We have driven the Grossglockner Alpine Road to the Edelweisspitz Overlook. Take My Breath Away! The view! But the road will make your heart beat also as you can see…The far barely visible peak is the highest Grossglockner – which we are seeing now from the east. What clear visibility!The Edelweisspitz Overlook has a 360 degree view. We could even see the Berchtesgaden peaks – we are only about 40 km from where we first stayed in Anger, Germany.This is a compiled panorama photo of Hohe Tauern NP Grossglockner Peak from the Alpine Road Edelweisspitz Overlook. What a VIEW!The Edelweiss Hütte had a very good apple strudel which we enjoyed with cappuccinos. Because who would not want to linger to enjoy this view? We feel like eagles, not marmots, but thought this carving was quite cute.Another stop along the Alpine Road is Kaiser Franz Josefs Visitor Center with this view of the Pasterze Glacier, the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps, which has melted in the last 20 years to leave this lake.Grossglockner peak is reflected in the lake, before the clouds claim it again.Enjoying the view with Kaiser Franz Josef, who was here with his wife Elizabeth (Sisi) in 1856. He loved this area and as it is when you are emperor, it was preserved for all of us to enjoy. Thank – you, Austria!
We headed up the nearby valley to Kals/Berg for a full day of hiking in the Hohe-Tauern-National Park.We are going to hike the Kodnitztal towards Grossglockner – that magnificent peak in the background, which is the highest in Austria- 3.798 meters.There is fresh snow on the peaks! It is so beautiful and we feel so lucky to be enjoying such fabulous views!The clouds are moving in so this might be our last view of Grossglockner – but we are sure there is much to enjoy here.These are the big five wildlife that live here – maybe we will be lucky to see some natives: golden eagle, chamois, marmot, ibex, bearded vulture.After a little over an hour hike up and up, we arrive at Lucknerhütte. Cappuccinos and apple strudels with vanilla sauce were enjoyed by us on this outdoor deck. We could get used to this kind of hiking amenity.We continued further up the trail to enjoy the autumn splendor.We crossed the stream several times.We saw quite a few marmots, busily eating to prepare for winter. They are very fast, a bit shy, and scurry amongst the boulders. But this one was so busy eating he could not be bothered with a photographer.The geography and rock outcroppings were really accentuated with the early snowfall.We especially enjoyed this rock face that kept us company.Would you look at that?!!!!This is a view back at the valley and the 3,050 foot elevation we have gained hiking up. Wow. Very glad we still have it in us to do this hike!The mountains and clouds have played hide and seek but we end our 5 hour, six+ mile hike with full satisfaction. An immensely enjoyable day.We have good memories of visiting Grossglockner! FABULOUS!!!
Our mountain view apartment in Matrei was very spacious, had nice views of the town in the Isel river valley, including from our balcony.We enjoyed walking the town and visiting the Hohe Tauern National Park museum.One of the walks we did on our no-drive day was above the apartment to enjoy the entire valley of Matrei.The Isel is the longest free flowing glacial river in the entire Alps!Upstream we walked into Hohe Tauern NP to hike the NaturKraftWeg Umbalfälle .The hiking path follows this exuberant water to the glacial source but we only followed it for an hour or so from the end of the road.This is a tributary with a nice bridge near the confluence with the Isel.We enjoyed the wildness of the river, the carved rocks, and the vegetation. This is the Umbalfälle, the Umbal falls.And what do you know – there is a hütte with some hot soup for us! Goulash stew and Tyrolean Knodel Soup, which is a bread dumpling ball of goodness.
A beautiful day to visit Slovania’s capital city with its car free center.Architect Jože Plečnik shaped Ljubljana in the 1920’s, and it now recognized as a UNESCO, for his Human Centered Urban Design.This is a city designed for strolling and just enjoying the ambiance.We appreciated the details, like the lamps on the bridge. We imagine this would also be intriguing at night.Gorgeous buildings – this designed by another architect around 1907.A detail of the door at the Union Hotel.We are the first to sit for lunch at this outdoor cafe –Druga Violina – great local food that we thoroughly enjoyed!We also took in the City Museum to learn more about Slovenia. History from Neolithic Pile Houses in the nearby marshes, Celts, Romans, various dynasties, changing borders, to the vibrant country it is now.We walked around the town again, found some of the old Roman sites, and enjoyed people watching.Of course we needed to try some gelato! Raspberry and strawberry were both excellent.Ha – even a bit of rock ‘n roll. English is spoken by all we encountered – it is the common tourist language – right down to the music.
A folk tradition of Slovenia are these painted bee hive panels.This Bee Hive is the one in the park in Bled where the bees are busy making honey and then the honey sold from right from the other side of this hut.We went to the Museum of Apiculture in the cute village of Radovljica to learn more. They had a neat exhibit where you could watch bees come in and work.The Carnica bees from this region of the Alps are exported all over the world, including as shown on a historical map to Colorado.The history of bee keeping and how to produce more honey was described in this 1775 book.We also went to nearby Kropa, the cradle of Slovenian iron forging.The river is channeled off to an canal on the right….…that is controlled and provides the waterwheel power for all the iron forging.The museum had models to explain the ingenuity of this system.This area was well know for producing nails. It took 2 people to work efficiently on a nail while the iron was hot. Some of the nails were over a foot long to go into beams.Much of the more recent works are window grilles – this from the 1950’s.Amazing detail – especially when you think about how you have to form all this while the metal is hot.
Triglav National Park is the only national park in Slovenia. It is one of Europe’s oldest parks, with the first protection dating back to 1924.It is named after Triglav, which rises the highest (2864 m) in the heart of the park and is also Slovenia’s highest peak.We are thrilled to have such a beautiful day to explore this eastern part of the Julian Alps!There are 50 numbered turns – 26 up and 24 down…depending on which direction your traveling.On our way up we stopped at this Russian War Memorial, remembering those that died here in WWI.A few more turns, we found a place for cappuccino and pastry with an incredible view! Life is good……View in the other direction. Spectacular.At the summit of Vršič Pass, elevation of 5,285 ft – a mile high!We did a short hike to get up to this incredible view point.360 degrees of rock. The Alps were formed by the African Tectonic Plate crashing into the Eurasian, dramatically uplifting, then carved by glaciers.After a visit to the very interesting Alpine Botanic Gardens, the informative National Park Visitor Museum, we reached the mesmerizing emerald green waters of Soča River.Teal Water! For those Ernest Hemingway fans, this is where he was driving the ambulance during WWI, and written about in his “Farewell to Arms”. In case you want to read more of the gruesome WWI battle of the area.This area is peaceful and tranquil now. We enjoyed our day exploring.
We have driven south to Slovenia and the paradise of Lake Bled.The color of the lake does not look real. This was a steep hike up to the view point but worth the effort.All that effort calls for trying some of the local delicacies! The Bled cream cake is as good as it looks.We enjoy our balcony with a great view of the mountains. We are a 10 minute walk to the lake at Guest House Vera – a nice family home that has two apartments to rent.An early morning stroll around the lake.We enjoyed the reflections and the sunshine.The castle dates from 1100’s. I can’t imagine building it on this rock but it is very defensible.The scenery changes as you go around the lake but always spectacular.At the beach area, we stopped to try another Bled cream cake with cappuccino’s. A wonderful combination.We did some near by hikes including this one to Pokljuška soteska Gorgeand we did…A very unique hiking experience.We really enjoyed our balcony! We were able to use it every day as the weather was perfect.There is some beautiful mansions and stately architecture to enjoy on our walks around the lake. Here is a link to Bled tourism page.
St Stephen’s Cathedral in the center of Vienna is filled with tourists. Notice the amazing roof tiles!The interior is just as dazzling!The world famous Opera House on Ringstrasse boulevard – an architectural gem, dates from the era of Emperor Francis Joseph I.There are many architectural delights!We enjoyed walking around and really appreciated the good weather!Henry Moore’s Arched Hills in this pleasant reflecting pond.Otto Wagner’s Pavilion – an early modernist architectural example. He was on the fore front of transitioning styles and had much influence in Vienna in the early 1900’s.His Postsparkasse was another treat to see and we were able to peak into the atrium.The MAK museum will inform us about the development of applied arts. We especially enjoyed learning about the different influences that lead to styles changing.Like Gustav Klint and the Secessionist collaboration with Otto Wagner.We enjoyed the elegant pieces and the fine craftsmanship.A feast for the eyes!An exterior clock that moves to graphically show the time.Across the street we went underground to the Roman excavations to learn about the military presence that started Vienna.Of course we could not leave Vienna without visiting a coffee house. At Cafe Neu Wien we had delicious soup lunch with apple strudel for desert – a great choice! We enjoyed our day trip to Vienna.
