When we were first discussing this trip, a visit to Austria
seemed out of the cards. Very right wing politicians had come into
significant positions of influence in the government and the European Union was
applying a boycott on all things Austrian due to concerns over anything that
evened hinted at support for anything that might become another Hitler.
When all was said and done, we decided to visit because the strongest
recommendation we had for where to stay during our visit to Munich and the
Castles of Ludwig was for a working farm located just over the border into
Austria.
Are we ever glad that we changed our minds! Our stay in Austria was one
of the most relaxing parts of the trip and a great joy. (Four days to
stretch out in a two bedroom almost-apartment on a quiet farm will do that for
you)
In addition to being a nice base for our explorations of Germany, we enjoyed
the scenery and the people of Austria. So much so that when time came to
start back west, we chose to stay in Austria and drive down the valley of the
river Lech (the Lechtal). Wow! Green river valley farms with mural
covered homes between two arms of the Alps on a sunny afternoon with little
traffic. For those of us who enjoy driving for the sake of driving, it
doesn't get much better than this!
For those who do not necessarily enjoy the driving for joy of it (such as the
kids in the back seat), the summer luge ride was a big hit. Think of a
sled on wheels down a concrete bobsled run with a one-stick control that is both
the throttle and the breaks. We found one that was more than a kilometer
long (more than half a mile) and had a great time. Juli needed to go with
the adults and we found that she is a real daredevil. She and Lori
'cleared air' at one point on their last ride. We have since been asked to
find another one near us here in Paris so we can try this again. Perhaps
we will have to visit the mountains again...
By swinging a bit further south, we found that we were close to the country
of Lichtenstein, on the Austria/Switzerland border. Having been to
Luxembourg and San Marino and looking to visit the Vatican, we decided that we
could get one step closer to completing our 'tiny countries of Europe' list by
stopping by. So we did. A small country with a tasty lunch and a
nice hike afterwards. Not too bad.
Austria. We could 'do it' again. Here are the pictures.
