Kosher Travel with Fran and David: Third "Great" Grandparent Trip

Our week in Austria Part 2

Wednesday:

Abtenau Summer Tobogganing Run - we began Wednesday by driving about an hour east of our apartment to the area of Abtenau. We had been here on a previous visit to Austria and this was a highlight for us then and we figured the girls would enjoy it as well. It is called the Karkogel in Austrian but in English we would call this a mountain toboggan run. You first take a chair lift to the top of the mountain and then you mount a toboggan which sits on a track and you begin to descend the mountain. It is an exhilarating ride, first because of the clean fresh mountain air, second because of the amazing views from the top of the mountain and third because of the ride itself.

And now that we have completed Austria and are writing this post from Switzerland, when we surveyed the girls and asked them which attractions were on top of their lists, the Abtenau toboggan pops up all the time as one of the highlights.

We must point out here, that all over Austria, wherever we went, we heard Hebrew. Individual families on vacation, large groups (organized and just groups of friends), they were everywhere. When we went on the toboggan ride down the mountain at Abtenau, almost everyone was Israeli. Austria is seen as a reasonably priced, as well as a family friendly tourist destination. You can rent villas or ski lodges everywhere that accommodate groups and families. The tourist passes allow families to travel for a reasonable price.

In contrast, when we reached Switzerland, we stopped hearing Hebrew in the air. Switzerland is a very expensive place to go touring and therefore Israelis choose Austria.

Lammerklamm Gorge - a short drive away is the Lammerklamm Gorge and while this is supposed to be a dramatic walk through a very deep gorge, because of heavy rainfalls and rock falls in Austria, a major part of the walkway is now under repair and inaccessible. There is another gorge in Austria that we wished to visit called the LichtensteinKlamm but again because of rock slides, it is complete closed for repairs to the walkway system. So we walked through the accessible area which in reality was not worth the time or the effort.

The Gollinger Wasserfall - from Lammerklamm, after a short 20 minute drive, we reached the town on Golling and followed the signs through town to the Gollinger Wasserfalle, which after seeing Niagara and Iguazu, we thought would be a major letdown. Surprisingly, the waterfall, located inside a forested area, and an easy five minute walk from the parking lot, was very pretty and picturesque and had a dream like quality about it. We spent some time taking pictures and then headed back to the parking lot for lunch.

The Do Re Mi Meadow of the Sound of Music - our next destination on this very busy day, was the town of Werfen, home to the huge Werfen castle that we had already passed a number of times overlooking the highway while driving to and from Salzburg.

But before going to the castle, we decided to go to something that I had read about while researching this trip. The castle is featured in the "meadow scene" in the movie the Sound of Music, when Julie Andrews and the children all run through the meadow and sing Do Re Mi. When I googled it, surprisingly, it popped up. It seems that the meadow scene was shot from a farm overlooking the town of Werfen and the castle. It belongs to a local farmer and because of the many requests that he had received from people who wanted to visit his "historic" site, he fenced off the area, and erected scenic vantage points where you could re-create the scene from the movie. It is free to visit, easy to find if you carefully follow the directions on Google (there are no signs at all indicating where you are going or what you will find there) and there are few if any tourists. But it is beautiful.

So we went there and spent a few minutes looking through the props of scenes from the movie and as the Von Woolf - Von Feldman Family, sang our own version of Do Re Mi. Lots of fun, very scenic and a great opportunity to bond with some local cows grazing in the field.

The Birds of Prey inside the HohenWerfen Castle - On to Wefen Castle and our final activity for the day, the Birds of Prey show atop the castle. Entry into the castle is via a very steep long Funicular that deposits you at one of the highest levels of the hill. The show is on twice a day and we were there for the afternoon show that begins at 3:15 PM. We think that everyone there was Israeli, and there were hundreds there. Seated on the grass or on surrounding benches, two or three falconry experts, dressed in period dress, come out with their Birds, falcons, hawks, eagles etc., and put them through their exercises, flying literally above your heads, soaring high above and then swooping back down above the crowd to land on their handlers' outstretched arms. It is a dramatic show in a beautiful setting.

The kids were exhausted by this time (they are finding it a bit difficult keeping up with Bubbie and Gramps!), and so we headed back to our apartment and two of them made use of the free passes that our Airbnb host had provided to cool off in the local swimming area not far from our place.

An end to one of the busiest and most enjoyable days on our trip.

Thursday:

The Flying Mozart Ski Lift to the top of Mount Grafenberg - on Thursday morning, we headed into our small town of Wagrain and took the lift to the top of the mountain we were facing in our apartment, Mount Grafenberg. Atop the mountain, is a small Glacier lake and a very creative playground that we enjoyed for the hour or so that we were there. A giant trampoline, rope walks across the lake, long slides down the side of the mountain....and a very refreshing, clean air walk around the lake, was a great way to begin the day.

The Salt Mines in Halein - last time we were here, we visited the very picturesque town of Hallstatt and its salt mine deep inside a mountain. This time, based on what we had read comparing the various salt mines in the area, we decided to visit another salt mine, a much closer drive to where we were staying, in the town of Hallein, which is right on the border of Germany. In fact when you ride the train into the mountain and the inner depths of the salt mine, you actually cross the border into Germany with no passport or visa control!

The tour was very well organized. We were first taken into a dressing area where everyone was provided with protective clothing overalls. We all then mounted a train car that took us about a kilometre into the depths of the mountain. The temperature drops from the mid twenties outside to about 12 degrees inside. Very cool! Our guide showed us a couple of films that explained the importance of salt to the economy of the area in medieval times and how controlling the salt mines enabled the rulers to stay in power. It also explained the process of mining salt and then we actually rode a small boat across an interior lake where the salt was extracted from the walls of the mine and salt content percentage was controlled.

Getting from one level of the salt mine to levels below was fun and we now understood why we needed protective clothing. You got on a long wooden slide that you rode down to the next level of the mine to continue the tour.

When exiting the mine, we were all handed mini packets of salt, and then we were deposited in the gift shop where naturally you could buy salt souvenirs.

It was a fun visit and somewhat educational as well.

Shopping for souvenirs in the pedestrian street of Salzburg - we ended our day by driving back into Salzburg and spending an hour souvenir and gift shopping.

And so ended our Sunday to Thursday tour of Austria.

We think that you will agree that this was a week packed with visits to majestic mountains, lakes, rivers, gorges and some of the most beautiful vistas that one can imagine. Sometime in the middle of the week, the girls began the day with "guess where we are going today? We will see mountains and rivers and cows....". And while you would think that after a few days you would become used to the amazing landscapes that were visible all around, all five of us continued to be overwhelmed by the majesty of God's amazing creations.

Our accommodations the entire week was in a two bedroom villa in the small mountain town of Wagrain. The owners, Chris and Maria, originally from England, own a number of ski lodges in the area and run a first class operation. We booked on Airbnb and were not disappointed. There was lots of room, the apartment was well equipped and the location was within an hour drive of all the attractions that we managed to squeeze in during the week.

The weather cooperated amazingly and while there were periods of mountain fog early in the morning, most of the days were sunshine filled with temperatures in the low to mid 20s. Ideal for hiking and touring.

We left each day quite early and returned in the early evening at which time our "catering crew" swung into action and prepared creative delicious meals. The granddaughters admitted at the end of the week that they had had somewhat low expectations for the meals that would be served on this trip, owing to lack of availability of kosher products, but were pleasantly surprised by what they actually experienced. We must give a special "shout out" to granddaughter Eden, who volunteered to be the "top chef" for our trip and who really took charge of the kitchen at all times.

Fran and I have to admit that we eat much simpler when we travel alone; Eden simply could not cook without having all the ingredients that she needed. Not having her lemons or her fresh avocados was a disaster 😀! And how can you have supper without potatoes three different ways? Fried, baked and sweet potatoes as well? And while our travelling version of a vegetable soup is quite simple, Eden's is truly gourmet ! So thanks Eden.

Friday morning, we targeted 7 AM for our departure, but in fact were on the road at 7:30 AM (late again...OMG!) for our 5 hour trip to Davos for Shabbat. The drive was uneventful and long. And when we arrived in Davos early Friday afternoon, the sight that greeted us was totally different than the previous Friday. Last Friday, the streets were literally filled with Chassidim, such that if you took away the surrounding mountains, you might of thought that you were on the streets of Bnei Braq, Geulah, Williamsburg or Borough Park.

But this Friday, being after Rosh Chodesh Elul, other than the few hikers and backpackers, the streets were empty. The supermarkets had the kosher items on half price because their customers had all packed up and left. And over Shabbat, instead of the hundreds of Chassidim in Shabbat dress walking to one of the 6 or 7 Shuls in town, there was now only one minyan in town and that minyan had scaled back operations to one minyan for mincha and one for shacharis. Perhaps 20 men and 15 women attended shul this Shabbat.

We had a wonderful Shabbat with our granddaughters; great meals with lots of zemirot, happiness and bonding. And if Shabbat is meant to be a Yom Menucha/Day of Rest, then we were machmir/very strict in its observance this week. We slept well, but we cannot get over the amount of time that teens are able to sleep...it is absolutely astounding.