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In our quest to visit both well-known cities and small towns of Austria, we decided to stay the night in Rattenberg... Austria's smallest town.

At first, I thought Rattenberg would be off the beaten track. And, to stay there the night probably was. However, Rattenberg's holding its own... mostly thanks to its glass production. The whole region of Tirol is known for its salt and glass. In Rattenberg, salt takes a back seat to glass.

Rattenberg on a map looks like a joint between Kramsach and Radfeld, more like a neighborhood than a town in its own right. And while neither Kramsach nor Radfeld are particularly well-known either, it takes longer than five minutes to walk from one end of the town to the other. Rattenberg is truly tiny. When we got off the S-Bahn, we turned the corner and entered under the arch that separates Radfeld from Rattenberg. From there, it was just an assortment of glass shops, a few guesthouses and churches until the end of the town a few hundred meters away. When we said we wanted to visit big and small alike, we definitely hit the mark on the "small."

So after dropping our bags off at our guesthouse, we spent a few hours wandering through glass shops galore. My favorite, Kisslinger, went on for forever. There must have been about 20 different rooms in the store, each filled floor to ceiling with all kinds of glassworks. In one room, a few women worked on blowing glass while in another there was a station to etch designs into new products. It was fascinating to see so much glass, ranging from plain vases to elaborately cut bowls.

The best part about Rattenberg though was the castle that we found on top of the town. Right above the tunnel that the S-Bahn passes under sits a small castle site that must have been converted into festival grounds. Keith and I spent about two hours roaming around the site. It overlooked the whole town, and beyond. Had the day been less cloudy, I'm sure we would have been afforded spectacular views of the Alps. Even with the cloud cover though, it was amazing.

Tomorrow, we leave for Germany, but not before stopping in Kufstein for a quick look around. I will say though, that for all of Innsbruck's beauty and Hall's intimacy... Rattenberg so far has been my favorite place that we've visited on this trip. The uniqueness of it all has really struck me - from the man lighting the medieval looking lamps at sunset to the lederhosen worn at the brauhaus we ate at our only night in town to the charming couple who ran our little guest house on the main street in the village. I've really enjoyed my time here.

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