Castle and Kargogel Days

A couple of days ago we visited Werfen Castle (Hohenwerfen), and despite the cloudy outlook for the day, it ended up being a fantastic trip.  Then, yesterday we drove to the cute little town of Abtenau, where we rode a gondola up a mountain, went for a long hike, and then rode an alpine slide back down at a place called Kargogel.

Here are our Top 10 Highlights from these trips:

1. Walking up to the majestic fortress at the top of the hill.

 2. Seeing all the old gateways, ramps, and courtyards.

3. Playing with old-time toys

4. Watching the falconry show!

 5. Seeing all the big birds (including bald eagles) soaring overhead.

6. Riding the gondola (NOT).  Well, for everyone else this was a highlight... but for me it was just plain terrifying.  What was I thinking??  Riding in a small metal box way, way off the ground, being pulled up a mountain by a little cable is not very fun for a control-oriented person such as myself.  Now I remember why I don't like skiing.

Looking at the cows far below

I'm up way too high.

Sue doesn't mind the height at all!

7. Enjoying a beautiful hike for a couple hours, and discovering things like caves and lakes.

We just came up a very steep climb through the woods on the right

One of our chief activities was keeping Milo away from the edge

The boys love to pick me flowers.  :)

Saw some "wild" cows with bells around their necks

8. Riding the slide down.  (Some of us went much faster than others.  I was one of the "others.")

"Look, Mom -- no hands!"

9. Walking around Abtenau and realizing that we had had perfect weather for our activities this week - even though the forecast had been full of rain!

10.  Getting ice cream cones.  :)

Fun times with Uncle Al