Austria

So this may be one of the last entries until our leave during the deployment.

Luckily today was gorgeous and a beautiful day for skiing! We got to make more than 1 run down the slopes and spent slightly less time in the lodge.

At one point we went all the way up to the Hintertux Glacier to have a look - you could see peaks go on forever and it was gorgeous. Unfortunately it was getting dark by 4:30 so we went back home to rest.
Dinner was a pizza place and delicious.

Sunday was a quick breakfast, walk and drive home. Next vacation....6 months

Thanks to Veterans Day we were given a three day weekend and we decided to go skiing in Austria. Hintertux was the destination we made it down on Thursday night. Friday morning we were up for breakfast and then skiing.

Unfortunately this was the view of the mountain from our hotel - Troppmair in Finkenberg.

When we got up to the mountain after a 15 minute drive it was starting to snow. We thought we could still ski so we bought half day lift tickets and got on the gondola. Our first (and only) run was a white out. We couldn't tell the difference between the ground and sky so we tried to wait it out in the lodge with some hot chocolate.
By 1400 it wasn't any better so we headed up the next gondola and met up with some other people for lunch at the lodge. After eating the visability was only getting worse so we just gave up and went down the mountain.

At the bottom it looked like the gondolas were heading straight into the clouds.

This was the look of the morning in Hallstatt Austria so.....

this is where our bikes stayed for the weekend.
We were registered to do the Salzkammergutt Trophy bike race but it was not only raining but pouring all night Friday and all day Saturday. When we went to turn in our time chips we saw the riders who chose to finish the 100 and 200 km routes. They were caked in mud and shaking from the cold. Some viewers were even wearing winter hats. We stayed much more comfortable inside eating pizza and reading our books. Maybe next time...

Before heading home we hit the ice caves a few miles from where we stayed. There was a gondola ride that took us HIGH into the mountain for views over the lake.

Another very steep 10 minute walk up to the entrance of the cave started the tour. The tour was in German and we had hand outs in english.
The caves are limestone and at one point were the hibernation homes for bears. They have been extinct for thousands of years though. After a few rooms you get to the ice sections. They are icy because the water outside seeps into the ceiling and freezes.
Its a cold but interesting 45 minute tour. Here are some pictures of the caves.....

A day doesn't start with a much better view than ours - I don't think you can even capture it in a photo. Breakfast was included in the room price and the owner gave us some bike maps to use.

Of course right from the get go we took a wrong turn but ended up by the water and more great photos.

According to our hotel owners the ride on the path around the lake was relatively flat and if we rode to the next town we could get a train ride back. There were definately some interesting things on the route....

like this woman statue,

these bee keepers,

and more views.
The town of Bad Goisern was not very happening on Sunday but we did find an outdoor place to have some lunch. The 15K ride wore us out a wasn't flat so we were very daunted by riding back. We opted for the train and this brought us back in time to find a nice grassy spot by the lake to relax.

After awhile we headed back to Hallstatt to explore the town some more.

We saw the Stephanie hauling people back and forth across the lake from the train station to the town of Hallstatt.

The protestant church has the huge spires you can see from across the lake.

However the Catholic church has something more interesting to see - a bone chapel.

This charnel house has more than 600 painted skulls.

Space in the graveyard was limited so after 12 years the bones were removed and most placed in the bone chapel. This was stopped in 1960's due to the increase in cremations.

Long bones form the bottom wall and the skulls are arranged on a shelf above them.

The skulls on the bibles are from priests.

The grave sites outside are small but the gardens are lovingly tended.
Dinner was at the same location as last night with the same menu - it was just too good.
After the ride home the total for the day was 27K on our bikes and we were ready to relax with a bottle of wine.