Gabrielle Ingram | FindPenguins

Europe Traveler
Red rooves of Rothenburg
October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
The red roofs of the village are the defining feature and are how the village got its name. The certainly were quaint and very steep.
TravelerOne thing I did notice when I was overseas is that someone could earn a fortune with a gurney business
10/20/17Reply
Traveler🆗
10/21/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
Rothenburg - Old Town
October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
The town was picture perfect! Impossible not to take gazillions of photos of beautiful houses.

The beautiful signs hanging from the shops were a drawcard for me too!

But the highlight (Craig, my little humbug, will groan at this) was a walk through the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Store (kaethe-wohlfahrt.com). It was gigantic!!! There was every sort of Christmas 'thing' you could ever think to buy, and then some. In fact, we came across things we had never seen again, including schwibbogen (a sort of balsawood vertical Christmas scene), and Christmas Pyramids, which are a German folk tradition. They are wooden tiered items with wooden figurines which have a space for candle around the outside. The warmth created by the candle then cause a rotor fan at the top to spin around, which in turn spins the main carousels housing the figurines.

And of course, there needs to be a movie reference! This village was used for filming scenes from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II!Read more
TravelerPicture perfect alright
10/20/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
Rothenburg - Spital Gate
October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
At the end of the walkable wall, we came across Spital Gate, which was a fortification built in the 16th century in a figure eight pattern to defend the southern end of the village. Inside there were canons set up to show how these were used as part of the defence system.

And you could just wander through, no signs, no barriers, no light other than what came through the slits in the walls - fabulous!Read more
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Europe Traveler
Rothenburg - Medieval City Walls
October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We paid a visit to Rothenburg today and it was fabulous! It is only a 30-minute drive from where we are staying, so we were able to have a shortish sightseeing day on our last day in Bavaria.

We started off with a walk around the city walls, which were well preserved and intact. By the end of the day, we had pretty much walked all of the walkable ramparts of Rothenburg. We started near the Executioner's House (built into the wall) and then came across a tower where you could walk up 4 levels (of very steep steps) for views across the city.Read more
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Europe Traveler
Nazi Party Rally Grounds, Nuremberg
October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
We spent a couple of hours walking around what remains of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go through the museum which is housed in the unfinished Congress Hall. That building looks like a modern day Colosseum from the outside.

The structures would have been magnificent in scale. The cost of upkeep though has been too much and in 1979 the main columns of the iconic front section of the Zepelin Field building were destroyed by the government as they had become unsafe.

These days, the venue is used for concerts and car races, and the annual VolksFest. There are also a number of sporting stadiums. The walk around the lake was great. We came across a flock of wild geese who were not at all disturbed by humans wandering past.Read more
TravelerSmall correction from a local. We're celebrating the Volksfest twice a year! Spring and autumn. 🍺🤫
6/19/19Reply
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Europe Traveler
Unschlitthaus, Nuremberg
October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
As we were making our way back to the Haupmarkt, we came across a series of bridges across the Pegnith River - breathtakingly beautiful!

Walking back to the car, we followed the city walls. I remembered this a little too late that I had read that it went through the red light district, a la Amsterdam style. Kate advised us this street seemed "inappropriate" because all the girls were only in their bras and undies. Yep!Read more
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Europe Traveler
Nuremberg Bratwurst
October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We stopped at a restaurant today, whose sole menu offerings were a plate of either 6, 8, 10 or 12 bratwurst with a side of potato salad or sauerkraut.

They were the yummiest sausages!

Took some photos of our poppets, not the sausages.Read more
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Europe Traveler
Nuremberg Castle and autumn leaves
October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
We wandered all the way up to the castle (well, there are two castles actually, side by side). There was a plethora of autumn leaves, and lovely old houses attached to the castles.
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Europe Traveler
Nuremberg Altstadt
October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
Nuremberg was fantastic! We had an excellent day with a real variety of experiences. Nuremberg is a walled city so we started off walking to the Altstadt (old town). There is a lovely river running right through the old town, lined with medieval buildings and a spattering of modern buildings which have been really tastefully integrated.

There is also a lot of renovation occurring in the city, so there were cranes everywhere you turned!Read more
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Europe Traveler
Hannah and Würzburg
October 18, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
A very exciting day for us! Last night, Hannah, our new au pair, drove from her home town of Saarbrücken, over near the German/French border, to stay with us for a couple of nights, so we could meet her before she arrives in Australia at the end of next week. She brought some lovely gifts including some honey from her Uncle's hive and some homemade grape marmalade made with grapes from their place.

Finn did his best to grill her with all sorts of hard-hitting questions such as "Do you like plums?", "Do you like cake?" and "Do you like plum cake?". He loves making plum cake, so a winner its a winner if you like plums, cake and plum cake!

We went to visit Würzburg today, starting with a visit through the the 18th-century Residenz palace. This featured lavish baroque and rococo architecture, with particularly ornate rooms. There was a huge fresco by a Venetian artist (Tiepolo) over the main entry staircase which had us all fascinated as it also included some of the figures in the painting coming out in 3D (plaster?). It was a great effect and we spent ages staring at the ceiling in this and another room with similar room.

We also visited the garden where I was able to spot our first German eichhörnchen (which is a very groovy way of saying squirrel). The kids had already negotiated that the first person to see one and say eichhörnchen for 1 Euro cent. I had spotted one in Austria but couldn't remember the name to say. The added bonus for this squirrel was he was a reddy-brown and had an acorn in its mouth as it disappeared into the hedge. Cute as.

We had lunch in the main square and then went down to the river which is obviously where all the cool kids were hanging out. The river was very wide and was split at one side with a commercial lock. Two large barges pulled up as we were watching, so we waited for them to navigate through.

Back home, we played a bit of Uno and introduced Hannah to the game of Cheat. She is now probably thinking "what sort of family encourages their children to cheat in a card game!"Read more
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Europe Traveler
Bartenstein AirBnB
October 17, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Our AirBnB in northern Bavaria is marketed as a baroque-styled holiday house. It is absolutely enormous, but in a ghost town village. There is a little room at the front with its own entrance (not used anymore) which looks like the house may have been part of a telephone exchange, or possible used as a guesthouse or boarding house, as there are 8 little mailboxes in it. Next door is another room with an old fashioned telephone in it.

There is another part of the house we don't have access to which looks like it might be derelict, although there is a top window open. Craig is hypothesizing a senile old lady lives there.

The husband is also current debating if the ringing bells on the village gate, right next to our bedroom window, are actually ringing randomly in the middle of the night (I am fairly sure they stop chiming at midnight and don't start again until 6am), but he is adamant he heard them at 3am this morning. I have a feeling he has just set an alarm to check out this theory. So, if a 3am chiming village bell doesn't wake me, I guess the alarm clock will - joy!Read more
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Europe Traveler
Bad Mergentheim Wildpark (II)
October 17, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
And a few more photos of the awesome animals.

Kate has overworked the European Tooth Fairy since she has been here. She has lost three teeth in the last few weeks, so quite possibly can now be included in the rabbit display in lieu of Bugs Bunny.Read more
TravelerDoes the European tooth fairy bring foreign currency?
10/20/17Reply
TravelerShe sure does, so Kate is making a killing on the exchange rate!
10/20/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
Bad Mergentheim Wildpark (I)
October 17, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
To provide some relief from the "looking at medieval towns" for the kids, we went to a wildlife park which is only about 30 minutes down the road. It was great to see European animals in a wildlife park which was similar in style to the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, except that the animals were a lot closer and it wasn't as big.

We arrived in time to follow a feeding tour, which was great for a couple of reasons... a) as we started out, there were only about 20 people on the tour, and b) the animals were out and about! The downside... it was all spoken in German, so we just had to follow the crowd when they moved on.

We saw a number of mountain goats with various horn arrangements, and varying states of hairiness, deer, owls, otters, brown bears (AMAZING), lynx, vultures (AMAZING), a pack of 30 or so wolves (AMAZING), wild boar, raccoons and ferrets, and wildcats. The beavers were in hiding, so we missed out on seeing them.

You were able to walk through the bird enclosures, so we were really close to the birds. The feeding of the vultures was incredible. The birds fly across the enclosure to attack the meat that is being thrown out, to the point where I had to duck as the vulture flew overhead. I had no idea how big they were.

There were two brown bears who were being fed apples. They had this amazing way of scooping them out of the pond or rock crevice the apple had landed in, and then balanced the apple on the back of their paw like a dinner table and then ate the apple off that.

The wolves too were incredible. One or two heads popped over the ridge whilst the feeder was introducing them. She then walked through the centre of the flat enclosure area dropping meat out of the bucket, and within seconds the entire pack had materialised as if from nowhere. It was quite magical.

The kids got to go into the enclosure to feed the goats and we were also able to feed the deer, until the buck decided feeding time was over and chased them all away!

I am not sure if it was the opportunity to see new animals that I haven't seen before, but certainly the closeness to the animals combined with the lack of people, but I would go so far as to say that this was the best zoo we have ever been to!Read more
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Europe Traveler
Dinkelsbühl + Feuchtwangen
October 16, 2017 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Cool names for towns hey? We visited some towns on the Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) tourist route today. Dinkelsbühl is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Germany. We followed the city calls around past a number of the watch towers through into the city centre. More of the same in Feuchtwangen.

As we left Feuchtwangen we noticed school must have been in recess and there were a lot of teenage children smoking. Whilst we were stopped for groceries on the way home, I noticed a rather odd billboard advertisement for cigarettes. This caused me to look up WHO prevalence of smoking to discover than 32% of the population over the age of 15 smoke! It is even higher than Italy and France, and in those two countries we though we would be suffering from nicotine withdrawal by the time we got home from passive smoking. By contrast. Australia is 16%. Here's hoping Germany's health care system is indeed fabulous!

We found eating outside in lovely weather in France and Italy to be almost impossible if we were not prepared to be shrouded in smoke. Australia should be proud of its tough legislative stance on cigarette advertising, sales restrictions and smoking in public places.Read more
TravelerHere here! I didn't find it as bad in Paris as I thought I would but had to avoid the outdoor eating areas.
10/17/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
Autobahn
October 15, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Alrighty, I am not cut out for this 'no speed limit' caper. Craig got up to 163kph on the autobahn today. I was a nervous wreck, and yet we were not even in the fast lane and cars were passing us at great speed even then. The kids were in the background going "weeeeee" when he sped up to overtake a "slow" person. I was white knuckled, eyes closed, heart rate elevated. I swear I lost weight expending nervous energy on the 1.5 hours of the autobahn.

At one stage we passed one BMW towing another BMW with 3 metres between them doing 130kph on the autobahn. I just about died from anxiety as the car being towed was drifting as we passed (doing more than 130).

I am much more a 'quiet country lane' type of gal. Much more sedate and less stress. Happy to be the tortoise, not the hare.Read more
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Europe Traveler
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site
October 15, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
A sombre day...

We have spent a reasonable amount of time on this holiday doing things associated with either WWI or WWII. It only makes sense whilst in Germany to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site just outside Munich, the site of the first concentration camp established by the Nazis in 1933 and liberated by the Allies in 1945.

This camp served as the blueprint for all 80 or so concentration camps which followed. The main administration building, which is now a large museum through which you linearly travel through the 12 years of Dachau's history, was formerly the receiving and processing stations, including the place where prisoners personal details were registered, stripped, shaved, showered and provided their uniforms. It also included the kitchens.

There is a recommendation that children under 12 do not enter the museum, so Kate stayed out with Craig whilst Finn and I went through.

Behind this building is the "Bunker" with the corridor between the two buildings forming the execution area for special prisoners, as well as the place various tortures were performed. Within the Bunker, the special prisoners were housed and included isolation cells and standing cells - 70cm x 70cm cubicles with no light where prisoners could neither lie nor sit and were submitted to this torture for up to 3 days at a time.

Between the main admin building and the first of the dormitories was the parade ground where roll call was made twice a day. Even in winter with temperatures of -12C, prisoners had to stand there for a minimum of 1 hour each time. Longer if the guards felt like it. The area held approx 40,000 prisoners.

The barracks were all destroyed after liberation, with two having been reconstructed to demonstrate the cramped living conditions for prisoners. What is left of the barracks that stood there previously is now marked by the footings of each building, along the poplar-lined main walk. At the end was the SS quarters, now converted into a convent for the Carmelite order.

To the left was the old and new crematoriums, and the gas chambers, which at Dachau were reportedly only used a few times for a few small groups or individuals and experimentally. I could not bring myself to take a photo of these buildings. I had always imagined them to be large processing plants. In fact they were quite small, and in the new crematorium which was built because they couldn't keep up with the demand for use by the smaller crematorium, there were only 4 ovens, which would usually be used for 2-3 bodies at a time. Mass graves were in fact only employed after there became a coal shortage, so the crematoriums could no longer be used.

I am not quite sure how to process the actual experience of today. Of course I have read novels and seems documentaries, but being physically here is still quite different. The memorial site is so peaceful and quiet. It certainly defies any comprehension of how men could commit the atrocities witnessed here on fellow human beings. One would like to hope that the sentiment on one of the pieces of art work outside the main administration building is true - Never Again.Read more
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Europe Traveler
Schloss Neuschwanstein
October 14, 2017 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
In keeping with movie themes, we visited Neuschwanstein Castle today, which is the castle that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flew over. It is also the castle that Walt Disney reportedly based the Disneyland castle on. It is located in lower Bavaria close to the Austrian Alps, so only just over an hour drive from where are staying. I read that it is Germany's most visited attraction, and judging by the fact that we are entering low season and the place was positively crawling with people, I can well believe it. Craig wants one of those pen's recently placed on Facebook which has written on it "I hate f****n people". There really are some quite obnoxious people travelling out here.

If we had lined up for tickets to do the 30 minute guided tour, the earliest we would have been able to do the tour was 3.00pm (and we were there at 10.15am) and tours were leaving every 5 minutes! So King Ludwig II might have been called Mad King Ludwig, but I suspect the tourism board is laughing all the way to the bank with this one.

That said, it was rather a magical setting, and I suspect the external viewing of the castle was more of a spectacle than the inside, so we settled for that. This included a walk to a bridge over a gorge which looked back along the castle. Just nearby, and down the hill, was the castle where Ludwig lived as a child.

We drove to another nearby village called Füssel which was crammed with typical Bavarian buildings, lots of cobbled pedestrian streets and with the river Lech running through it. Something we have noticed about all rivers in Germany and Austria - they are in a real hurry to go somewhere and could almost be described as swift water. They are also a lovely colour and crystal clear. There were also a larger number of people casually wearing traditional dress in the streets today – dirndls for the women and lederhosen and related paraphernalia for the men. When we were in Munich yesterday, we dropped into a very large retailer of traditional dress. Just the lederhosen shorts alone retailed for circa €200! A dirndl here was around €100 for a more basic version, but we were seeing them up to €600 in Austria for quite ornate versions.Read more
TravelerRose and I are drooling
10/14/17Reply
TravelerHow is the food going? You have put some photos and described some pretty weird fare - the kids don;t look emaciated so I assume they are eating something?
10/14/17Reply
TravelerThe kids are eating the German fare - we have had a few odd meals, but they are giving them a go.
10/15/17Reply
TravelerThey are truly legendary. You should be proud.
10/17/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
Pöcking
October 13, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Our AirBnB is in Pöcking, which is located on the Starnberger Lake (5th largest lake in Germany). We went for a walk down to the lake this afternoon, taking the guitar with us. We also needed to surreptitiously collect kindling for our fire (none provided, not sure if you are allowed to collect sticks?). Kate has also been on a quest at each water location we have visited to float leaf boats with a stone in it. She had an abundance of large autumn leaves to choose from today.

Our accommodation is the top floor of a traditional Bavarian home, so we have a wooden ceiling, huge beams and sloping ceilings.

Finn was desperate to try on his new football kit after dinner. I have never seen him so happy - I think we have hit on the best birthday present ever! Brought tears to my eyes...Read more
TravelerDid Finn get a photo in his gear?
10/13/17Reply
TravelerYeah, I took some before he went to bed
10/14/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
München
October 13, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
We are staying at a place called Pöcking which is a village about a 45 minute train ride from the centre of Munich. We decided to spend the day in Munich today given things close by 2pm in Germany on Saturday. At the train station, we were buying our tickets for the train and a German couple came up to ask us if we needed any assistance. Then another man came over and started chatting to us. We talked for the 10 minutes whilst waiting for the train and the 40 or so minutes in on the train. He was a 62 year old psychotherapist, and a lovely guy. We had an interesting conversation about the psychotherapists across the world and their opinion of Trump. I had read a number of articles previously about his narcissism and sociopathic traits. Since I last read up about it, a lot more literature has appeared online! Anyway, both those instances in the space of an hour go against the general information Mena and Mia (our German au pairs) have given us about grumpy and unfriendly Germans. We will continue to monitor if that changes during the next few weeks ;-)

The train spat us out at Marienplatz, the main town square, so we were able to hang around there, go up the tower of the Rathaus (town hall), and witness the Rathaus-Glockenspiel "show" in the main tower which consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized acting out one of two songs and stories. Up in the tower, we were able to give Finn a glimpse of the Bayern Munich home ground, Allianz Stadium.

We had a walk through the Viktualienmarkt, which is an open market place packed with all sorts of shops selling sausage, cheese, mushrooms, mulled wine, fruit and veg, bakeries... and a maypole.

Finn was on the lookout for every sport shop known to man now that he is in football country, so that he could buy a pair of away game shorts to go with his away game jersey for Real Madrid. We found a lot of shops, but all were either sold out or didn't have his side. He can now nag us until we get to Berlin about finding a sports shop. Oh yay.

We went into the Bayern Munich Fan Shop which was on three levels and had everything branded with Bayern Munich you could possibly think of (babies dummies, toothbrushes, dog bowls - you name it!). Finn sweet talked us into his birthday present (training shirt, shorts and socks, and they threw in a cap for free), which he now needs to wait two months to receive. Birthday shopping done!

We had lunch in a bierhaus. So one thing we have already noticed in Germany (or perhaps this is unique to Bavaria) is that if they say something on the menu to describe the meal, it is quite literal. The kids ordered traditional Bavarian meatloaf for lunch. The menu described it as "200gm meatloaf". What arrive was a white plate with 200gm slice of meatloaf. That's it - no garnish, no sauce, no anything. Just a lump of meatloaf.

I ordered something described as "white sausage salad with gherkin and onions". What I received as the most gigantic pile of thinly sliced sausage scattered with red onion rings and 1/2 a gherkin with a clear vinegar type of dressing over the top. No actual salad item. It is quite bizarre.

One of the other things I had noticed in the villages we drove through yesterday and again in Marienplatz is the blue and white stripey poles. They are mostly ornately decorated. Googled that too and note they are Maypoles. There is one outside our AirBnb and even a small one in the garden.Read more
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Europe Traveler
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Eagle's Nest
October 12, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
After we finished our toboggan run, we took a short 15 minute drive to the car park at the base of Eagle's Nest. In a highly efficient operation (we are in Germany after all), we were on one of many specially designed buses which can manage the narrow road going up. Once we get up, you then walk through a 124 metre tunnel, to get in a brass lift to go up 124 metres, which pops you out right inside Kehlsteinhaus. It has been operated as a restaurant since the 1930s, with all proceeds from the leasing and tourism venture going to charity.

The views across the Alps are incredible. The sun terrace where many of the famous photographs of Hitler and Braun were taken is now simply a corridor to another part of the restaurant, with information panels and archival photographs in place. This is the only reference to the Nazi Party that we saw at the actual site.

We ate lunch out on the terrace with splendid views. I admit though I was surprised as I had more of an idea of it having a large grassed slope behind it, but perhaps I am just mixing up various archival footage in my mind.Read more
Traveler You could clearly see Salzburg from up here
10/13/17Reply
TravelerWow - that really is amazing and not overly crowded considering the lovely weather. I assume it was int he guide books.
10/14/17Reply
TravelerTripAdvisor - well visited, but the people seem to disseminate when you got to the top
10/15/17Reply
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Europe Traveler
Keltenblitz Summer Toboggan Run
October 12, 2017 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
On our way to Germany this morning we stopped off at two places - one a summer toboggan run which was 2.2km long, had inclines at 58% and an awesome chairlift to get to the top. The top of the chairlift was actually right on the border with Austria.

Finn isn't the best with heights, and only opened his eyes about halfway up the chairlift after asking me what sort of parents would make him get on this thing, and why can't we just have a day at staying at home. Bad bad bad parents is the obvious answer ;-)

We arrived an hour before they open so did a little walk up the hill to enjoy the view whilst waiting.Read more
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Europe Traveler
Sound of Music
October 11, 2017 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We managed to see a few The Sound of Music things in Austria. Actually turned out quite hard to get a photo of alps, green grass, fir trees and to be able to actually get onto the grass. Saw lots of settings, couldn't access them!

My lovely husband did do a drive by of the church in which the scene of Maria and Captain von Trapp getting married was filmed in Mondsee, the village we were staying near.

Kate and I also went to visit the farm animals one last time in the barn.

The kids have declared this the best place we have stayed at all holidays. Ranking highly on the judging criteria were: good internet, many cats which were happy to make themselves at home in our apartment, trampoline + "the best games room ever" + swimming pool.Read more
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Europe Traveler
Avalanche
October 11, 2017 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
The second avalanche in pictures
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Europe Traveler
Hike in the Dachstein foothills
October 11, 2017 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
More photos, because it was so spectacular and such great fun!
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Europe Traveler
Hike in the Dachstein foothills
October 11, 2017 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
We got back to the bottom of the gondola run and saw there was a track which took you to across a bit of a track. Had eaten a big lunch, so decided a bit of exercise wouldn't kill us with a 1.5 hour round trip, or thereabouts.

Turned out to be a great idea - the kids got to have some snowball fights, Kate drank out of the little streams of melted snow that were running down the hill, we saw wild mountain goats, mainly because they had to move to escape the avalanche! In fact, we got to see three avalanches which was rather spectacular. They signal "look up now" with a large thunderous crack, and then snow just comes tumbling down. We saw the goats because they had to move to get out of the way of the second avalanche.Read more
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Ice Palace
October 11, 2017 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C
There are 8 glaciers up the top of the mountain which are collectively known as the Dachstein Glacier. An enterprising group of people have created an underground (underice?) labyrinth where there are various sculptures carved into ice. At one stage we were in a section with 26 metres of glacier overhead. A bit of trivia... it is a steady -0.2 degrees in all glaciers across the world. Felt a lot colder!Read more
Traveler Yo yo gangsta
10/12/17Reply
Traveler Perfect except for lack of giant hair
10/12/17Reply
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