The next morning after a delicious buffet breakfast, we drove ahead into Austria. On the way we stopped to visit Kehlsteinhaus (also called the Eagle's Nest) which is a chalet house built at the top of a peak (1800m above sea level) of one of the mountains, it was given to Hitler as a gift for his 50th birthday. To get to the house we first had to catch a bus up the steep mountain range, then for the last part we took an elevator (which was elaborately decorated) up through the inside of the mountain, to the top peak. The house has been converted into a restaurant. Unfortunately it was very cloudy up so high, so we couldn't see very much, but if the clouds weren't there, the view would have been amazing. It was strange to think that Hitler had been in the same elevator that I was in and walked through the same tunnel. When we went down a bit lower again, we could see some of the view through the clouds.
After this we drove along towards our destination, along a small windy road that kept crossing back and forth across the border between Germany and Austria. We arrived in the afternoon at Filzmoos, a little village high up in the mountains in Austria. This was only around 30 minutes from where I was skiing in Austria in February. From our hotel you could see high mountains all around, many with empty grass paths down the hillsides and chair lifts that weren't running, it was funny to see what a ski village looks like in summer. The nature in the area is beautiful, so green and lush with the rocky peaks of some of the mountains having snow on them. All of the houses which are mostly brown, yellow and white and decorated intensely with ornaments and very bright coloured flowers in colours like pink, red, purple and yellow. The village is in a valley, and you can see many horses, rabbits, sheep, cows and goats covering most of the surrounding fields.
The next day we spent relaxing, enjoying the fresh mountain air and the sun. We went for a walk to the village to have a look and have some lunch. Filzmoos is a very cute, very Austrian village.
On the Monday we went hiking in the mountains. We hiked for around 4 1/2 hours, up the mountain, across and then back down. At the beginning it was hard work, very steep and a lot of the time you were climbing up rocks or tree branches like big steps. The view from the top was incredible, over the Alps. You could see many other huge mountains, some with glaciers on the tops, then down below you could see forests, the green countryside in the valley and the village. While we were walking up in the mountains, we were walking along some very small paths that looked more like they were trails for goats than walking paths. We walked across huge areas of rocks on the mountainside, picking our own path on the flattened out rocks that were stable. We saw some animals called marmots scampering across the rocks, they look a lot like a beaver, but live in the mountains. There were huge patches of snow that were still there, that had remained frozen even though it was summer. We had to walk across snow in some parts of the hike, which was kind of fun, but you also had to be careful because it could be a bit slippery and there was a long way down the mountain if you fell! There were some parts where the snow was melting, creating little rivers of melt water down the hillside; we stopped to taste some of this very fresh mountain water.
The whole time we could hear cow bells echoing through the mountains. It is very common for farmers to put bells around their cows' necks in the mountains in Austria, so that they can find them. On the walk back down, it was very beautiful. We walked through a very lush area that had a very picturesque stream, even a heard of horses and the occasional group of cows. We were certainly glad to put our legs up when we got back down and take our shoes off!
The next day we relaxed in the morning, our legs were actually quite sore from hiking the previous day. In the afternoon we went to a nearby town called Golling and visited a very beautiful waterfall.
On Wednesday we left the mountains and drove to the city of Salzburg. We spent the afternoon sight-seeing in the very old and beautiful city. We saw the house that Mozart was born in then another he had lived in, as well as a lot more. A lot of the buildings and architecture are covered with intricate carvings and fine designs; the many little cobblestone streets open up into large squares with very important and elegant looking statues and gardens. It was quite a nice warm sunny day, so the city also had a very lively and summery atmosphere, with music playing throughout the streets.
The next day we headed in the direction of Denmark, stopping in a small town in Germany called Wolfshagen to stay over night. The next morning, after seeing some very old steam trains that still run, we drove back to Denmark. We made one more stop on the way, at Scandinavian Park, a big shopping complex just inside the German border, where shopping is very cheap, before we arrived back in Denmark late Friday evening.
I felt so lucky to share this wonderful summer holiday with my host family, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I have only 2 days left until I move out of this family, so I need to start packing!
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