AlpenMedHotel Lamm Seefeld

... we had finished at the zoo, the sun was trying to come out and the snow had completely melted off the trees.

We caught the bus into the old city where I was determined that I was going to have some genuine Sacher torte so went to Cafe Sacher which is home of the original Sacher torte (it originated in Vienna). Sacher Torte is actually chocolate cake with a layer of jam in the middle ...

... It was Emperor Maximilian I who added the "logia" over an oriel window and covered it with 2657 fine gilt copper tiles. It was when you went into the museum that you got more of an idea of what you were seeing on the outside. There was an English audio guide which gave lots of information (too much for the kids) on what was the late middle ages and also Maximilian and I found it quite interesting. For example, under the judicial system of that ...

... a large room and then walked into the old town to have dinner at a restaurant that had Austrian food. The prices seem quite reasonable after Switzerland, but that might be because they are in Euros. I had a goulash which was quite nice but salty. Again German is the language used but most people speak English so we haven't had any problems. It was very cold as we walked home and Tara kept saying, I hope it snows tomorrow (it certainly felt cold enough).

... been cleared and there was a wrapped set of cutlery that they left behind when clearing the table, and he got stuck with this one. The waitress refused to give him a new set. It was a bit strange as it would cost her nothing but 5 seconds to get him a new one and make him so much more comfortable eating his meal. He took the risk and hoped that the cutlery hadn't been played with by the previous occupants of our table.

It was time to move on so we piled into the car and ...

... purchases.

The museum was pretty cool and certainly a unique experience. The weather was really nice today too so once we completed the museum and the shopping, we went to the park behind the giant's head. Here they have a hedge maze shaped like the giant's hand which looked pretty cool but we didn't venture in. Instead we soaked up a little sun before moving on to the next destination.

... lovely Bavarian mountainous countryside and picturesque towns to Austria and finally arrived at Seefeld, just as a storm broke. Seefeld is a lovely ski village in the Austrian Alps not far from Innsbruck. Nestled by the mountains and ski slopes it has streets edged in paving and Bavarian style buildings. The guesthouse is very nice and we have a very comfortable, modern room with an ensuite.

This was a lovely little place we stopped at on the bus tour to the castles. Unfortunately, being Sunday, most everything was shut (except for the souvenir shops that is). They have a woodcarving school there that I plan to stop at for a weeklong course on the next trip. But of course it was shut that ...

... and vests, and the men wearing their funny leather shorts with straps and hats with feathers. We got some great pictures!! We were in a bakery buying some bread rolls for lunch and Gem asked the lady what the men's funny pants were called and she said Loderhose and she must have misinterpreted that we wanted to buy a pair for Wayne so next minute she was whipping us into the shop next door which sold all the traditional clothes !! Next minute the lady was measuring Wayne up for a ...

Another work conference for my parents brought us to Oberammergau for a week. We stayed in the cutest little wooden cottage - like the whole thing ceiling to floor and including flowering window boxes was made out of wood! Totally picturesque like you've read about in Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Aromatic town bakery. Absolutely enchanting.

Sadly, I dont remember much about Austria. Too bad because I have read so much about it lately as the music and art centre of Europe in the 1700s, I'd love to check that out.
I asked my dad recently if we had been there before. He said, 'oh yes, many times, we loved it'. Hmm, what a pity. I suppose it still counts because the images of scenery must be in my mind somewhere... curse this short memory of mine!