October 2006

This time was not as dangerous as before, and the route was also not so long. But hiking was not so interesting as climbing, so it made me feel more tired easily at the begining.

Looked like a stupid farmer girl, haha...

Taking a break at nearly every resting point...

Poor girl, so tired, but still had to keep on hiking...

Fortunately we soon reached the top.

The feeling on the top of mountain was not bad.
The temperature up there was really nice so late in autumn, so we very much enjoyed the warm sunshine.

Beer, beer, I love you, haha...

Going back down and enjoying some views on lake Attersee below.

On Sunday we finally had to go back to our home and there was not much time left for much sight seeing.

But we still wanted to visit a special place along our route back:
The castle Churburg.

This castle is a very interesting place, telling lots of stories about the life at medieval age.

Unfortunately it was not allowed to take pictures inside of the castle, so we have only a few shots from there.

Some lucky kids had the chance to experience how those knights must have felt in their heavy armour.

Later we had lunch at a restaurant just a few kilometres from the Italian-Austrian border.

These lovely iron clothes are for sale - whoever wants to wear them.

Nice church, but unfortunately we did not see it from the inside.

When leaving the hotel on this day we also took a few pictures at the entrance.

All in all it was a very new, nice and clean place, and the people there were also very friendly. All that at a very affordable price.
We thoroughly can recommend Hotel Flora in Meran!

After spending the morning in the center of Meran, in the afternoon we visited a very special place:
The botanical gardens at castle Trautmannsdorff.

When we visited there, autumn was at its prime time.
So those many different colours, nice parks and beautifuls trees and flowers gave us a memorable experience.

In this garden we passed by some beautiful paths...

waterfalls...

pieces of art...

and strange creatures.

We also reached a viewpoint...

which gave us some nice views of the castle and its surroundings.

Lake in the center of the park.

Us in front of castle Trautmannsdorff.

Famous princess "Sissi" of Austria (on the left), who also loved to spend her holidays at this place and take walks in the surrounding forests.

Who wouldn't like taking a walk a such at beautiful place?

European art can be a bit erotic.

Beautiful plants, which usually can be found growing near lakes.

Cute rabbits - not only kids love them!

Isn't this place beautiful?

In early morning we took a walk in the centre of Meran, where many beautiful parks and buildings can be found.

The Meran convention centre.

The most beautiful church of Meran is located right at the beginning of the main shopping road...

...where they sell many different products, including bacon...

...and wine.

In the afternoon where were driving down further south, for some different activity: Going up a secured climbing route.

The route is the most difficult we climbed so far,

but I still could climb it nicely...

...and reach the top safely!

Happy on top!

On this short trip we were visiting the northern-most province of Italy, which is divided in two parts: The "Südtirol" or "Alto Adige", which formerly belonged to Austria and thus most people still are speaking German language there, and the "Trento" where all people are speaking Italian language only.

So this province is an interesting mixture of German and Italian culture, and thus one can find different types of food, buildings and people in this part of Italy.

On our 2nd day we went to the biggest city of Südtirol, which is called "Bozen".

Here you can see the cathedral, which is located near the main square of Bozen.

Photos from the interior of the beautiful cathedral.

The "victory monument".
It was built by the Italians after World War I, when they conquered this region and annexed it to Italy.

Even near the city centre beautiful landscapes can be found easily.

At the entrance of the archeological musuem, where they keep the famous "Iceman", which lived here 5000 years ago.

Unfortunately it was not allowed to take pictures inside the museum.

At the Bozen fruit market.

In the front you can see some very typical food of this area: Marones.
They are most delicious when they are been eaten in autumn, when they are fresh and ripe.

In the afternoon we took a drive to the nearby hills...

...to visit the old castle Hocheppan...

...and have some tasty chicken there.

Inside the castle.

When going down to Italy, we took a short break right at the first village after the border, to take a walk along the central road.

Sterzing is famous for its original old architecture.

In the evening, after we had arrived at our hotel, we went out to have dinner, and decided for probably the best part of Italian food: Pizza!

Sunday, 21st of October, was a very sunny autumn day again, so we wanted to make use of the still good weather and go outdoor again.

However, on this day we wanted to go more than just a hiking path, so we selected a route which also has some climbing parts to make going up more interesting and also more challenging.

This is why we chose to do a route in eastern Austria, which includes some iron ropes, artificial steps and a long steep ladder.

The beginning of the climbing route.

Soon we reached a nice resting point to stop for some food and drink.

This route is very popular so many other people were visiting there on that Sunday.

The route is clogged up with slower people ahead, so we have to wait.

At the long ladder. It's really very steep!

After that ladder we soon reached the top and could enjoy the view up there.

A lovely area with beautiful nature.

One of some restaurants, which not only have delicious food, but also nice views and beautiful surroundings.

This day saw some lovely autumn weather and we passed by many colourful trees.

When going down we had to do some more climbing again.

It's a bit scary but also lots of fun.

Finally on safe ground again.

Before driving back home to Linz, we decided to go to the eastern-most province of Austria, the "Burgenland", to have dinner there.

We had mixed barbecue with lots of french fries.

As the east of Austria is famous for its wine, we were drinking some more "Sturm" (fresh, sweet wine) again.

Cheers!

It was my first time to wear looking like a professional outdoor traveler, before i never tried this style clothes, coz i thought it would make me look like a guy, actually i like the feminal clothes. But from the pictures, i really was a little surprised that i looked not bad with the new style clothes, haha...

I always dreamed to be a farmer...

Nothing is nicer than working in nature.

A very typical type of animal in rural Austria: A cow.

Colourful autumn time.

My honey climbed an old tree.

Finally we reached the top.

Nice resting place.

"Urfahrmarkt" is a local fairground in the city of Linz, which takes place twice a year, in spring and in autumn.

There are many different things to do at Urfahrmarkt.
One can take one of the many fairground rides; shop for toys, clothes, accessories or many other things; taste some local or exotic snacks...

...or visit one of the big tents to have a beer there and listen to Austrian folk music spiced up with some comedy acts and other entertainments.

From left to right: Me, my sister-in-law and her best friend.

Drinking beer together with my brother-in-law, his wife (on the left) and her best friend.

"Chaos" - one of the many attractions to play with on Urfahrmarkt.

The "Barmsteine" are not very high, just two small, rocky peaks, which are located exactly at the border between Austria and Germany.

So one can choose to climb them either from the Austrian or the German side. As it was already afternoon when we started our hike, we chose to climb them from the German side, so we could enjoy the warm afternoon sun whilst walking there.

We started at the end of a small road, near some farm houses.

Cute sheep.

Such beautiful nature.

Some more farm animals.

The small Barmstein and the Austrian side.

The big Barmstein and the German side.