Europe, 2023
We flew out to Vienna mid July which allowed us a little time before German classes started. Once again, it was good to see all the neighbours and old friends, again.
We spent one weekend in July at Marina's alm
And I flew out to the UK again.
The berliners turned up for a week in August and on a very hot Friday, we saw this Steve McCurry exhibition. It was housed in a very old merchant warehouse, with huge open areas six stories high.
The big ice cave, Werfen
Friday, 15/09/2023 For almost two decades, we had been meaning to visit the world's largest ice cave at Tennengebirge, just south of Salzburg. We caught the train to Salzburg on the Thursday before the second last weekend, so we could catch the train out to Werfen on Friday morning to be in time for the bus to take us up the mountain to the Visitors Centre. From there, it is a 20 minute walk to the chairlift and another 20 minute walk from the Resturant at the end of the chairlift to caves entrance. Given how beautiful the weather was, we skipped the chairlift and walked the whole way up.
The minor rockfall at the beginning of the walk up.
The view of the chairlift lines and the valley floor.
Taking a selfie halfway along.
The caves entrance.
There is a door keeping the cave shut tight as there is quite a wind blowing through the mountain and access is only during summer. The average temperature during winter is -20 degrees.
As involved as it was getting there, the first visitors had a much harder time back in the mid 1920s. The summer temperatures are about zero degrees. In spring, when the cave is opened again, it always interesting for the guides to see what changes occurred over winter, as the ice shifts. The cave is over 40km deep but the guided tours are only for the first 1km which is mostly up, about 700 stairs . . .
At the furthest, deepest part of the tour, above right.
On the return trip, there is a wall of ice. About where his left hand is, samples have been estimated at about 5,000 years old.
Back outside after an hour, back in the heat, we enjoy the gentle warm of the sun on the walk back down. Coats and gloves now back in the backpack.
Saturday was another trip out to the bike shop ZweiRad just across the Austrian German border. We spent a good hour replacing Susanna's bike seatpost with a Cane Creek suspension post . . . but coffee and cake at the resturant across the road was worth it. Sunday was an attempt at Giesburg on the bikes, again.
The resturant half way up but it was too early for food, so we kept going up.
The view of Untersberg from the table at the side of the resturant at the top. Schwammerl Gulsch and Kaiser Schmarrn for lunch and very nice it is, too.
We catch the train back to Vienna and I am ready for German first thing Monday morning. Then at 5am Tuesday morning, I am throwing up and feeling extremely nauseous. By Wednesday evening, I can barely keep toast down. On Thursday, we go for a walk but I am still very uneasy. On Friday, we catch a taxis to a clinic where I have an MRI at 9:45am setup by Marina from two doors down the road. After many hours of waiting, and a CT, the doctor understands that it is a viral infection and I am prescibed steriods for the next 5 days. We finally leave by 6:30pm. I start to feel better and catch the tram to German on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and even on Thursday but leave early, cause I am flying home in the afternoon.