You cannot spell Bad Aussee without "Bad Ass"

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Eric and I decided to take a good break from society and large cities by having a retreat to the alps. Bad Aussee was just that, it was very relaxing, very nice, and very quiet. And very beautiful. Unfortunately, we got a very good look at the alpine rains, which fell on us every day we were there. On the whole though, it was great.

We had spent the previous night in a packed, sweaty hostel in Salzburg, so we were very excited to find that we were among the only guests at the hotel we had in Bad Aussee. It was so empty there, that we actually had breakfast with the hotel staff, and those were the only people we saw that morning. So, we explored the town, and the surrounding area for a few days anyway. Here is what we learned:

The local brews in Bad Aussee are possibly the only really 'good' beer in Austria. Unfortunately, the Austrians do not know this fact and cling fast to their mediocre beer. While we were learning this at a resteraunt in town, an Irishman came in. We knew he was Irish because he spoke with an Irish accent and requested Guinness. Eventually he sat with us and explained that he was in the British Royal Commandos, or something like that, and he was hiking and hitchhiking across Europe without money or direction for his unit to raise money for a boy from his villiage to go to America for medical purposes. It was very good to hear good English again, and the stories this guy had (Graham was his name, ftr) were amazing. Before we met him, he had been two and a half days without food or sleep, and was set to go from Salzburg (where he woke the day prior) to Sarejevo.

Despite the cloudy weather that we experienced, the alps are genuinely beautiful. I cannot explain this enough, except that most of my pictures will be of clouds and mountains. We went to a neighboring town, Grundelsee, and hiked along the lake, and it was perhaps one of the most beautiful experiences ever. There are these little towns spread out all over the Salzkammergut nestled against little lakes and in the mountains. It is truely breathtaking.

Also, Bad Aussee is the geographic center of Austria, or so they claim. In order to celebrate, they have a number of monuments in a park. The pinnacle of which is a large Mercedes logo that Chrysler/Mercedes donated, making a bridge across a river junction. So... if you want to go to the middle of Austria... go to Bad Aussee.

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Photos

Bad Aussee in heavy fog
It was a dark and stormy night...

Moooo
Austrian food laws require much more strict regulations on cattle than their American counterparts. As a result, the cattle here look like real animals instead of furry, smelly balloons.

Armoring up
Eric models Alpine fashion: rainwear. Which isn't too unfamiliar to us, because we go to school in the Pacific Northwest.

Farmland
Priceless

Grundelsee
Here is the mountains and lakes at Grundelsee.

Metropolis
Here is the fair hamlet of Grundelsee.

Big Mountain
Also in Grundelsee

Bus Stop in Grundelsee
Even the bus stops in Grundelsee are nice, quaint Alpine edifices

The Mercedes-Bridge
Eric admiring the bridge at the center of Austria.

Center of Austria
This rock marks the center of Austria. The plaque at the bottom reads: "Aus einem Stein bin ich / Mittelpunkt Österreichs / Jetzt und für alle Zeit / 1949 - 1989 ", which means something like "Made of stone, I am the mittle point of Austria, now and for all time. 1949-1989. Neato

Bad Aussee in the partial sunlight.
Here is as close to daylight that I saw Bad Aussee in.

Alpine house
cosy

Skatepark
It is good to know that the skate kids here still know their roots and represent the NWA.

Comments

[alia142]

Holy cow...
Definitely some awesome cow pictures, Mr. Matt. teehee

[Ben]

Made of stone
I like the melancholy of the whole place. It seems desserted, except for the cow and BRC dude. I wonder how long the stone monument will truly be the center of Austria, 100 years, 50. who knows.