Return to Paradise

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On my return trip back to Kramsach in my favorite area of Europe...Tirol...my beautiful wife Erin was able to join me. We had a three day weekend, and the way my current work schedule allowed me to leave early in the day (kind of a recurring theme). Since we already shipped the RAV-4 back to the states, we decided to rent a car (even though my 1995 4-cyclinder leather-interior Honda Accord is really tough, it lacks speed) in order to expedite our 5.5 hour journey down to Austria. Unfortunately, even having a European-spec car (granted, it was French) didn't help lessen the impact that 7 hours of driving does on one's butt. We failed to realize that May 28 was a European holiday, hurdling an unprecedented mass of metal in the direction of the Alps. Shhharttt!

Since we were able to leave by 11am, we arrived at a reasonable time in the early evening, checked into our guesthouse/farm called Stegerhof. It was beautiful. Aside from the occassional ripe smell of cows (which I've been getting used to over the past year and a half, with our apartment sitting just up the hill from a righteous smelling barn), our ablutions were perfect.

Having the warmest lakes in Tirol (which happened to be right across the street from our farm), beautiful bike paths criss-crossing open meadows and moutain streams, miles and miles of hiking paths accessed by a single-person chairlift, and best of all...a local brewery, this region of Tirol is amazing. Our three days didn't last long enough.

Perhaps our highlight was taking a single-seater chairlift up to the top of the surrounding mountains, and hiking along ridge lines, through meadows, amongst beautiful flowers, and past pristine lakes. Also, biking around the always beautiful Achensee was another highlight. Anyone reading this blog, you need to visit. Erin and I both decided that if we EVER go back to Europe, the only place where we would visit would be the Alps...preferably the Austrian Alps (Bavaria, a close second).

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Photos

Sunburnt #2
drinking at the brewery in Rattenberg

the Achensee
...you can see that a walking/bike path runs pretty much the whole way around the lake

under the vines...
view from the side of the guesthouse

the Achensee...again
...the lake is something like 6km by 10km...very large

Comments

[chickpoo]

Gorgeous country
Those views and locations are stunning. Glad you got back to your favorite place. The little mountain lake is called a Tarn, a glacial lake.