Early morning for us! It rained during the night and sprinkled/misted a little, but I never needed my umbrella. We got breakfast of delicious baked goods for our car ride up to Werfen, where there is a mountain with the biggest ice cave in the world. The hike up (minus a small portion of cable car) was much longer than my parents would have told me. I was ready wearing my warm clothing, so hiking was not on my good list. It seemed really far! It really wasn't so bad- I just had no idea I would be doing that. The views( once we got above the clouds and fog) were amazing. It's a very beautiful and impressive mountain.
We got up to the opening of the cave and met our tour guide. They gave us gas lanterns instead of flashlights and the guide was constantly burning magnesium for brighter light. It was beautiful, BUT they wouldn't let us take pictures so we had to buy some. It was very impressive! The ice formations are huge and steep! We were mostly walking up wooden stairs. There were over 1400 steps! There was one section that was a 70% incline and the steps felt SO steep. Looking behind was weird. It was obviously freezing in the cave, but we were moving so much that it wasn't uncomfortable- and we dressed warmly of course. But they did have metal hand railings which were freezing. I challenged my dad to seeing who could hold on the longest and I lost. My hand felt like there was a knife tearing into it- I wasn't just holding one part of the bar- we were on the move- I think that made it harder.
It was a very enjoyable tour and since the hike back was all downhill it was very enjoyable. Oh- and I filled my water bottle from the rap they have up there...THE coldest, most delicious water you'll ever drink from a pipe. Fantastic.
It was 12:30 when we got out of there and the morning fog cleared up so we had much better views.
We had our typical car lunch of cheese with bread and crackers.
I napped in and out while my parents found information centers for planning the rest of the day. They hoped to go back to the silent night museum if it was open this time, but it still wasn't. Finally they woke me up at our next destination. I gotta tell you- it's kinda disorienting when you sleep through car rides. Suddenly you wake up in a new place and you have no sense of direction or distance. I don't mind- I like sleep and I just can't stay awake if I'm a passenger for more than 10 minutes.
Anyways- our next stop was ANOTHER mountain. This mountain, Untersburg, has a funicular all the way up where there are more incredible vistas. Since I had just been sleeping and we were exposed to high mountain winds and we didn't have to hike- I was WAY colder up there than in the ice cave. But we only stated long enough to snap pictures and ride back down.
Back in Salzburg we took a river cruise which gave our legs a good break from all the work they had done. It wasn't long but our captain gave us some fun in the end when he turned on loud classical dance music and set the boat to just spin in 360's. Tour guides need to have their own fun.
We spent the next hour walking around their busy shopping part of town looking for a kebab dinner and a photo store so dad could buy a tripod. The only kebab shop in that area was closed. That is unheard of- it wasn't even six! What kind of business do thy expect to get? So we wandered for a bit longer and also bought mom a ticket for the marionette show. Finally we went back to the car and drove to the area where we were hoping to find a laundromat, an we happened to drive right by a kebab stand! Finally! Turns out- they had REALLY good kebabs. Probably the best I've had this trip. Success!! So we went to drop mom off at her show and then dad and I went to find the laundromat- which no longer existed. Luckily a girl at the movie theater knew of another one and was able to tell us the street.
Dad and I did the laundry, which was expensive, until it was time to go pick up mom and be home for the night.
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