Hubertushof Zell am See

... hand at an ariel assault course....he came back a shell of his former self after 3 hours in the trees hanging from bits of wire and trying to keep up with 9 year old girls who were more agile than him..for my penance I had to play pitch and putt with Lauren using carved putters and wooden balls..no danger i'll be joining a golf tour anytime soon. 

Definitely worth a visit in winter for you keen boarders out there.

... cozy and German. Because it is surrounded by mountains we went for a long hike the first day. There is a lot to see in this area. Lots of little villages off the beaten path and the highlight is the Eagle's Nest.
Hitler spent a third of his time in Berchtesgaden. He had a small compound made here and it became the second seat of government next to Berlin. It was called the Bergoh and was his home. All the buildings were up ...

... ago. At that time we had entered the bunkers from that staircase and there was just our little tour and it was all very awesome and personal. In the new center, one enters from a well lit hallway (with aforementioned storyboards). And there were crowds of people coming and going everywhere. To me, it just didn’t have the same atmosphere.

We had to hop onto a second bus to head up the mountain to ...

Overnight rain had made little impact on the trails. Out here, they don't degenerate rapidly into mush like back home. Keith and I rode up behind the farm and up into the hills. The climbs were long and hard but rewarded by sweet woodland singletrack descents of varying levels of difficulty, peppered with rooty and rocky sections, steep and technical. Really big roots! I couldn't ...

... lunch but I went back up and used the Flying Gangster trail as my post-lunch challenge. It didn't disappoint! It's a freeride trail, with some very steep, fast sections, jumps, drops and big berms, but there's nothing you can't roll over if you're a beginner-level freerider or more used to XC, like me.

On my first run, I fell off after a bit of the trail that was covered with wood ended ...

... technical singletrack which was much more of a challenge for me and I had to work on shifting my balance on the bike, keeping the weight much further back, and trying to take a more balanced approach to braking, as I was heavily favouring the back brake (to such an extent that the rear tyre showed significantly more wear at the end of the week). Mountaintop lunch was a "Strammel Max" (ham, eggs ...

... the hotel wouldn't be able to give us a lift into town. Okay, we thought, but would we be able to book the glacier trip? I resolved there and then to find our own way into town. How hard could it be?

Anyway, they taxied us out to our hotel after dropping the Kitzbuehel contingent as our hotel was out by the lake. First impressions - very beautiful setting and they gave us a room with an enormous balcony - even though we hadn't paid extra for ...

... this one on the Net. The owner actually wears lederhosen every day! Attila wants a pair. The guesthouse has beautiful gardens and a pen out back with deer. Beautiful. We relctantly left our room and took the bus into town. We spent the evening wandering through town to get our bearings, stopping to eat at an Italian restaurant and watching the people go by, dressed to the nines for the music festival. In the ...

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.

... saw the most delightful parade! All the vehicles were decorated with flowers, from horse drawn wagons to cars, trucks, even the fire engines. The parade stepped off with the town band, playing that wonderful Bavarian music. We just stood on the side of the street with the rest of the people to watch the parade. It was a great experience, and one that we just happened upon! The festival with music, food…the works…was going on in town afterward ...