Austria

On day 7 we woke up early, ate a quick breakfast and got on the bus for a long day of bus riding. David had been talking to our bus driver who recommended that we ride in the front seat for the drive from Venice to Austria. He was right. The view from the front seat of the Dolomites and northen Italy was astounding. The mountains got taller and more straight up. The valleys were greener, the trees more interesting. The sky bluer. Everything about the drive indicated clearer air, more beautiful scenery and a mountain retreat to make us very happy. And all the indications were exactly right.

Around lunch time we stopped in a town in northern Italy called Bolzano. There we went to the archeology museum and saw Otzi the ice man (found in a glacier about 10 years ago), had lunch and gelato. Bolzano was a charming town. It would have been fun to hang out there for a while.

We arrived at Gutshof zum Schluxen around 4 and had to hurriedly get some clothes on to wash, have a bath (David had a nap) and enjoy some of the local wine before dinner. And dinner was amazing. I had the veal and David had the venison. Unbelievable. And did I mention the local wine? Because it was also fabulous. During my quiet time at the bar watching the patriarch kill flies, I was seriously enjoying the relaxation of no kids, no husband and no tour buddies, when one of our guides walked by and said, "You look totally refreshed!" I said, "I had a bath in a real tub with hot water," and she was jealous.

That night after a wonderful sleep, David, Alyssa and Elizabeth went with the rest of the tour group on a hike to Neuschwanstein Castle. They took this picture of the village we stayed in along the way. I stayed back at the hotel and got our clothes on the line (which were later brought in by the hotel staff and folded when the rain storm came up. Wonderful people at Schluxen).

Neuschwanstein Casle was built by Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria but never completed. He built it because he liked the view--it was an astounding view and an extremely difficult hike. He dedicated the castle to Wagner's operas with each room "playing out" the main idea from one of the opeas. Swans also played an important role, with over 300 swans depicted in one room alone!

After Neuschwanstein, we went to the luge and had a picnic. Everybody but me rode the luge twice and found it to be quite fun. It just wasn't my thing. I did enjoy the picnic, especially the champagne.

After that we went back to our hotel where we rested up a bit from our extremely physical day. After David's nap, we hiked into the village and took a few pictures of interesting things. The village church was charming. And the cows that were being herded home by two guys on bicycles kept us laughing for quite some time.

We made it back to our hotel in time to have some of that beautiful wine at the bar before dinner (no flies this tme). Dinner that night was a buffet of all kinds of terrific food.

I did not want to leave Schluxen. It was the first place I totally relaxed on the trip, the kids had play space and enjoyed the country air. The food, if possible, was actually better than Italy. We had so much fun there. The hotel owners were extremely nice. Everything about it was perfect. Our driver spoke excitedly about Schluxen from the day he picked us up in Rome and I completely understand. He called it a "heaven on earth" where the water tastes like nothing else in the world. And he was right. Everything in Austria was perfect--the weather, the food, the activities, the smell, the atmosphere, the scenery. I cannot wait to go back to this little wonder on our earth.