That morning, we wandered through Maria Alm (on foot). We stopped at the little bakery and had some excellent pastry, then walked up the valley� Maria Alm was a very peaceful and serene place, beyond imagination.
A church seems to define a village and all villages seemed to have some form of sports complex. Maria Alm had a pool, tennis courts and a walking trail.
After our walking tour of Maria Alm, we drove back up over the mountain road to tour the HOHENWERFEN FORTRESS.
This castle was built quite a while back (around 1100) and guarded the salt road (Austria used to be one of the really big sources of salt in medieval times - they have several tourist tours of the salt mines.
The castle is on a rocky knob, 113 meters (around 350 feet) high. You have to walk that climb, the hard way. I would HATE to have been in on an attack of this place, the sides are VERY steep.
After the need for the salt road abated, the castle went through various incarnations. With the advent of the cannon, it wasn't all that useful as a castle -- it became a very well done prison for a time.
Now, it houses the Austrian College of Falconry. They had around 20 different birds of prey there; they do a presentation to a filled courtyard.
Next, "right across the valley" (sort of) are the Eiriesenwelt Ice Caves. Teresa and I decided to check it out.
We drove down, and then back up (to an amazing view of the castle), then along the edge of an Alp. This went on for about 5 kilometers of narrow road.
At the top, there was a hut, the end of the blacktop and a gravel road. We managed to find a parking spot fairly close.
Then we hiked for about a 15 minutes along the gravel road to the base of the cable car.
The place was PACKED (evidently everybody decided this was the time to see the caves). Teresa and I were standing in line for the cable car and I was watching the people coming back down.
We were NOT dressed for the weather in the ice cave (when they say ice cave, they mean ICE). We delayed until the next day -- to bring more clothes! This turned out to be a good idea.
We then decided to loop around to the south, rather than going back up over the mountain. This took us around Zell am See, the local town on a high Alpine lake. They have a fair amount of hiking in Zell am See (you take the cable cars or ski lifts, hike across, and then frequently take the narrow gauge railway back to your starting point). Zell am See is also known for skiing in the winter.
There are a lot of "tourist support shops" here (including a McDonalds, although it is NOT like the ones in the states). We toured on foot and the drove back to Maria Alm.
The time has come to talk about the tunnels. Austrians use a LOT of tunnels on their roads (something about being easier to go through an Alp than to drive over it. Their tunnels are not like any tunnels I have ever seen before.
In American tunnels, you are supposed to stay in your lane, drive carefully and get out with the absolute minimum lane changes to avoid accidents.
Austria has INTERCHANGES in tunnels (kid you not - merging, exits, the whole nine yards). Really surprised me. The bypass around Zell am See was a tunnel, 5 kilometers long that went through the mountain ridge that they skied on. And right in the center was a small "wayside chapel".
Definitely unique.
Somewhere along the way, Teresa got some kind of insect bite (we still aren't sure what kind) and had a pretty bad allergic reaction to it.
IMPORTANT SAFTEY TIP: Carry Benedryl in the back pack in the future. Europe does not have them. When someone you love is in pain and you can't find something to help them out, it is NOT a good feeling.
Second Safety Tip: In Europe, to get ANY kind of drugs, you need to go the pharmacy - except they call it the Apothecary.
Third Safety Tip: Be SURE you find someone in the Apothecary that speaks English - and be sure they understand you (it took two or three tries to be sure we were understanding each other).
Once the lady understood, she gave me something for it. Think Alka-Selzer, but for allergy. You dissolve it in water and then drink it.
Thankfully, it helped and Teresa started feeling better shortly thereafter.