Into Mallnitz

A *VERY* hot train ride later, we arrived in the mountainsnof Mallnitz. Seriously, it was 33° in Salzberg...who, not only had the aircon off, but actively has the heaters ON in the train carriage?! The views, however, were absolutely spectacular as we rode through the floor of the valley the entire way from Salzberg.

Mallnitz is nothing like Zermatt. It is a sleepy town of Austrian chalets hotels, each with their own bar/restaurant, nestled between the hills surrounding it. It was glorious. Badgastein and Badhofgastein, both the other side of the mountains via a lengthy tunnel, we positively metropolitan by comparison. Instead, we arrived in our town of single-digit bars and settled in to the spectacular views of the Hohe Tauren National Park.

Pizza and a beer at our hotel underneath these pine covered slopes was just joyous, albeit colder than we'd been in a while...the jumpers made their first outing!Read more