jump, and we were in search of a walking tour.  So we wandered around and did our own tour.

We started with the Golden Roof, which was built in the 15th century for  Emperor Maximilian I (the one who's tomb we'd seen the day before).  He used this as a place where he could sit in luxury and enjoy tournaments in the square below.  It is a landmark of Innsbruck.

The Golden Roof.  Those flower boxes for every window were EVERYWHERE we went in Austria and Germany.

Side view of the Golden Roof.

From the Golden Roof, we wandered about looking at things.  The area has several alleyways/pedestrianized areas to meander through.  With that comes the various street performers.  This young lady performed, and she would make her dog--to the right on his own silver pedestal--perform and do little tricks and flips.  She'd move and give you kisses if you gave her money (of course!!).  I was too slow to catch the kisses.  The Golden Roof is just over Silver Girl's right shoulder.  Also, notice the man with the red-checked shirt.  Checked shirts are THE thing here.  They were everywhere. G wanted to buy one, but I stopped him.

Final view of Golden Roof, and looking down the street.  The tower with the green patina is Innsbruck's city tower.

After the Golden Roof, we went to Hofburg Imperial Palace, which is a dominant feature in the downtown landscape.  It is very impressive inside, and is a showy representation of what life was like for prominent Austrians back in the day of the Habsburgs.




They were VERY strict inside, and would not allow any photos, even without flash.  J (who is very respectful in museums, as he LOVES them) went into a room ahead of where G and I and W/N were.  The woman stationed in that room "yelled at me, and made me go back by you guys.  'Children must stay with their parents'".  J did not care for that!  They seemed to follow us around, watching us, and the kids were behaving.  Very vigilant caretakers.  In the large ball room, they have large, rolling mirrors so you can see the intricacies of the ceiling.  J again got yelled at for moving one of the mirrors, which the audio guides told you to do, and where/how to position the mirrors to see certain things in various paintings and detailings about the room.  All in all, it was a good representation of 17th century aristocratic living.  Loads of original paintings and furnishings.

After the residence tour, we had to find some lunch.  We walked around a little, trying to find a place that looked like it'd be half-way speedy, and had seating room.

Looking for a place to eat lunch in Innsbruck.



Just across the way from the Golden Roof is this building.  I thought it was quite ornate, and so took a photo  I found out later the building is called Helblinghaus.  It's just an old mansion that dates from the 15th century.  Although from the 15th c, its named after the gent who owned it from 1800-1827.

"There.  Up ahead, that looks like a good place to eat, w room for 5 outdoors."

Walking to our chosen lunch place, we passed this.

Still on our way to eat, more street performers.  These chaps played some nice classical music that we could hear from our lunch table.  Kids loved them, and it kept them occupied while we waited for our food.

Where we ate lunch.

Innsbruck's theatre

For the afternoon, we'd planned on taking a cable car to the top of the mountain our house was nestled into.  You could take a cable car from downtown, and three stops later, you'd be as high as Hungerburg, where we were staying.  At Hungerburg, you needed to get into a different cable car to ride to the top of the mountain.  Where the cable car area was was probably 3 houses down from the where we were staying; very convenient.

After lunch, we drove to our house in Hungerburg, and walked to the cable car point.



View of Hungerburg on the mountainside, as viewed from Innsbruck.  Innsbruck is 560 m above sea level; Hungerburg is 850 meter above sea level.

To get to the part of the mountain we stayed at (Hungerburg), you drove up these steep and narrow roads.  Picture doesn't really show it as narrow or steep, but it is.  It went around some tight bends, and it was hard to get the pic at the right moment.

 

The road was narrow and winding.

Pic from Hungerburg, looking down over the landscape.  Can see part of Innsbruck.  Mountains in the clouds.

View while on the cable car from Hungerburg to Hafelekar.



View of Innsbruck from Hafelekar stop/ top of the mountain.

From Hungerburg, to the top of the mountain, there are two stops.  The first stop, Seegrube, is 1905m above sea, and the final stop of the mountain is Hafelekar, which is 2256m above sea level.  From Hungerburg to the top of the mountain is about a mile.

Clouds rolling in

Once you'd reached the top of the mountain, you could climb various peaks nearby.  This sign is telling you how far to the next highest peak. 

We decided to do the easy walk to Hafelekarspitze, which is listed at 20 minutes.  It was no 20 minutes-I think it took us 10 at most.


Some of the neighboring peaks we could've visited--the rain clouds were moving in...




Kids climbing the mountain--wait for us old geezers.

Is that snow?

Yep, that's snow.



J made it to the top

Sheep, waaaaay up high in the mountains--with snow in the background

Happy to be up there, but look at their pink noses--it was cold up there!  The rain didn't help matters.  It rained, and didn't stop.  We were all soaked by the time we took the cable car back down again.  Would probably've wandered around a bit more, had it not been raining.

Tell us how you really feel, W!  No, really, go ahead.
Look how hazy it is in the background.  That, my friends, is rain moving in very quickly!

Kids managed to have a snowball fight on July 29, 2013.  W is enjoying it complete w sunglasses, while N looks like he's gonna turn into a penguin.

Looks like I could've taken this photo in spring/winter, baring the one patch of green grass.  It's a little cloudy.

Kids showing various elevations we'd been at that day.  N shows us Innsbruck at 560m above sea level, W shows us Hungerburg at 860m, and J shows us Hafelekarspitze at 2334 m above sea level.  Thanks, kids!

Back in Hungerburg at the cable car station, the mountaintop is shrouded in clouds.

Final pic of the cable car.

We walked home from the Hungerburg cable car station, and went to dinner down the road from where we were staying, and had an evening at home.


Day 4-Tuesday 30 July 2013
We left our home base at about 0800 this day, headed for Neuschwanstein, in Germany.  We passed through more mountain passes, and were on some roads "for a long time", as our satnav told us.  ("Stay on this road, for, a long time.")  The word "immediately" was also used by our satnav on this trip.  Kids got a kick that the satnav was using different words than they were used to the satnav saying.

On our way to Neuschwanstein, it was pretty cloudy.  I thought these striated clouds and the mountain behind were neat.

Still in the Bavarian countryside--notice the church on the high(ish) hill.

They had these "huts" everywhere you went in the countryside.  We think they were used to stack and dry wood inside, but we're not sure.  They definitely were NOT for living in, or for animals.  Too numerous to be shelter for hunting.

A beautiful building that housed a restaurant.  Not sure what schiffwirtschaft means.



Our first glimpse of Neuschwanstein.  Even from the parking lot and at a distance, it was impressive.

Neuschwanstein is the castle that Walt Disney based Snow White's castle off of.  It is found in the village of Hohenschwangau, actually home of two of King Ludwig II's castles:  Hohenschwangau, and Neuschwanstein.

There was a LARGE line (blocks long) for the castles.  Luckily, we had purchased tickets on-line. Entry into the castle was timed.  Some of the buildings surrounding the ticket house and the village at the base of the mountain were eye-catching.  Like this building.

There are two castles in the village of Hohenschwangau: Neuschwanstein, and this castle, which is Schloss Hohenschwangau.  Hohenschwangau is King Ludwig II's childhood home.

There is a 40 minute walk up to the Neuschwanstein, or you can pay for a horse-drawn carriage to take you.  The walk is pretty steep, and the carriage ride is only marginally quicker than going on foot.  Our tribe of 5 nearly beat the horses, and there was a lot of breaks to look at "treasures" along the way.

 

Neuschwanstein.  The castle was actually never finished, as King Ludwig ran out of  money.  He lived in the portion that did get completed just 170 days.



As we were going up the mountain, we saw this cable car.  Not sure where it went, as it was pretty far away from Neuschwanstein. 

We think the cable car may have went to a base where these paragliders went off from.  There were quite a few that took off.

King Ludwig planned Neuschwanstein with the help of a stage designer, not an architect.  This looks a bit like seating in a theatre.  Don't know if this is from the hand of the stage designer or not.  King Ludwig was infatuated with the operatic works of Richard Wagner, and many of the castle's room had links to his operas, or were like a stage set for a scene from an opera, where the stage designer had heavy influence.  There was a reason they called him "Mad King Ludwig."  He was removed from office, and died a mysterious death shortly thereafter.

And then there are the views.  Wow!  You can see unbelievable views from any of the windows of the castle.

This photo is a bit to the right of the one above.  This one shows Schloss Hohenschwangau, or King Ludwig's childhood home.

Schloss Hohenschwangau

Schloss Hohenschwangau and the countryside

There was a 40 minute walk up to the castle.  Once there, you could take another 10 minute walk to Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge), which goes over the Pollat Gorge over a waterfall.  From the bridge, you could see the back of the castle.

More about Mary's Bridge

The waterfall and gorge the bridge crosses.

Don't know if you can see how clear the water is.  That is one thing we noticed all along our trip to Bavaria and the Black Forest, was how clear the water is.  The lighting on the water is poor here, but it really is clear.

Schloss Neuschwanstein.  This shows the unfinished side.  They told us where there were supposed to be more turrets and towers and more building, as per King Ludwig's plan.

Mad King Louie designed a total of three castles, with Neuschwanstein being the grandest palace.  Kinda puts a new meaning on, "Your home is your castle."

Some of the surrounding scenery

King Ludwig II's view

The tour was a bit of a let-down.  You keep hearing/reading about how grand this castle is, its a top choice in the tour books, must see, etc, etc.  Yet the tour was only 35 minutes.  We probably spent just as much time (or more) tromping around on the grounds surrounding the castle, as we did actually touring it.  And there is the 40 minute walk up to the castle, and then again back down.  I am glad we saw it, and I agree it is a must see, however, I think it gets more hype than what it deserves.  I think I enjoyed the scenery more than the actual castle, but its something you have to do, and I'm glad we did it.

Schloss Hohenschwangau

On the way back down to the village, I saw this flag pole/totem pole of sorts.  I have no idea what it signifies.  There were various coats of arms on it, and symbols, but I haven't the foggiest idea what its called, nor what it signifies.  We saw a few more, but they were pretty rare for us to see.  Anyone got any info??

Leaving town, traffic was stopped, and we didn't know why, until we looked out the window and saw the cattle crossing.

I don't know if you can see the shepherd/farm hand who is guiding the cattle, but he's wearing traditional clothing.  We're talking lederhosen, people.

Flower be-decked building.

I live a very sheltered life, and I know it.  On the street, I saw this cigarette machine.  It even checks three different forms of ID.  I thought it was interesting.  In the UK, a lot more people smoke than in the US, and this must carry over to more of Western Europe.  US has outlawed these machines, haven't they?



After Neuschwanstein, we went to Oberammergau.  It is a town known for its woodcarving, and painted houses.  There are many wood carving shops, and the artisans can carve you anything.  Some of you may have received a music box from us from this town.  Here's one of the painted houses.

We also stopped here to get something to eat.  It seems we always eat at Italian places when we are travelling.  G and I always want something a better than fast food, however, the kids always want pizza/kid-friendly food.  Italian always seems to be the middle ground.  Here's W in front of where we stopped to eat in Oberammergau.

I thought this was a pretty church.  Across the street from where we ate.

OTS of flowers.

They also have a lot of strawberry huts at the roadside in these areas.  This woman sold strawberries and raspberries.  Here's W sampling some.

The huts were neat.  I missed getting the pic of the one that had open eyes, and when the hut was closed, the eyes closed.  So I had to get this one instead.

Ah!! Finally!  Some quiet.  I guess the kids were tired on the way home.  The hike up and down the mountain, and over to Mary's Bridge, and all around Oberammergau, etc, got to them.  Not to mention the late nights.  Sightseeing is hard work for a kid, I guess.

More of the huts

Re-entering Austria, after our day's trip to Germany.



We were descending some mountains, and the gradient was pretty steep-at times 16%.

They had those things that you are supposed to drive into if your car starts "running away" on you.  What are those called again?

This way to get your car under control.

This is a train track.  Wouldn't that be a beautiful train ride??

Back in Hungerburg again for our final evening.  Had to take a pic of the kindergarten we passed all the time.  It is just too quaint.

Close up of the writing on the kindergarten, the detailing around the lower windows and door, the pics of the man (founder?).  There are other painted pics on the side of the building-hard to see in this photo, but they are there.

Final photo of Innsbruck, taken from the Hungerburg area.  You can see the village below (could see better without the tree!!), as well as the ski jump Bergiesel straight across.

Stay tuned for the blog on the rest of our Germany/Austria trip.  Salzburg and Munich to come!!
Thanks for reading.  Don't hesitate to comment.