Chalet Abendruh Kaprun

Stayed at a beautiful spot in Austria (Saalbach) with Hilly, Stu's old friend and new Father..actually felt sorry for him, the poor sod was knee deep in relatives, in laws, newly purchased crib and nappies, etc.....we stayed for afew days and it was neatly timed with the arrival home of new born Frankie. Hilly's place is 3 feet from a field of horses so Lauren was easily kept busy with feeding duties.

Stu tried ...

... s Nest a couple of times because he was afraid of heights.
Our last day in Berchtesgaden was beautiful so we went to the nearby lake Konigssee. It is a little too touristy for us but good to see. We hiked up part of the mountain and looked back down on the lake. They have lots of boat rides on the lake but all our electric boats so it was very quite and peaceful.
Overall we really enjoyed being in the mountains and ...

We got an early start because I thought there would be more shopping opportunities in Berchtesgaden than there ended up being. Jill led us on back roads again through nice little towns but between them and trucks, it seemed a little slow. Apparently there is major road work on the Autobahn, however, so at least we were constantly moving. The mountains got closer and the scenery was just beautiful. The river ...

... all of it but enjoyed what I could.

We lunched on snack bars and fruit after another big climb then did more challenging singletrack descents. I get a bit of vertigo on some of the trails where there's a steep drop to the side.

I was now on my 6th day of riding and when Keith asked whether I was up to another big climb to sample yet more singletrack descending ...

... a little drop into a berm and I managed to confuse myself into doing something stupid and taking a brief trailside lie down. This is a trail with big, steep, fast, bermed sections and is fun to ride in sections and a bit scary in others, particularly on a 4" lightweight XC racing bike. Down at the bottom it goes a bit 4x and you can walk back up and practice this section, which is good, fast ...

... and a small Franziskaner Weissbier.

We descended to Westendorf on the other side of the range, then crossed to Brixen and took another lift up to the top. Plenty of technical riding and learning today.

Dinner was served up by Keith back at the apartment: home made vegetable soup, followed by ham and sauerkraut and banana cake for dessert. Keith taught us to play German Whist.

... views. We made it down to dinner just in time for the last servings, and celebrated by buying some local red wine recommended by the tour guides en route. Staff seemed very friendly too!

It was a bit dark to go out exploring so we took in the atmosphere from the balcony, drank our wine which they let us take upstairs and considered our plans for the next few days, the peace of the mountains slightly spoiled by the disco music from the triathlon!

... boxes, their wooden fretwork and decorative painting. We felt so comfortable....the streets were still narrow but the houses were much more open and detached from each other. Their fences were all low and therefore had a much more villagy (I know that's not quite a word) feel. Snow, yes there was snow. Not in the village but definitely at the top of the surrounding mountains and more importantly on the Kitzsteinhorn!!!!! We drove up the hill, onto a couple ...

August 26-Monday
We left Kitzbuhel at 8:30. There was a brief stop in Berchtesgarden, in Germany, at 10:00. Up on the side of the mountain, we could see Hitler's Eagle’s Nest. It was rather chilling to see that part of history. The bunker is now a restaurant. Our rest stop overlooked a valley filled with wonderful homes. What a view! Back on the bus and on to Salzburg. Time 10:35.

... big surprise…there was a good, old fashioned peony, right up there in the Alps. There was a small visitor’s cabin in the garden where you could sign your name and where you lived. It was interesting to see the different places people had come from, all over the world, and Paul & Bev Malak from Lemont, Illinois, USA, added their names to the list. At about 3:15, the clouds started to break and we got our first glimpse of the valley. I am ...