Natters

Tamar wanted to take a short hike today. It was rather cold and snowy so we stayed close to home and drove into Mutters and Natters, two towns near here. Josh will remember Natters at night and the drive through the woods to the restaurant, Nattererboden. Well we went to Nattererboden again today, because Muttererhof was closed. Hey Josh I bet you didn't notice the cool chairs we sat on! I took a picture of one. Also at Nattererboden during the day is their animal farm. Here are photos of some of their animals, including the llama and a very surprised and wet-faced Jim after the llama spit at him.

Ayelet finally got to eat the pizza she has been wanting. Jim made her a custom pizza margherita for dinner and another loaded one for the other three of us. Very good.


Mausi came in again this evening - here is a photo of her drinking water out of the bathtub.

Kranzberg hike and X-C

Ayelet and Tamar wanted to try cross-country skiing, so I took them to Leutasch for a morning. Most of the snow was gone - what had been the parking lot where Barbara and I parked was now closed and being used for agricultural purposes - it was a field again! But the good news is that we parked in a real parking lot for free, and there was also no charge for using the trails - what was left of them that is. Anyway, for our purposes it was fine. There was a little bit of snow left on the loipe. Ayelet picked it up pretty well by the end and said it was a fantastic experience. Tamar and I got good exercise and were tired by noon.

Meanwhile, Erica and Garth wanted to do a longer hike, so Jim took them to Mittenwald, and we agreed to meet up at the top of the Kranzberg for lunch. They hiked around the lakes in Mittenwald and then up the mountain. Tamar, Ayelet and I drove to the Kranzberg lift, which turned out to be a funky old single chair lift. I think Ayelet and Tamar found it pretty exciting. From the top of the chair, we hiked up to the summit. The photos are of the views from the walk, which were spectacular. The recent snow and the surrounding mountains, especially the Karwendel, made for gorgeous scenery. We were hiking in snow too, although the path was quite good. I took 100 photos!

The others had already reached the Kranzberg Gipfel Haus and finished their lunches by the time we got there. But they hung out with us while we ate lunch - Tamar and I both had "Leberkäse" (which is neither liver nor cheese). The proprietor had two very cute little daughters and Ayelet had fun talking to them in the little English they knew. Ayelet thought it was pretty great that we were hiking in Germany. Like Brendan, she got a kick out of having visited three countries this trip.

"Erika" flowers (heather) were in bloom along the way, even in the snow. Later, I played the German "Erika" song, about the flower and the girl, for Erica and printed out the lyrics and the translation for her. I really like the song, I know it as an old German folksong. Although when I found it on the web, it was listed under WWII marching songs. I think it became a favorite song of the German soldiers in WWII.





Last night we went to a Tyrolean folk evening at the Igls Fire House. It was pretty great. There was a dance troupe of men and women in their folk costumes, doing traditional dances, including of course, the Schuhplattler. The men were very good - I think the best Schuhplattlers I have ever seen. Garth said he wished he had been born Tyrolean so he could wear Lederhosen and do it too! Garth was chosen by one of the young lady dancers to learn a folk dance with her and he did very well. He was rewarded with a shot glass of Obstler schnapps. The musicians were alds very good, including a handsome 17-year old accordion player who was amazing. And there was a woman singer, Anni from Vadiz, who yodeled. We were pretty impressed by what she could do with her voice.

Drive through the Sellraintal

These are the views as we drove home to Ober- perfuss through the Sellraintal. It was so beautiful that we had to stop the car often to take pictures. When we got home, Erica and Garth went out again on yet another walk because the light was so good and they wanted to walk up the hill and take in the views before the sun set. Garth said they got some Alpenglow.

Tamar and Ayelet drove to Bolzano today; they said they loved the Ötzi exhibit at the Archaeological Museum. Now they are busy in the kitchen making us a chocolate mousse.

Snowy walk at Kühtai

While Jim, Erica and Garth were skiing at Kühtai, I decided to go with them and take a walk, knowing that there are walking paths there. When we got there, it turned into a snowstorm. So I walked into the woods for about an hour, trying to take pictures. But the flat light and falling snow were not conducive to good picture-taking. Also, I was alone in the woods and ended up in snow over my ankles deep. So I turned around. I waited with a coffee in a cafe for them to finish skiing - they skied until the lifts closed. On the way back out of Kühtai it cleared up and we were treated to fabulous sunny views in the Sellraintal.

Martinswand Climb

Erica, Jim and Garth decided to climb the Martinswand this morning. They had stopped by the Zirl Tourist Office yesterday to ask if there was a hiking path up. The answer was yes, sort of. They got a hiking map that showed a trail up to the cave (where Emperor Maximilian got stuck while hunting and prayed to St. Martin to rescue him.) So they set out from the quarry and hiked up the steep trail. They said there were some iron handholds along the way. And officially the trail was closed ("gesperrt,") but that didn't stop them. They made it up to the cave, here are the photos of their ascent and from the cave looking down onto the A12 hughway. Then in the afternoon they decided to go skiing.

Stuibenfälle im Ötztal

We all felt like a hike today, so we drove into the Ötztal, to the town of Umhausen, and got information at the tourist Office about hiking to the biggest waterfall in Tyrol, the Stuibenfälle. We were warned that the hike up to the falls was narrow and icy and it was suggested that we drive up almost to the high town of Niederthai and hike down to the falls from there. So that's what we did. After what seemed like a false start, we found the path and hiked to what turned out to be a series of five platforms built out along the falls so you could look up and down at the falls, which were indeed very high and very long. You could not see all of the falls at once, only various pieces of it here and there. But it was quite spectacular all the same. The valley there is very steep. To see all the falls would be quite a vertical climb. A nice day hike in good weather I am sure. We walked out over a hanging bridge onto a couple of the platforms. Then we hiked back up to our cars.

It was cloudy and misty, even rained and snowed on us a bit. But we stayed pretty dry and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was not cold and the footing was good on the paths.

Hey you climbers out there -- along the sides of the falls was a Via Ferrata. It would be an awesome climb! Lots of metal footholds and a metal cable to hold onto. We took some photos of it, hope you can see. Wow! Also, at the first platform, there was a cable across the falls that you could clip yourself onto and hang on and go across the falls - looking down about a thousand feet!

Ayelet and Tamar arrive

Jim's cousin Tamar and her daughter Ayelet arrived from Israel this afternoon. Tamar took a nap while Ayelet and I walked through Oberperfuss. Ayelet said she likes wandering and that we should do it every day. Meanwhile, Jim, Josh, Garth and Erica went to Kühtai skiing. They said the weather and the conditions were great.

Erica & Garth skiing on the Zugspitze

Yesterday Erica and Garth flew in to Zurich and took the train to Innsbruck. Today, Jim, Josh, Erica and Garth went skiing on the Zugspitze. They said there was tons of new snow! You can see Josh trying to get out of the deep snow. They had to ski on the pistes though, because the visibility was low.

Josh and Schloss Ambras

Our friend Josh arrived yesterday. He stayed up all day and even went skiing with Jim at Kühtai. They said the conditions had deteriorated quite a bit. But today it snowed up in the mountains, 10 centimeters, so maybe it will be good again. After that, Josh slept well. Today it was supposed to rain but turned out pretty nice. We decided to do an indoor thing, so we went to see Schloss Ambras.

Among the photos is one of the Archduke Ferdinand's bathtub, from the 1500's.

There is a nice park around the Schloss, where we saw crocuses blooming. This is where we saw the peacocks last time we were here (when Rosie & Brendan were here) but today, no peacocks.