What a great 3 days we have had here in Austria. Deena's cousin Ziad has treated us like royalty and has been an excellent tour guide for Saturday, Sunday, and today. On Saturday, we spent the morning getting caught up with Ziad since Deena has not seen him in 9 years, and Dean had not met him before. We then went on a bike tour of Braunau (Ziad's town) riding nearlz 17 miles along the Inn River, crossing the river, and then returning on the Germany side. Everything here is very beautiful, the houses, people, and scenery. We finished the day off with traditional meal of spatzle and Corn Beef brisket with traditional sides (Dean cant remember the name of what he ate!) at a nice restaurant.
On Sunday, Ziad took us to the area of Salzkammergut in the Austrian Alps. We hiked a good way up a huge mountain to an overlook which had views of Attersee (a beautiful lake) and then finished the day off with a nap for Deena and some wake-boarding for Ziad. There was a neat little festival going on in the little village along Attersee, so we got to enjoy seeing Austrians dressed in their traditional garb.
Monday was spent again in the Salzkammergut region. We rode our bikes to the water taxi, and took them across the lake. We took the cog railway up to the areas' highest peak which offered spectacular views of the lakes below and the Austrian Alps to the South. Afterwards, we biked back around the lake, enjoying the views and trails that surround the Wolfgangsee.
It has been an amazing few days here in Austria, we have truly enjoyed them. We look forward to Venice tomorrow, but will miss Ziad and Austria as we say goodbye.
