"The Hills Are Alive......"

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Austria (19th - 24th June, 2007)

From Germany we continued our road trip driving across the boarder in to Austria.

Innsbruck

We were surrounded by mountains as we got closer to Innsbruck. Such beautiful countryside. Innsbruck is where Swarovski Crystal is made so we paid a visit to the museum called Kristallwelten. The museum was really well done however mum had great difficulty restraining herself in the shop at the end! There was one or two crystals brought home! And these small crystals are packed in huge boxes with loads of padding. Great for travelling!

Of course it's all about the food and while in Innsbruck we sampled all the local delicacies including apple strudel, apple champagne and weiner schnitzel.

Salzburg

Move over Fraulien Maria! We made it to the land of The Sound of Music. And we had Rosa Maria (I'm not convinced that this was her real name!) take us on a fantastic tour of Salzburg and the areas where The Sound of Music was filmed. There may have been some skipping around the gazebo singing "I am sixteen going on seventeen..." And loads more singing in the van as Rosa Maria played the sountrack. We stopped for afternoon tea at a fantastic spot in the Lake District where the hills are alive! We enjoyed cake called sachatorte which is a chocolate cake with apricot sauce through it served with cream.

We found a huge beer hall where all the beer is brewed by monks. Again, lots more good food to try!


Vienna

Vienna is a beatiful city and we were fortunate to be able to see the Vienna Boys Choir in concert. They have amazing voices. There was a huge storm that evening and we got caught in the foyer of a building where we stayed until the rain passed. When we got back to our campsite that night Bern and Elizabeth were running around with their head torches on looking for their underwear which had been blown around the campsite! My poor tent also wasn't looking too happy as it lay on its side.

The following morning we saw the Lippozzaner Horses at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. These horses are extremely well trained but watching them over a 2 hour training session became a little boring. I think I was expecting a lot more.

Graz

We found the most amazing swimming pool in Graz right next to our campsite. It was a huge freshwater pool with rocks on the bottom. There were also a few ducks swimming with us too.

Ossicher See

Just before crossing the boarder in to Italy we found another great spot on a huge lake. We had a lovely afternoon of swimming and relaxing in the sun.

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Photos

Look At That Strudel!
Innsbruck

Kristallwelten
Crystal Museum full of Swarovski's work

Sachatorte
Chocolate cake with apricot sauce and loads of cream!

Lake District - Salzburg
Sound of Music Tour

Ossiacher See
Cooking Dinner By The Lake