Salzgammergut

The lake district in Austria is absolutely gorgeous. We took a scary road from Golling an der Salzach to Fuschl am See that went high up in the mountains. It had some remarkable views, but it sure was dangerous to say the least. It was about a 45 minute drive, and I think Dustan enjoyed every minute, trying to make me and Romona sick. Luckily the kids were sleeping, so we didn't have any puking going on.

After this trip in the car, we were ready to get out and get some fresh air. We checked into our pension, which we do NOT recommend to any at all. However, check out the view from our balcony at the left. Romona's view was cool too, even though she was stuck 3 flights up in the attic.


After we rested, we got ready for dinner and a short walk to get to a restaurant down the street. A thunderstorm was rolling in as we arrived, and so we got a window seat to watch it pour. Man, the weather sure changes fast there in the center of the Alps. This particular storm brought with it lightning and hail and at least 2 inches of rain. But, an hour later when we were ready to leave, the sun had been out for about 25 minutes, and despite the cooler temperatures, the pavement was drying up and the puddles were not nearly as large as I thought they should be.

The rest of our 2 days in the district were spent relaxing & doing some laundry in the sink. We found the local sommerrodelbahn, and had our fun with that. The kids loved this one, and so did we. They had a hook they'd attach to the back of your sled and it would drag you backwards, high up to the top of the mountain! I almost lost my sandals a couple of times because it was rather steep in some places and the slope made me slip on my sled.

You could see a long ways up there, and it was very beautiful. It provided me a great opportunity to talk to Ariel about God's creation and how things were made, what great thought and planning this all took and the pure enjoyment of the senses soaking up the fresh morning smells and sounds, and the sunlight on the earth was amazing.

We went driving in the area a couple of times and found the picturesque town of St. Gilgen. You could rent electric boats, and there were quite a few out on the lake. It is an adorable town to visit. We also stopped in St. Wolfgang for dinner one evening. Walking along the streets here was cool, although rather steep in some places. The town sits on a hill, and the buildings were beautifully done.

There is so much to see and do here in the lake district that we would really love to come back and see. It was a great place to visit.