Journal of Life (2008 - 2009)

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2009-09-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Please be informed this blog site is no longer working for me because of below message pops up :

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So I have to move to a NEW BLOG, effective from 19-Sep-2009.

Please follow me. Thank you.

Mercure's Breakfast

2009-09-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

In the next morning, we woke up early. This was because husband said we'd better arrived our next destination at around 9.30 am, before the crowds was formed.

Before departure, we went to the downstairs restaurant to take a buffet breakfast. Since the breakfast was included in our room charges, we thought it would be nothing too special.

When we saw this setting, our glasses fell all over the place...for the good ambiances, quality foods and warm services that we didn't have anticipated.

My favourite, warm and freshly bake baguette. It tastes fantastic with butter and fruit jam. Oh yes, their fruit jam is very very good, definitely not something artificial. I miss the bite so much.

In HK, the only place I can find some relatively good baguette is from Delifrance, but still, it's not fully compatible with the baguette I ate in their origin countries.

Those buns are good too. Wish I have a bigger tummy to taste each and every one of them.

The boys favourite, all sorts of cereals for their selection.

Also, all sorts of meat to make your DIY sandwich. Although I'm not fancy about those processed meat, I ate a bit too. Well, that little bit is probably my total consumption of similar processed meat in a year. Yes, some of them do taste very good. No wonder Germans are proud of their sausages.

Out of all those meat, I like the smoked fish.

The salad bar.

Those foods are enough to keep all of us busy.

Besides cereals, the above combination are the boys' favourite too.

This waffle too. Every piece is guaranteed a fresh one, cause we have to make it by ourselves. It's so much fun for the boys to pour the flour mix into the pan, close the lid, and eagerly wait for the waffle to get cooked. Also, they enjoyed garnish the waffle with a little bit of syrup and almond nut flakes. Not something they can do in their normal days.

Husband was very busy with the foods too.

While they were still busy, I took some time to tour the restaurant for a while. Since not many people was in the restaurant at that early morning time, I felt very free to snap photos.

Talking about good ambiance, each cubicle was decorated in their unique ways, reserved the guests with enough space and privacy.

When Vincent saw this gun, he wanted to know if it is real? I'm not sure, but I think it's a real one.

The bistro bar.

Such a nice breakfast it was, automatically had lightened up our day.
*

*
Here, I must praise husband for this very good deal he got. He was offered a package for €200 net (2 nights + buffet breakfast for 4). Consider very cheap from a 4 star business hotel.

In HK, this quality buffet breakfast can easily cost us HKD200 or above. So, it was like 50-60% of the money has been contributed back to our tummy. Super worth it.

Partnach Gorge

2009-09-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

We arrived at a small town in Germany, name Garmisch-Partenkirchen at around 4 pm.

After checking in to Mercure Hotel, the captain said maybe we still have time to go for a quick tour. The way he said "maybe" is kind of interesting. How could I miss the place that "maybe" we couldn't go? So, I quickly packed some biscuits and water in the backpack and off we go.

Husband said the place we were going is actually a gorge. Ok, I like gorge, gorge is 80% of the time gorgeous.

The place is quite near to Mercure hotel. Within 15 minutes time, we had parked our car in front of a stadium (cause car is not allowed to go any further from there) and then, walked on a small road leading to the gorge. Husband estimated we need to walk for at least 25 minutes from here.

We heard the place would be closed at 5 pm. Looking at my watch that show 4.35 pm, we were kind of hesitated should we or should we not continue? Anyway, we didn't take a long time to make up our mind and continue to go. We came from a thousand miles away, and should we care about this?

Since the time was getting late, we all walked pretty fast, hoping to make it there before the "gate" was closed. Only when a man who was on his return way told us the closing time would be extended to 6 pm in summer time, then we felt relief a little bit.

Something unusual happened on the road somewhere near here. We saw a woman and her 2 girls stopped abruptly on return direction. They didn't make a fuss, but the girls seem pretty tense. We didn't pay much attention until we walked near and saw there was a small snake crossing the road at that time. Boy, I immediately jumped 3 steps backward. I couldn't even stand to watch it slided away, back to the bushes aside the road. Since then, I walked far from the bushes, and insisted everyone must do the same.

I don't remember much about my childhood, but this stack of woods had reminded me of some fractual memories about my grandmother's house. Weird.

I remember I used to looked at those chopped woods that was put in front of her house for a long time, for unknown reason. My grandmother died when I was 5 years old, followed by my grandfather several months later. Since then, the house was demolished and we didn't go there anymore.

Emerald blue river, definitely is coming from a nearby glacier.

As expected, the boys bugged us to take the horse-drawn carriage rides when they saw it. But the problem was, we were in a hurry, and it's faster to walk than horse carriage. Anyway, we promised them we would do it the next time we saw it.

There is another distinctive feature about the houses / guesthouses in Austria & Germany, is the drawing they made on the outer walls, like the house in a fairy tale. This one is considered a very simple drawing.

The river runs through the Wildenau Valley.

When the road become narrow, and so does the surrounding landscape, we know we were getting near to the gorge.

When we saw this, we get natural high again. I remember the 1st gorge we have visited is Taroko Gorge, Taiwan. We were so thrilled to see a gorge for the 1st time in our life. That feelings was well stored in our brain till today.

The Partnach gorge, or Partnachklamm, a short walk away from Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. This is a spectacular and somewhat undersold tourist attraction, and well worth a visit. Some regard it as a "don't miss" attraction on any visit to the Bavarian alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

There is a small admission fees. By the time we reached here, it's after 5 pm. No one was there, but the door was left opened. So, we just walked in free.

The gorge is open year-round except for a short time in the spring when melting snow makes the route impassable.

The door that was left opened. Looking at this point, the inside was quite dark. We won't know what we were going to see unless we walked through the door.

Once again, we were amazed to see the natural beauty of a gorge. Absolutely gorgeos.

A series of galleries and tunnels has been carved out of the rock along one side, allowing visitors to walk along the rushing river and duck behind waterfalls.

The Partnach Gorge, which acts as a natural conduit for the Partnach River, runs 700 meters or 2305 feet between limestone walls that reach 262 feet high.

It's a strange feeling to walk in a narrow gap between the steep cliffs, next to a fast running river.

It's quite cold inside there, I guess around 17-20 C.

I asked the boys if they wanted to go down the river and play water. They didn't say YES or NO immediately. They just looked at each other and waited for each other's reply. End up, no body said anything. So, we continued our walk in peace.

Waterfalls can be seen along the gorge.

By then, we have walked for 15 minutes inside the gorge....it's getting colder when we walked further inside.

Waterfalls again...

At certain parts, it's quite dark...feel like in a sealed enclosure.

A scary thought has flashed across my mind when I saw us walking through the tunnel : what if the rocks happen to fall down on us? Sure we will all die with no chance of survival. Don't even think our body can be retrieved from the debris...Gosh, that's terrible.

The end point is no way to be seen after walking like this for 30 minutes. Husband stopped a man who was on his returned way and asked him how far would it take to go to the end. The man said we need to walk for around 10-15 minutes.

I would like to continue, but captain think it's not very wise to do so cause the boys might get a cold. Well, he maybe right. I finally agreed to turn back. But, I'm still thinking of the end point until today. Wonder how it looks like?

That's it, we were on our way back to the exit.

Don't know why, walking-backwards is always faster than walking-towards?

That suspension bridge up there serve as a landmark to the exit point.

We were relaxed on the way back. I took some time to stop over this refreshment store and flip over the postcards sold here.

In winter time, bizarre ice sculptures will form and give this natural beauty a unique charm.

So long Partnach Gorge.

The house was simply abandoned like this. Kind of waste.

I asked husband if he would buy this house if it is sold HKD 100K? As expected, he said NO, maybe he would buy it if it is sold HKD 1K. I see, no wonder the land lord rather abondoned it than sell it.

Almost went back to where we have parked the car, in front of a stadium.

Finally we walked back to the stadium. This stadium is not an ordinary stadium. It's 1936 Olympic Ski Stadium, well known for the New Year's Ski Jumping.

Inside the stadium.

Dinner was settled in McDonald after many times requested by the boys. The restaurant was very quiet in its upper floor, most of the people choosed to sit outside, at the open air balcony area. So did we.

Actually they were more interested in the toys provided with the children meal than the foods itself. The toys they were given is "Ice Age 3" icons this time. It had become one of William most-frequent-play toys until today.

Husband got the most terrible sun burnt after the snow mountain trip. Only his eyes area which was covered by the sun glasses remained ok, the rest of the face all burnt. Very funny look indeed, like a thief who is wearing an eye mask.

William too, in chocolate face.

Looking down the small town from the balcony.

Also this beautiful mountain view. Husband pointed to a peak somewhere out there and said it is the highest peak in Germany, Zugspitze. We felt tempted to go, but after some discussion, we gave up.

Even after we have long finished up the foods, we sat there for quite a long time, did nothing, just relaxed. This place is so comfortable...Oh yes, want to show off the Swarovski ear rings that I've bought in that morning.

Around 8 pm, finally we left the place and drove back to our hotel. Husband said we need to wake up early in the next morning to depart to our next destination.

Swarovski Kristallwelten

2009-08-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

We woke up late that morning. After we all finished up my home cooking breakfast, the time was nearly 9 am. We then packed everything and left the lovely Haruof Apartment that we have stayed for 2 nights.

And good to say that it was another beautiful day. Boy, can't believe we had had 3 wonderful good days in a row, though the weather forecast said the exact opposite. In fact, we feel that each good day we had had since day 3 was an extra bonus. For this, we feel very grateful.

From here, we would drive away from Austria and heading to Germany to continue the rest of our trip.

We drove through a summit pass. I've forgotten what it is called because it's not the highlight of our trip.

There is nothing too special about this pass, except a giant waterfall we saw at road side.

The Krimmler Wasserfälle (waterfall), with a total height of 380 meters, is the highest waterfall in Austria. This tiered waterfall are formed from the Krimmler Ache river and are located near the village of Krimml in the Hohe Tauern National Park in Salzburgerland.

It's quite a long way to go before we would reach our next destination. When we saw some people walking up the stairs, we stopped and joined them.

Up there is this reservoir and a refreshment bar near the lake side. Other than that, it's nothing too special about this place.

I think husband and I have a problem now, ever since we have visited the Grossblockner High Alpine Road 2 days ago, that place has some how, become a new benchmark to us. Gosh, this is NOT good !!

One thing about the flowers here...whenever I take a closer look at the flowers, there sure got many bees flying around it. One can simply capture a photo with bees working on flowers, no problem.

another example...

For quite a long time, we were driving on the road with scenery like this one...

Ask my feelings about Salzburger region, Austria...

1. I see tourists more than local people.

2. Although they have vast prairie, but raising livestock or farming is obviously not their business.

3. I didn't see anybody working out there. In fact, besides the groceries stores or restaurants or small shops, there isn't any factory or commercial office that seems to offer jobs to the local people.

4. Guest house and apartment are everywhere.

Life here is pretty simple. It seems to me that any one can turn their house into a guesthouse, and waiting for some one to knock on their door and hand them the money. Besides foods and basic necessities, basically they don't need to buy or upgrade many side items, for example jewelery, furniture, electrical appliances etc. So, why bother to live a busy life to make more money?

At noon time, finally we arrived at my personal highlight, Swarovski Kristallwelten. Husband know I'm a big fans of crystal, so he is kind enough to include this place into his plan.

To be honest, I have high expectation about this trip. First, I thought I could visit the manufacturing plant to get to know more about how crystals are polished and cut. Secondly, I wanted to do some shopping here. In fact, I have prepared some cash for it.

Swarovski crystals are made in Wattens in th foothills of the Austrian Alps, not far from Innsbruck. Gorgeous alpine peaks loom over the idyllic setting of the Swarovski crystal plant.

The fine optically pure-prisms are manufactured under the most careful security, so that the 100-year-old secrets of production will not be imitated by competitors. Therefore, tourists are not allowed to enter the plant and see the crystals being manufactured. How disappointed, my 1st wish couldn't be fulfilled !

YES TO ALL is made by crystals. Absolutely glittering twinkling beautiful under the sun shine.

Too bad my camera couldn't capture the shinning effect.

Since the plant is not opened to the public, they compensate the tourists by offering us an underground exhibition chamber, which is located behind this waterfall. Entrance fee is €9.5 for adult. Children below 12 is free admission.

The compound around the exhibition chamber is spacious and pleasant.

Before our needs can be met, we have to meet their needs first.

An anoconda is displayed at the ticketing counter...

its skin was made of big crystal stones.

Finally we entered the subterranean landscape made of thousands of crystals, a journey that drifts between dream and reality, where one will encounter fairy tale characters and mystical creatures.

These underground Chamber of Wonder, built under the aegis of multi-media artist Andre Heller in 1995, house of collection of fantastic installations and glittering works by great artists. Since its first opening, the Crystal Worlds have enchanted young and old from all over the world with ever changing, sparkling installations.

As soon as we entered the Crystal World, this super giant crystal had captured every one's attention.

The Centenar, at 300,000 karats, is the largest cut crystal in the world.

The size of Centenar is bigger than our head.

Jim Whiting's mechanical theatre. Clothes, figures and other everyday items are brought to life, dancing and flying as if by magic. This macabre, surreal beautiful show combines magical transformation with the artist's love of mechanical precision.

Crystal Dome. Here, a thousand beams of refracted light dance around the facet walls to the sound of music by Brian Eno. This sea of mirrors gives the impression of a space that never ends. Standing in the crystalline Chamber of Wonder, with its geodetic dome made up of 595 elements, is like standing at the very heart of a giant crystal.

The trick : now you see it, now you don't

This one is called Glittering Winterdreams. Alexander McQueen, fashion designer and Tord Boontje, light artist, created this crystal tree from thousands of Swarovski crystals mounted on polished steel. Both design-icons repeatedly experiment with Swarovski crystal. They participated, for example, in the international, much acclaimed 'Runway Rocks" and 'Crystal Palace' projects of Nadja Swarovski-Adams.

It's Soooo...beautiful. I like this piece the most.

A crystalline fairytale world. The space presents an iridescent and magical scenario by stage and costume designer Susanne Schmogner. Your imagination can roam free in this world, with scents created by Jane Haidacher. Here angels are made of flowers, the sun dances with the moon and there is even a crystal devouring plant.

This display screen is made of thousands of small crystals, and no wonder the image is super glamerous.

A place that feels like music, this is Brian Eno's artistic intention. In "55 Million Crystals", Eno has captured the transience of music in a video installation by creating a fleeting visual impression. Music for the eye of the beholder !

A kaleidoscope of sound and vision. A spiral comprising 48 polygons sweeps vistiors away and into a world of crystalls. The formation, fascination and scientific importance of crystals are documented in pictures, graphics, illustrations and animation. At the heart of the installation, the mystic nature of this sparkling material is revealed.

Crystal Forest. In this installation by Fabrizio Plessi, the nature and technology are melte into an artistic and poetic whole. Each tree is fitted with an artificial core in the form of a video installation, breathing life into its rough wooden exterior. One walk through this magical forest accompanied by the mysterious glow of the siphonophora "Leviathan", a light installation by Thomas Feuerstein.

Timeless Swarovski show room. 12 film sequences and exhibits show members of the largest Swarovski family, celebrities closely linked to the company and its outstanding innovations.

Chris Levine's light installation, D-Cube, the largest cut crystal cube, honours the founder of the company, Daniel Swarovski I. This is the beginning of a journey through a hundred years, ending with the present day.

Alfred Phillippe for Trifari (1936), for display only.

Bracelet and hair slide : Coh and Rosenberger (1939), for display only.

for display only.

At the end of the exhibition hall is the Swarovski's largest retail shop, the place I hope I can do some 1st hand shopping.

This place presents almost the entire range of Swarovski's crystal products, imbedded in a transition from night to day. Under a night-time canopy or in bright daylight, the legendary Silver Crystal figurines compete for your attention with gorgeous jewellery pieces and artistic objects.

Frisson Bag Gold, Price : €2800 (too expensive for my liking)

Pagola Vase Tall limited edition (100pcs), Price : €3400 (not my target at all)

Pagola Bowl limited edition (100pcs), Price : €4250 (target for the flirty rich customers huh?)

The size of this necklace and bracelet are XXL, suitable for ang-moh only. Furthermore, it's too too expensive for my liking.

It's beautiful, but not good to be placed in my home.

This too, it will become the very-expensive toy for the boys. Unless I put it into a safety box, I'm sure the wings will be broken in less than 72 hours.

Those are pencils with crystal head. Very beautiful, price also acceptable €2.9, but kind of hard to decide if to-use or not-to-use it after buying it.

My target is actually jewelery piece, something simple but elegant. There aren't many designs that suit my taste, for they are either too bulky / too fancy / too out dated / too expensive for my liking.

There are also countless loose cyrstal elements of the CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements Collection, which is good to experiment with your own creativity.

I stood there for a long time, and unbelievably end up didn't know which one to buy. The obstacles is : what am I going to do with those crystals stone? Frankly speaking, I should have bought some since the price is not expensive (average €10-20). Even though I can't find anyone to make it into my desired end products, it's still a good thing to keep it for viewing pleasure.

I AM SO REGRET FOR NOT BUYING ANY OF THEM !

Out of so many designs, I like this ear rings. It fits all my requirement, simple-elegant-not expensive (€11). I like the way it only presents the cutting of a clear cyrstal. Also, the shape is not as cube as it seems to be. At certain angle, the shape will become a hexagon.

Frankly speaking, I was a bit disappointed that the designs of the jewelery are not as good as I thought it is. I think the one I see in HK is far more trendy or classic than the one that are sold here. Also, though some said the price in this retail shop is 50% cheaper, I doubt it too. Anyway, I don't have much references for it either.

Ok, enough for the shopping. We felt very tired walking and decided to take some rest in the nearby CAFE-terra. Renowned designers and architects, Conran & Partners created this cafe a homage to the surrounding scenery. This time, we ordered a plate of curry rice and spagetti.

Also, my favourite applestrudel that tastes good at any time, any place.

While waiting for the foods to come, I checked my purchase. (Funny scene : other customers did the exact same thing like I did, while waiting for their foods).

Every Swarovski's product will be packaged that well, no matter how small it is. I feel I have bought a precious item. Happy now.

The more I see it, the more I like it.

As conclusion, this trip could be more interesting should they made it more educational than purely artistic. After all, not many people are born to be artistic, like my husband. He just felt this trip BORING.

Kitzsteinhorn Kaprun

2009-08-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

Husband said, there is no other day than this day that we must need a good weather to do what he had planned for us to do on top of a cool mountain.

Sounds very serious. But he is right, we would have need to cancel the trip for that day if raining, even though the rain was small. Thus, the happiness when we saw the blue sky on the next day is a double intense.

The cool mountain adventure costs €22.70 for adults, children go half-price. We were given a smart card ticket after paying €68.1

Kitzsteinhorn is located in Kaprun Village. The history of the Kaprun village has always been closely linked with its surrounding mountains. The development of the first glacier ski area in Austria at the Kitzsteinhorn was the biggest pioneering effort undertaken by the rural community in the county of Salzburg.

The fascination of the eternal ice (365 days snow guaranteed) towering 3000 m above the world make the Kitzsteinhorn the coolest mountain in Salzburg in Summer.

We were about to board on 3 state-of-the-art cable ways to go up to over 3000 m above sea level.

This is the modern generation of cable cars, looks quite similar to the cable cars in Ngong Peng 360, HK.

Yo, let's go.

Heading to 1st station.

10 minutes later, we get off the cable car and walked out the Langwied Station (1976 m). There is a hiking trail somewhere around this station. However, hiking was not our highlight for that day, so we didn't go for that.

We then hopped in the cable car and headed to our 2nd stop.

Within a few minutes time, we were surrounded by snow mountains. It's a strange feeling to undergo a drastic change in the environment, and also, a sudden drop in the temperature.

Another 10 minutes later, we stopped by the 2nd station, Alpincenter (2452 m). As usual, we walked around to see what's this place can offer us.

The Kitzsteinhorn is an irresistible destination for those loving the rugged romanticism of the mountains and wishing to swoosh across crystal clear powder snow at over 3000 metres above sea level, while enjoying astounding views of the virtually endless peaks.

In 1999, the company had invested in a snow making system of the latest technical generation. This means even the middle-alpine range from the Alpincenter to the Langwiedboden has snow 100 % guaranteed. The snow making machines right to the edge of the glacier provide first-class pistes.

Husband pointed to the places we were about to go, and gave me a brief introduction on the spot.

Naturally, when the boys saw the snow, they couldn'd wait to play on it.

Besides the ski arena, there is nothing too special about this 2nd stop, except this restaurant. Also, the playground that next to it.

The place was wet and slippery everywhere. We got to walk with caution.

Looking down from the edge, we saw 2 totally different worlds.

It was pretty cold up here. But husband had no long pant to wear for that day. This was because he had washed his one-and-the-only-one long pant in the washing machine on the night before, and the dryer had betrayed him. It was still so wet in that morning, so he got to wear a short pant instead. Poor him, not just that he felt cold up there, but his lower part of the legs got sun burn afterwards.

The construction site, as well as all those cables, has spoilt the natural view. We felt this place is less attractive, especially after driving through the astonishing Grossglockner High Alpine Road on the day before.

After we have bought 2 pairs of gloves (for husband and William) from a nearby customer center, we boarded on the 3rd cable car and headed straight to the top.

A tragedy, known as the Kaprun disaster, was a fire that occurred in an ascending railway car in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn 2 railway on 11 November, 2000.

The disaster had claimed the lives of 155 people, leaving 12 survivors from the burning car. The victims were skiers on their way to the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier. The 12 survivors of the disaster were the passengers who travelled downhill past the fire at the rear of the train, escaping the upward-rising fumes and smoke.

The Gletscherbahn 2 funicular was never re-opened after the disaster and was replaced by another gondola lift, a 24-person Gletscherjet 1 funitel (which we were taken). The stations were abandoned and the tunnel sealed, and it remains unused today.

In autumn 2003, the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier Lift Company had received the ISO Certificate 9001 for all areas of business. It is the first cable car lift operator in Austria to receive this award.

After another 15 minutes, we reached the 3rd station, also the last station, Gipfelstation (3029 m).

Panorama terrace at the summit station.

The peak at my back.

Husband pointed at the spot down there (Gletscherplateau, 2900 m) , and he said that is the ICE ARENA the boys would love to go. In fact, our highlight of the day.

In order to get down to the ICE ARENA, we have to take this railway shuttle.

Met those skate boards at the exit.

Just pretending...

Within a few minutes time, we have descended to the plateau. It was freezing cold out there. We have to put everything we got on. Luckily there was no wind, and the sun was shining bright above our head.

Gletscher-Shuttle as back drop.

Under the bright sun, I wonder how the eternal ice develops? When there is a question, there is an answer.

In cool high-altitude regions, snow accumulates in layers over the years. The pressure of this mass of snow as well as the changing melting and freezing processess causes the freshly fallen snow, which is full of air, to turn into porous fine snow and finally into crystalline glacial ice which contains grain of ice ranging in size from a few centimetres to a fist-width thick.

We have never try skiing before. I feel so cool even though I just pretended I can ski here. It would be so cool if we can go skiing every year. Emm...we need to think.

Vincent looked pretty nervous.

But William, he made believe he can fly like this (watch too much TV). Make me laugh everytime I see this picture.

This is the snow "beach" where people was relaxing themselves in the white glacier world. There is an Icebar nearby the "beach" which offering the guests with drinks & snacks as well.

Finally we were here, the cool hightlight of the summit tour is the ICE ARENA on the glacier plateau, an all-round experience for the whole family. That's the place for snow slide. YEAH !!

Looking at what other people did here, we immediately copied. First, we got to choose the 'ride' that we like. To be precise, we exchanged or simply picked whatever was left on the snow.

Then, we took the "magic carpet" to go up.

The magic carpet is a conveyor lift which saves guests the effort of climbing back to the top themselves. How convenient !

The Grossglockness's trip had served us a good warm-up for this. They didn't hesitate for a second to slide down....

There they go...

This one is the easiest to carry...Vincent has no problem with it at all.

This round-and-flat plate is the most difficult to carry...only suitable for small size kids.

To me, even the easiest one, is not too easy. I flipped over several times before I slowly master it.

And of course, I will only put the nice photos here. As for the 'embarrassing' one, we'll kept it for ourself viewing pleasure only, haha...

Husband even 'terrible', there was none of a time, he could slide smooth from the top to the bottom. I think maybe becuase of his bigger size?

Well, it has taken me quite some time to remember what my physics teacher had taught me back in donkey years : in order to keep at the most balance position, one should lower its center of gravity as lower as possible, right?

Now, I get it.

Don't know how long we have been playing here, it's just so fun to stop.

To Vincent, this carriage was his all-time-favorite.

William was more open to all sorts of carriage, compared to all of us.

I really didn't know how long we have been playing here, didn't check my watch either. Some time later, we noticed the blue sky has disappeared. The weather at the snow mountains can change very rapidly.

Anyway, we ignored the changes. As long as it didn't rain, we just continue this fun game, as if this is the last time we are going to play it.

In fact, everybody seemed to ignore the weather changes too. The line going up to the top was still as long as before.

Finally husband could make it a smooth slide after he had lower down his center of gravity in this way.

We think we were good enough when we slipped over less. But we couldn't think that any more when some kid started to slide down with hands free.

Totally like eating a piece of cake for him. I would say this is the game that children can outbeat the adult easily.

After a long time, finally husband and I felt tired, though the boys said they were not. Of course the bosses won. We dragged them away from the arena, and soften their 'unhappiness' by making an alien-look snow man.

Our snow man didn't last a long time. The parts dropped one after the other, faster than we could mend it. After some time, we gave up fixing him.

Husband got some silly suggestions again...

He said we all should free fall ourself to the snow.

His mold.

Follower #1.

Follower #2.

Follower #3. (Due to a very unlady gesture I have made, I think I better keep it for myself only).

We let them played some more time on the snow.

Although they said they were not tired, but actually they were. They were in fact, more tired than they thought.

Feeling tired and hungry, we descended to the 2nd station and went straight to the restaurant then. We ordered some pizza and pasta, also applestrudle as dessert. Again, the foods were all so very delicious.

As soon as the boys had finished their portion, they ran to the outside playground. Although husband and I still wanted to rest in the warm restaurant, we just couldn't leave them alone. The imagination that they might have fallen down from the edge (behind this slide) is terrifying.

We went back to our rented apartment at around 5.30 pm. I quite like this apartment because it gave me a feeling of 'my own home'.

The open kitchen is fully equipped, with a super efficient oven, suit my cooking style. For that night's dinner, I have cooked some spaghetti, fried some cabbage, and baked a salmon steak. We cleaned up the dish very fast, no complaint was heard.

Well, I don't have the habbit to fold the blanket, not at my home, certainly not at this place too.

Also, I like the crystal clear glasses, cups, plates and bowls too.

The balcony outside our apartment.

After we all taken bathe, the time was 8.30 pm by then. I walked to the balcony for some fresh air. The sky was still as bright as if it was 5 pm. If not because we were dead tired, it's not easy to fall asleep fast.

Grossglockner High Alpine Road

2009-08-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

From Gosau, we drove to our next destination.

Husband said the place we were heading to is actually a scenic drive, means there will be no specific fun program to entertain the boys. I was a bit worried if they would get restless to go for this kind of scenic drive. But well, can't satisfy them every time, right.

Since this was the day for a joy ride, there was nothing more important than having a good weather. Well, at least not raining. To be honest, our heart was half hanging, always praying the good weather could be prolonged for a little bit longer time.

At a junction, husband made a detour. He said there is a castle somewhere around.

I forgot what this castle is called. It looks cool, standing at the top of a hill. We felt tempted to go near to it. However, worrying the good weather might end fast, we decided to stick to the original plan.

After driving for 40 minutes, we stopped by a road side McDonald. Husband simply ordered a set meal, and then we divided the group into 2 for free activity. While husband and I were munching the chips, the boys were stretching their body at the playground. From time to time, we could see some parachutists flying in the sky.

We continued our journey after 25 minutes or so, heading to the way only husband would know.

As we drove further away, the surrounding has changed slowly from town setting to countryside setting.

And then, started ascenting...When we get to see the snow mountains nearer and nearer, we get increasingly excited too.

The Grossglockner is Austria's highest mountain and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. This makes it, after Mont Blanc, the second most prominent mountain in the Alps.

This fantastic 50 km Grossglockner High Alpine Road (in German Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße) is Austria's premiere scenic tour. The most impressive sites are in the Hohe Tauern National Park where there are dramatic views of numerous peaks, including the mighty 3797 m Grossglockner and the vast Pasterze Glacier in Carinthia province.

He said : stand higher, look better.

Looking at this alps, I have a feeling that we were going to see something grand and majestic very soon.

The mountain road requires a toll and is opened to traffic between May and November. In winter time, the road is closed.

Husband were facing a dilemma at this point, he needed my genius advice again. He couldn't decide if we should enter and exit by using the same road; or enter at this direction, but exit at the other direction. The 1st way costs €28. The 2nd way costs €36, plus additional 60 km drive. The genius said he should go for the 2nd way, cause the maximum he would lost was only €8, but he has reserved the flexibility should he want to go for the additional 60 km drive.

I looked at husband, his was like suddenly obtained the enlightenment, and paid €36 straight away. Brilliant mind, isn't it ?

In the years 1936 and 1937, 350 men shovelled 250,000 m³ of snow in an average of 70 days to keep at least one lane on the road free. Since 1953 the five Wallack rotary plows, and 12 GROHAG workers, have been clearing 600,000m³ to 800,000m³ of snow from the road and parking areas in around 14 days every year in April. How efficient it has become.

In 1937, the road could only be traversed for 132 days. But in 1963 the road could be traversed for 276 days, normally open from the beginning of May to the end of October.

This snow deposition looks like a sea monster, a cute one.

The Grossglockner lies on the border between Carinthia and the East Tyrol, 3797 m above the sea level, this is the highest peak in the Glockner group, a group of mountains along the main ridge of the Hohe Tauern. The summit itself lies on the Glockner ridge, which branches to the south off the main ridge.

Winter sports, mountain climbing and beautiful scenery make the peak a noted tourist attraction. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Austria and has over 1.2 million visitors every year.

Really, no kidding, people was flocking to the peak continuously. It's not uncommon to see the cars, motobikes and bicycles ascenting the mountain at the same time.

This was not our 1st stop. In fact, we couldn't helped but stopped almost every 5-10 minutes since taking off from the toll station. The scene is simply too BEAUTIFUL !

The boys were very busy doing some construction works in the playground. We lost our patience after waiting them for 20 minutes. When they got to go, William insisted we must bring him back again to finish his unfinished business. What does he know about unfinished business?

Finally, their dream had come true. We promised that there will be lots of snows for them to throw snow balls and build their snow man.

The higher we go, the less "green" we saw, but "white", everywhere...

Actually my dream had come true too. It's been such a long time since we last visited the snowy alps region. I miss the snow mountains that sometimes, I would day dream about them. I'm so glad that finally we could make it to this place again.

Just that, we have created 2 more company to go along.

Looking down, the so-called hairpin curves can been seen clearly.

The snow had replaced the sand, and become the boy's new favorite.

Their snow man. Cute.

They were so proud with their master piece, and they actually said very proper good bye to their buddy before we drove away.

By then, we had taken nearly 2 hours to go up here, not even 1/5 of the whole journey. Husband said we should go faster and stop less.

This place is prettier than I could capture with my camera.

1850 m above the sea level.

Yeah, we all were heading to the white world. The feelings was great.

Stopped here for a while too, but we didn't go inside the building cause it seems nothing too special...

instead, we played snow at outdoor.

It was about afternoon time by then. The weather was so fine, and the best part is, it's not windy at all. Thus, we could stay outdoor for longer time.

This place is such a great place for pinic.

After a while, their shoes and socks all get wet. William ignored our advice, and he decided to take them off...

and he walked on the snow on bare foots...but he could only stand for a few minutes. Now he know how cold it is to walk on ice. At times, let him try on his own is better than we said it for a hundred times.

Around 1 pm, we were here. Two attractive side road branch off the main Glossglockner road to magnificient lookout points.

The altitude at this point is 2407 m above the sea level, almost reach the top of this scenic road.

One thing worth compliment, we could always find a place to park our car safe and convenient, even at this peak season. Good job !

Believe it or not, there are many people come to this altitude by cycling. I think Grossglockner must be one of the dreams and goals of every cyclist, and biker as well.

Besides their physical fitness, I also admire for their courage.

Looking down from the top, husband pointed to the only road that we were about to go. Can see the road is suddenly disappear at a point, to the entrance of a tunnel.

As soon as husband announced that we would take our lunch break at this restaurant, the boys ran away as fast as an arrow.

Dr-Franz-Rehrl Haus, a restaurant cum guesthouse.

The panoramic view is absolutely beautiful. I sat here for a while to admire the natural beauty of the surrounding.

It's hard to describe this kind of beauty...I feel myself so tiny sitting here.

The peak over there is called Brennkogel (3018 m).

Feeling enough to expose ourself under the bright shining sun, we hopped in to the restaurnant.

The atmosphere created by antiques and nick nacks, old fashioned wood beams and open spaces had really surprised us.

Maybe the animals protector will not like this place?

Before the main course arrived, the boys had finished up their hot-chocolate drink, fast and clean.

The menu are all written in alien language, and the waitress couldn't explain to us what they were, except soup, pasta. So we simply ordered the dish that is relatively more expensive, hoping the portion can fill us full.

The 1st dish came, pork chop+chips+salad. To our surprise, the foods are very yummy, not dry-hard or too oily. Just nice.

This one is something like a pizza, except the base is made of crunchy bread. It's very yummy too. Since then, I began to have confidence in Austrian homecooking foods.

Husband said applestrudel is a popular dessert in Austria, and he said the warm applestrudel taste better than the cold one. So, we ordered a warm applestrudel to try. It tastes perfect with the vanilla cream, I would say : I love it at 1st bite.

Since that day, I ordered applestrudel at many other places we went, and they have never failed me. Oh, how I miss the taste.

Really, we didn't expect high quality foods in this kind of tourist attraction place. They normally emphasize on high turn-over rate, so foods are not a major concern. But this restaurant, besides having good view, they offer good foods too.

After finsihed the lunch, husband drove up some more. Like William said : stand higher, look better.

Within 5 minutes, we have ascented to the highest point of the road, Edelweißspitze, 2571 m.

From the lookout tower at the Edelweiss hut (inn), we can see the splendid panoramic view of 37 peaks each over 3000 m.

The weather was so fine to soak up the sun at this open terrace while enjoying the meal and the breathtaking panorama. Too bad we had had just taken ours.

The views from the summit are astonishing. The hairpin curves that we have driven from and heading to can be seen clearly.

The road has two tunnels, the Mitteltörl and Hochtor. I forgot what this one is called.

Mountain bikers are very commonly seen in this road too. They often travel in group with good discipline.

We could see the contrast of green mountain and white mountain at one side, this has pull us back to the real world for temporary.

The time was aroud 3 pm, husband said we really got to get going now.

The road is quite slippery, we have to descent very carefully...

Also, have to watch out of the people who hiked up and down on this narrow road. Whew...

Dr. Franz-Rehrl Haus, the place we had had a wonderful lunch. I miss my 1st applestrudel !

On the run again...well, not quite. We stopped again somewhere ahead this road. This is because we saw people were doing a real fun activity up there on the slopes.

Yeah, we wanted to follow what other people did and slide down from the slope. Everyone was using a piece of plastic bag for doing this, so we copied too.

We felt "proud" of the boys. They are very willing to try new games or sports. I guess the word "dangerous" is seldom cross their mind. So, instead of "worried", we choose to feel "proud" of them.

They love it !

They so love it so much that they played the game over and over again.

Poor daddy, he got to stand there, waited for them to come up and and serve them, for at least 10X, I think.

William was a bit clumsy, but that didn't stop him at all.

His comment : WOW, this is very fun !

The last round. By then, William has mastered the game, but daddy was a bit too clumsy.

After another 20 minutes, husband said we really need to get going now..again. William was very unhappy to hear that.

Finally, we drove off to our next destination.

On the way descending, we get to see more "green" again, also, the little flowers on the slopes that give us "yellow".

Just a little stop over...

and we were back on the track again. This road is one the most famous tourist road of the alps.

Stopped for this road side's waterfall.

This residue is actually higher than husband.

Getting near to the end point of the Glossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse mountain road.

Passing by a small lake...

and a 3-step-waterfalls.

At around 4.30 pm, finally we arrived at the end of the road, Pasterze Glacier lookout point.

This is the view from Kaiser Franz-Josefs-Hoehe.

We parked our car at the 2nd floor. An impressive scene of glaciers and mountain summits unfolds before our eyes.

Pasterze Glacier is Austria's bigger glacier, lies at the Grossglockner's foot. The characteristically pyramid-shaped peak actually consists of two pinnacles, the Großglockner and the Kleinglockner (3,700 m; klein means "small" in German), separated by a saddle-like formation known as the Glocknerscharte.

The glacier is rapidly melting. But with 9 km length (5 km width), the Pasterze is still the longest glacier in the eastern alps.

The Grossglockner and Pasterze Glacier have been owned by the Austrian Alpine Association since 1918.

Franz-Josefs-Haus Restaurant (2363 m) at the end of Grossglokcner-Hochalpenstrasse mountain road. It used to be a hotel, but since a fire in 1997 no lodging is possible.

I watched a TV programs not too long ago, and was surprised to see the glaciers around the world is rapidly melting. This is a serious alarm to the balance of our ecosystem. I hope we won't need to travel by boat in the near future.

Before we get into the car, I gave one last look for this beautiful place. I feel cherish to visit this place, and I certainly wish this place a long life.

The time was getting pretty late by then. I made a call to the hotel, and informed them we would check in late that day, around 6-7 pm. Luckily they didn't cancel our booking.

Since the time was getting late, we didn't use the other road for exit, but used the same road we came. This time, we didn't make any stop.

When driving non stop, we could actually go through this road within 45 minutes time, compared to the 6-7 hours that we have spent on the way come. So, you can imagine how beatufiful and attractive the place is. Even the boys felt total excitement and joyful about this trip.

As for me, I have left part of my souls here. I'm going to miss this place for a very long time, and I hope to visit this place again some time in the future.

Hallstatt

2009-08-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

After driving for 20 minutes or so, we stopped at a car parking area.

There is something extra ordinary about this place, a big roaring waterfall is lying just at the side of the narrow tar road. When we first saw this big waterfall from the windscreen, it did scare us. It was so near that if I wind down the window, I could have touched the fast falling water.

This is the parking area, and the big waterfall I was talking about. Husband said this should be the fastest way to go down the town center should we parked our car here. Too bad there wasn't any vacancy.

Before leaving, we overlooking Hallstatt town from that parking area. Suddenly, husband pointed at the orange color guesthouse next to the church, and told me that he almost came to a point to book a room there. He gave up because it's too expensive, more than €220. Some more, the room isn't a lake view one. All of the lake view rooms were booked.

Should husband booked a room, I think our room could be one of this facing our side. Yeah, I think maybe it's not so worth it if the room is not facing the lake.

A very beautiful church it is.

We parked our car somewhere near to this fast moving river, and then walked into the town center. I wonder if the water is always moving that fast? or is it because of the heavy rain falls that day?

Houses along the river.

I saw many people have this kind of tree planted at their front yard. The fruits look like an apple, but not quite. I'm still not sure if they are apple tree or not? But husband said they are not.

Seriously, are these apples? If they are apples, I may go to knock on people door and asked them if I can buy some?

Whenever I see an apple tree, it reminds me of a regret....a regret for not plucking an apple and take a bite right on it when we passed by some apple plantations in Norway many years ago. There were nobody around the plantation, and cough cough, we were such a decent people that we didn't want to steal without asking. Only some time later, I figured out we could have leave a note and dropped some money there, for the apples we have taken away. Silly, I still think of this incident until now.

Also, isn't it nice when you wake up in the morning, open the window, pluck an apple right from the tree outside there and take a bite? YumYum, would be the most refreshing and juicy breakfast for the day. Well, that would be a wishful thinking as long as we still live in HK.

The small road leading to the town center.

Hallstatt is a village in Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstatter See (a lake). Now I can confirm my previous guessing, see = lake. Thank you LY for teaching me this.

The name Hall is most probably comes from the old Celtic name for salt. The salt mines near the village has being an important factor. Salt was a valuable resource, so the region was historically very wealthy. In fact, there is another famous salt mine, operated by Saltwelten, located above downtown Hallstatt. When the boys saw the banner, they bugged us to take them for a trip again. We felt very tempted to go too. But of course we didn't go.

Today, apart from the salt production, which since 1595 is transported for 40 kilometers from Hallstatt to Ebensee via a brine pipeline, tourism plays a major role in the town's economic life. Hallstatt is a popular tourist attraction owing to its small-town appeal and can be toured on foot in ten minutes.

The village also gave its name to the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for Cultural Heritage.

As always, the heavy construction machine can spoil the beautiful view.

Slowing walking up the road along the lake side....

Though not big, the rain shower on us on and off.

If it wasn't because of raining, I think this place would have been full house. We would love to sip a cup of coffee while breathing in the fresh air and admiring the beauty here.

This is the most distinctive feature in Hallstatt. I didn't see it elsewhere in the towns we have gone. The trees had been modulated into such a shape in a flat manner. It's as flat as a layer of papers. And it gives very special visual effect.

Until the late 19th century, it was only possible to reach Hallstatt by boat or via narrow trails. The land between the lake and mountains was sparse, and the town itself exhausted every free patch of it. Access between houses on the river bank was by boat or over the upper path, a small corridor passing through attics. The first road to Hallstatt was only built in 1890, along the west shore, partially by rock blasting.

The architectures here are pretty unique in their own way, some hang, some grounded.

One of the guesthouse in town. Husband said many of them couldn't be found through internet. Also, he read some tourist's forums, that it's not easy to carry their baggage all the way up to their room. Yes, I think it's true.

They are too young to appreciate the beauty of those old buildings, but they do like natural stuffs, like water. Don't know how many times we have to stop them from getting to the water any closer than this.

Side decoration of one of the shops.

We walked pass some souvenir's shops and take a look of the posters...Ahh, beautiful.

So beautiful...

And then we saw this ice cave's poster that we didn't go on that morning.

Another features about the houses in Austria and Germany, they like to draw on their outer walls.

Some guesthouses situated on the upper levels on the cliff.

The house that was built very near to that big waterfall we saw in the previous parking area. I wonder how people can stand that kind of loud noises all day long? Or maybe it only happens in the rainy days?

The Hallstatt-marktplatz (Central Square). There were no trading by the time we were there. However, we bumped into a funeral, right in front of the church here. It seemed to us that it was a funeral of a VIP.

Speaking of funeral, there is so little place for cemeteries that every 10 years, bones used to be exhumed and removed into an ossuary, to make room for new burials. A collection of elaborately decorated skulls with the owners' names, professions, death dates inscribed on them is on display at the local chapel. I don't know if this is still a practice in modern days?

We stood there silently to wait for the funeral to get over, so as to continue our walk. But the funeral was progressing very slow. After 15 minutes, we left the place by using a small side street somewhere in between the shops here.

I call this an "Amazing Tree".

Till here, that's the end of our short walk in Hallstatt Town.

We walked back by using the same road.

While waiting for husband to take the car and pick us, we waited here. The rain was getting bigger by then. Anyway, we felt grateful that the rain wasn't continuously falling, that we were able to walk around Hallstatt Town, though for a short while.

We drove back to Gosau village, at around 5.30 pm.

Gosau Village

2009-08-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

We woke up early in the next morning, pull up the curtain and hope we would see some miracles out there. But nope, no miracle for us. As said by the weather forecast reporter, this would be a raining day, same to the following 2 days too (a deep sigh).

All I wanted to sing looking out from the foggy window : Rain..Rain..go away, come again another day, we all want to go to PLAY!

Well, there is nothing we can do about the weather stuff, just have to accept it. After brushing and changing, we went downstairs to take a very long breakfast instead. So long that husband and I have time to crack silly jokes which I didn't register any of them in my brain. After breakfast, we went back to our room to dry the wet clothes and pack for the last time. Then, we left the Star Inn Hotel at around 10 am.

Due to heavy downpour, husband drove quite slow. It's pretty amazing to see every inch of the land was showered with extremely consistent rain drop, made us wonder if the same rainy cloud has been following us on top?

In that morning time, we were supposed to go to an ice cave embedded somewhere on a high mountain. We have struggled for a long time should we abandoned the plan on the way, but we decided to give it a try anyway.

Husband drove to the mountain foot and we get everything prepared to go. Standing in front of the ticketing counter, we asked the lady if it's safe for us to go in this weather, especially with the normal spot shoes we were wearing. She called the tour guide up there to check for the condition, then looked at our shoes, and said it's not good for us to go.

She said due to the sudden temperature drop, the snow deposition was thick and quite slippery to walk up the cave. Husband further explained to me that after going up by riding a cable car, we still need to walk for 15 minutes or so to go up to the ice cave. He couldn't tell how steep that 15 minutes walk would be, but if the lady said it's not safe to go, we just got to call it off. When the boys heard the certify, they made a fuss. We felt disappointed too. Heard husband said it is a very awesome place. Sigh.

Husband then called the lodge we were going to check if it's ok to check in a bit early, at 2 pm. Their check-in time is normally late (4 pm), and check-out time is normally early (10-11 am). Luckily the land lady said it's ok.

Around 1.30 pm, we arrived at Pension Edelweiss (apartment) located at Gosau's outskirts, that husband has booked for a night. The land lady wasn't in, but she said we could make use of the common rooms in her apartment.

The rental of this apartment is quite cheap, €57 per night. However, there is a final clean charge €30 to pay for. So, end up, we have to pay €87. But that's still cheap compared to the hotel in bigger town or downtown area.

The rented car that had served us very comfortably for the whole trip from Austria to Germany. From the booklet that is kept in the drawer, we get to know that the registration date of this car is May-08. No wonder it smell new.

The door wasn't locked and we could walk in and out like it's our own house. Compared to the cold and wet condition out there, inside the apartment we felt very warm and dry.

One of the so-called common rooms. This one must be the living room, not too common to me.

The children's playroom.

The dining room.

Suddenly, Vincent jumped out from the playroom, with this face mask on him. He asked if I got scared by him, of course I said "yes", to please him. Very funny, son.

The temperature had dropped to 10-12C. Compared to the previous sunny day, 25-28C, what a huge difference !

While waiting for the land lady to come, the rain had suddenly become very small. It had elevated our mood. We quickly ran outside to PLAY.

The scene outside Edelweiss Pension is very breathtaking, peaceful too. One of the heaven on earth.

In the past timber production and salt mining in neighboring Hallstatt have historically been the major industries in Gosau. Today, tourism is the main source of income, although raising livestock, mainly cattle, is also an important economic activity.

Vincent pointed at this cattle and asked me if this cattle can supply a lots of "chocolate" milk. Obviously he thought chocolate milk comes directly from a cattle.

Vincent and his imaginary chocolate-milk-cow.

The small wooden bridge that connect our side to the cattle's side. Of course we didn't connect ourself with the cattles, though the boys would like to do that.

Finally the land lady came, she took 15 min to check us in. Then, she helped us to carry our baggage to a family apartment, at the 3rd floor. Our apartment consist of 2 bedrooms. The kitchen was the built in type, in one of the bedrooms. It's weird to do the cooking in bedroom.

After taking a simple lunch, the rain had almost stopped. Husband suggested to go to the end of Gosau to take a closer look of the snow mountain that we could see from our room. Again, when the captain said go, we go.

15 minutes later, we reached to the end of Gosou. We parked our car in front of this guesthouse and walked up to the lake side.

Apparently, this place is one of the ski resorts in Gosau. When the boys saw the cable car descending from the top, they bugged us to take them for a ride. We got to promise them we would do it some other day, then they moved on.

At the southern end of Gosau, is Vorderer Gosausee. A mountain lake enclosed by sheer rock wall, with a beautiful view across the water to the Dachstein & the Gosau glacier.

On the right side of the lake.

It's quite windy and very very cold here. We couldn't stay any longer even though we wanted to. After snapping a few photos, we left.

On the way back to Gosau Village. This place is so quiet and peaceful.

I was thinking : what kind of pressure would they possibly have to live in a place like this? Probably zero pressure, I guess.

Back to this point, we didn't make a right turn to go back to our lodge. Instead, husband continued to drive on. He said since the rain had stopped, we should go to a nearby famous town, Hallstatt for a quick tour.

We drove on the same road that we used to go to Gosau town. A river is flowing rapidly at one side of the road.

After several turns, husband pool the car aside, at here. He pointed to that far away tiny cluster of houses, and said it was the place we were heading for, Hallstatt.

I zoomed (maximum) to that place, and that's the biggest Hallstatt Town my camera can get for me. I really should consider to buy a higher power telephoto lens now, I need to think....

Actually to many people, Gosau village is a good detour from Hallstatt Town. This is because Gosau is only 10 km away from Hallstatt, and it is truly a very beautiful countryside town.

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We were greeted by a beautiful sunny day when we woke up the next morning. Thank God the "very bad weather" as predicted by weather forecast was never happen !!

Before leaving Gosau for long, we drove back to the lake side to take another look...

Yes, blue sky, I love you.

The mirror image is awesome.

Somemore, can see the glacier from far...

Here too, a clear picture of the rock mountains.

It's sure a very happy sunny day for all of us.
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Fascinating Salt Mine

2009-08-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Due to the summons ticket we've got in Lake Konigssee, husband had taken more than 35 minutes time to get it settle in a bank. When he get back to the car, he said we were in a hurry to rush to our next destination, the salt mine.

Feeling a bit worried, husband said if everything goes smooth, we could still make it on time. He grabbed the map, looked at it for a while, then he drove off quickly. Husband did make a wrong turn when we were up to a hill, but he aware of it soon enough and able to turn to the right path. Whew! Talking about this, I'm very impressed with his good sense in direction, and good memory too, make him an excellent driver at everywhere.

Not to brag my husband, but driving in a total stranger land, being confidence with your driving skill is simply not enough, you got to be able to read the map fast (sometimes, a quick glance even while holding the sterling), and be able to react fast to every uncertainty that you may encounter on the way. That's why I'm freaking scared to drive in an unfamiliar place, though I'm confident with my skill.

Husband managed to locate the place in a very short time. From that small town to salt mine, I think we took 20-25 minutes. We were lucky to catch the 3.45 pm tour, the last guided tour in a day. We would have missed it should we get there a few more minutes late.

We bought a family ticket for 2 adults + 2 children, cost €43 (HKD 460) at the counter, then ran inside quickly.

There are quite a number of salt mines in Austria. The one we went is called Salz Welten, located in Hallein Bei Salzburg. Salz Welten also got 2 other salt mines in Hallstatt, Altaussee.

The Hallein Salt Mine, also known as Salzbergwerk Dürrnberg, is an underground salt mine located in the Dürrnberg plateau above Hallein, Austria. The mine has been worked for over 7,000 years since the Celtic tribes. It helped ensure nearby Salzburg, a powerful trading community. Since World War I, it has served as a mining museum.

The temperature in the mine is a constant 10°C throughout the year. Therefore, warm clothing and stout footwear is highly recommended, even in summer time. Those clothing that we were wearing are provided by Salz Welten.

Just in time to join the rest of the gang before departing. The green color object down there is the transport that is going to take us into the underground mine.

Husband said this would be a very fun trip for the whole family, old and young (must age 4 and above though). Thus, I tend to expect the participants would be like us, contain old and young members. But the fact is, we are the only family with kids tagging along. And Vincent and William is the only children in our group of 20 person. Oh, is there something we don't know?

After we all sat well, the train moved on fast and soon, we were flying into the dark tunnel. It's so dark inside that I couldn't see my own fingers. We got to hold tight to the waist of the people that sit in front of us, and mustn't slant the body to left or right as the tunnel is quite narrow.

We felt the natural high and giggled like crazy. Several minutes later, we saw a warm light in front of the tunnel. My feeling is pretty much like a near-death-experience, as reported by some near-death people.

That's the pit railway that brings us into the mine, and also out again later on. We get off the train at here, and started our tour through the Salt Worlds that would last for 75 minutes.

We let everyone walked first, then the 4 of us followed from behind. Thought this would be the safetest strategy?

The ambience in the underground is very spooky. The boys seemed quite nervous at the beginning stage of the tunnel walk. Frankly speaking, me too. It was after a while, then we adapted to the environment and the boys get back to their normal self.

This lady guide toured us around the mine. Thank God she can speak relatively good English so that we get to know more about the history and everything about the salt mine.

A salt mine is an operation involved in the extraction of salt from rock salt or halite, a type of evaporitic deposit.

The story of salt is one of the oldest in the history of the human race. It is intrinsically tied to the development of our culture and civilisation. As early as 3,000 years ago, our ancestors learned the benefits of salt. Salt ensured their survival and created living space. Where there was salt, humans settled. No wonder salt has been described as 'white gold' at ancient time.

After a brief introduction given by the lady tour guide, we then continued to walk further inside the mine.

Certain part of the tunnel is very dark. That's how dark it is when I turned off my camera's flashlight, chill and spooky too.

At the end of the dark tunnel is a theater-like chamber. The screen over there show us a short movie about the history of the mines. In fact, there are 3-4 stop over throughout the whole journey that show us a short movie about the story of this salt mine.

About 250 million years ago, the African country pushed forward bringing the rocky material that formed the Limestone Alps. The oceans that covered the area dried up but left the copious amounts of salt embedded within the mountains.

The Celts tribes mined the salt, but then they decided to put holes in the mountains, fill it with water to create brine, pumped it out of the mountain where the water was evaporated in the industrial town of Hallien. The Salzburg salt mine was only shut down for business in 1989 due to very high cost to conduct the underground mining.

Early mining was done by hand and extracted salt rock crystals as a solid. To improve efficiency, fresh water would be pumped into a cavern. After several weeks of absorbing salt from the walls, the water was pumped out to a processing plant in Hallein, let evaporated, and become salt.

We continued our exploration on foot...

A short while later, we reached to an interesting place. At this point, as divided by the rectangular board hanging on the wall, one part of the mine is in Austria, one part in Germany. As told by the lady guide, 20% of this mine area is lie under Austria's land, the other 80% area is lie under Germany's land.

Technically speaking, we have crossed the border of Austria and Germany several times underground there. Cool !

An 1829, a treaty between Austria and Germany was singed since the mine actually crosses under the border into Germany. The treaty stipulates that up to ninety Bavarian farmers are allowed to work in the mine.

The various form of underground salt.

Later, we reached one of the climax. The lady guide said we need to slide down to go some more 80 m deeper underground. William was freaking scared, he refused to slide down. Only when the lady guide said he could sit on my lap, and I promised I would hold him real tight, then he reluctantly accepted the challenge. I looked down the long, steep slide, and to be honest, my heart bound very fast. Do we look very scared here?

The lady guide helped William to sit on my lap, then she told us to lean our body backward, kept our legs straight and then, she pushed me down. We screamed all the way down. When we reached the stop, the group applauded and cheered for us. YES!

This long, steep, wooden slide was used by the ancient miners to go deeper into the mine. There would be another slide ahead us.

Don't know how long we have walked, we then reached another climax of the journey. We were going to float on a raft over a salt lake. Wow, underground lake. Seems that the scenes we have seen in movie "Journey to the center of the earth" is not totally a fiction.

The flat roof of the mine is only a few inches from our head. It was kind of intimidating. But nevertheless, it's fascinating !!

The salt lake had been newly designed, equipped with multi-vision show. It's like entering a twilight zone. Good heaven, we were so amazed by the lighting effect they have created. Too bad I couldn't take any pictures clearer than this one.

We are not allowed to go near this salt crystal. I think it must be precious.

This salt crystal is as tall as an my height.

Basically, this model had illustrated where we were right at that time. I guess we should be around 400 meter below the ground.

Not too long later, we needed to slide down again. This time, the wooden slide is much steeper and longer than the 1st one, at least 2X of it. Same as last time, the lady guide pushed me down. And we slided at a much higher speed that I could feel my tight was getting increasingly hot.

The lady guide offered 2nd chance for those who want to take a ride again. I was suprised the boys wanted to try again, but enough for me. Thus, husband got to take both of them down together. He sat at the back, Vincent at the front, and Willaim was sandwiched between them. When they got down, the boys said they want to do it again. But there wasn't a 3rd chance for them.

Ha, now I know the rock that we saw in the Kognissee is actually Salt crystal.

Speaking of how an underground hole as deep as this mine can be circulated with fresh air, the lady guided said all the ancient miners did was to press the petal to let the air in, as shown in the picture.

One of the surprise to be found deep in the mountain is the "Man Preserved in Salt". In 1573 and 1616, two Celtic miners were discovered in the mines. They had been perfectly preserved by the salt and only their skin had become brown in color. They were hastily buried as heathens outside the walls of the cemetery.

That how the miners dug salt in an ancient tunnel.

1 hour passed by very fast. The journey through this mysterious world was almost come to the end.

On the last theater chamer, this was the scene when Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich was dying, and his clumsy but faithful servant Jakobus was the only person who stayed by his side.

Although Archbishop has become very rich due to his mine business, he was not able to enjoy his weath. In fact, due to some political issues, he was imprisoned for many years, till the last day of his life. What a sad destiny he got.

Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1559-1617) successfully traded the coveted "white gold" which was essential for life. Huge quantities of salt were minced and massive profits were earned using the "wet mining" method. In doing so, he had transformed Salzburg into a magnificient baroque city which today has been recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

That lady was the life-long love of Archbishop.

At the end we don't have to worry about stairs as we come up with a long escalator.

Passing through the last channel that lead us back to the train stop. We started to feel real cold just when we sat here to wait for the train to come. The warm clothing has indeed keep us warm, long enough for us to complete the whole journey.

Taking the same train to leave for the real world, with total satisfaction.

The underground mine was lie right beneath this mountain. I still wonder how the ancient miners could dig this miles long tunnel with their bare hands 400 B.C. ago.

The weather forecast was accurate, it was raining by the time we reached the surface, with occasional lighting. Anyway, we were not too bother with the bad weather, as we had just experienced something which is very fabulous.

The driver, checking for the road to go back to our hotel.

Every participants were given a small bottle of salt as souvenier. Knowing its history now, they become very special salt to me. I still keep it at home, don't think I will want to use it in cooking.

This photo cost €6 / copy. Normally we wouldn't want to buy it. But this is indeed an unforgetable experience that end up, we've decided to take them home with us. It had recorded the speed measurement at the bottom right corner. Husband and Vincent was sliding at the speed of 18 km/ hour.

While me and William slided at a speed of 5.3 km/ hour. Oh, 3X slower. I thought I was going down very fast lo.*
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This experience was one of the most lasting memories of our trip to Austria-Germany, very educational too. Now then, this experience has changed my perspective about the seemingly negligible salt that we use in everyday cooking.
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Lake Konigssee Excursion

2009-08-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

After leaving Mirabell Palace, husband drove straight to our next stop, Lake Konigssee.

The sky looks beautifully blue and clear, though the weather forecast predicted there would be thunderstorm in the afternoon time. Knowing the weather condition in the region wan't stable for the past few weeks, we took the forecast seriously.

Husband modified the plan a little bit. So, we first went to the place that we supposed to go in the afternoon, and postphoned the originally morning trip to the afternoon instead.

An unknown small town located somewhere near our destination. Surrounded by magnificient Alps, all I see is a very beautiful neighbourhood.

Getting near to Lake Konigssee.

Lake Konigssee is quite near to Salzburg. Within 45 minutes, we were there already.

Berchtesgaden is a small town situated in the Alps about an hour from Salzburg. It's actually across the border in Germany. It's a strange feeling that we can cross the border of Germany-Austria to-and-fro like nobody business.

Along the pedestrian street, there are many shops selling this kind of stone, called Salzsteine. At first, I thought it was some sort of crystal stone, as Austria is famous for crystal, right. Only later in the afternoon, I get to know what exactly it is after visiting a fantastic place.

I am a died-hard fans of crystal. When I saw those stones, I got to control myself not to carry them back home.

Too bad I don't understand what was written on the board. Guess they are some sort of crystal stones?

Like mother like son, the boys were obssessed for those glittering stones too. Vincent liked this one the most, and he asked me to take a photo for him. Luckily he didn't bug me to buy it.

Some shops sell this kind of artworks. They are very beautiful, but expensive. For sure they are not made in China.

Konigsse is a tourist town, with many souvenir stores and cafes and bars leading to the dock where there were also a few hotels and guesthouses.

The lake front guesthouse. Heard husband said he was trying to book a guesthouse somewhere in this small town, but too bad, all were fully booked.

After a 15 minutes walk, finally we reached Lake Konigssee in the Berchtesgaden National Park. The lake is 7.7 km long, but only 1.7 km wide, and was carved by glaciers during the last ice age. It is advertised as German's "fjord", surrounded by mountains and waterfalls.

At the dock are electric boats used to take tourists down the lake. We bought a full trip family ticket, cost €37.

Lake Konigsee is famous for its clear water and advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany. For this reason, only the electric driven boats, pedal or row boats are allowed on the lake since 1909.

The boat was occupied very fast. Need not waiting long, it started to sail out the lake.

We felt thrilled when the boat was moving ahead, though I think it moves a bit too slow.

The boat stopped at a certain point on the lake and the driver took out his trumpet to show us the echo at this point of the lake. Everyone on the boat was quietly listening to him play a tune and then it would echo back shortly after from the walls of the high rising flakes of the mountains. Absolutely beautiful !

After some time, the boys started to feel bored as the scene at both sides look almost the same to them. When they get restless, one of the things they would do is repeatedly do the same thing, like keep asking me when all this will go to the end? Ahh...irritating.

After 20-30 minutes, the boat stop at the main stop on the lake, known for its small church, the Chapel of St. Batholomew. It is Lake Konigssee's landmark. Too bad the maintenance is in progress, spoil the view.

We get off the boat at this stop, while some other passengers continue their journey to the next stop.

The boys were busy when they get to see many small fishes swimming in the lake. Sigh, they always like to make their existance noticeable.

Probably this is the only guesthouse at this place?

After visiting many churches, I start to believe that even a very small church, loacted in a remote place, like this one, is beautiful inside.

The boys kept asking me if I have brought anything for the ducks. Hemm...to be honest, I don't know what duckies like to eat? We only have some biscuits. Do ducks like to eat biscuit? Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to feed the wild animals in their own habitat. So, I just told the boys we have no suitable foods for them.

The water is so clear that we can virtually see the details at the bottom very clear.

The famous Eagle's Nest, a summer lodge built for Hilter was on top of one of the mountains around this region. It's been said that Hilter spent little time in his special lodge, cause he had vertigo and didn't like height much.

The only restaurant at this place.

Gosh, I have no idea what's the menu are all about. General speaking, Austrian doesn't speak very good English, and many of their sign boards lack of English translation as well. So, it's not very convenient to get the information we need.

Some of the houses here. Don't know if they are still occupied or not?

Hello, anybody home?

Hello?

Besides the moutains, I love the vast greenery lawn too. It gives me so much energies.

One of play ground with beautiful scene. We just let them played there while we walked around the region.

When the boat approached the dock again, we continued our journey to the next and the last stop. The time by then is nearly 12 noon, William felt so hot that he didn't mind I stripped off his shirt.

The Konigssee is the deepest lake in Germany, with a maximum depth of 190 metres. Incredible !

Another 15 minutes later, the boat stopped here. The place is called Salet (Obersee). We get off the boat again.

The emerald-green hue of the shimmering water captures the heart of everyone who sees it.

It's really too bad my camera can't capture the view from 360 degree. Maybe I should consider to upgrade my tool to the one with video recording fuction, I need to think...

Yes, the dock.

A house at the other side of the lake. I asked husband if he can live in a place like this? He said as long as there is broadband service and he can go on line, it's ok for him to live there for a while. Emm...forget it.

While I was busy snapping photos here and there, husband stood in front of this sign board and started to estimate the distance for a hike. Again, there is no English translation here. After a while, husband said the hike won't take a long time, probably 1 hour. Well, I didn't challenge his estimation. No point to challenge his wild guess, right (unless I'm clever enough to read the map).

That's the trail husband pointed us to go. When the captain said go, we go. No need to use the brain and think.

It's getting very hot to walk under the sun. The only thing I had used my brain here was to check if we got enough water supply.

What a surprise to see a small guesthouse and restaurant in this remote place on earth ! The captain said we could take a lunch here on the way back. Yippee...

The captain who always walked ahead of everyone and looked back to make sure we were still there, somewhere.

One good thing about having at least 2 children, they really can keep each other a good company (of course that is when they are not fighting). And quite embarrass to say, they make lots of noise everywhere they go. They are such a big contrast in foreign countries when people usually talk in low voices.

I think he was trying to hear what that 2 little girls were talking about. Too bad they didn't speak English. So after a while, he came down the rock and continued the hike. Anyway, I talked to their mom for a while, asked her how long would it take to reach the end. She said another 10 minutes. YES !!

The captain was kicking our ass to walk faster.

But the 3 of us, still "kau-kau-zhang" here...

True enough, we reached this beautiful lake after walking for another 10 minutes.

Abosulutely beautiful. See it to believe it.

When daddy climbed up that rock, he didn't realize he had set a "role model" to his son. Well, he asked for it.

Due to safety reason, daddy refused to help him. Poor fella, he got to find something else to play.

He went to join other family instead (rolled eyes). A vengeance to his dad?

Sometimes, language is not a barrier. This is especially true for children.

Later on, I saw William pointing at the boy's leg and they seemed very nervous. They continued this chic-and-duck conversation for quite a while, till I felt curious and took a shot of them. Then, I saw the boy's knee was bleeding and he ran fast to his parents. William told me he saw a leeches sucking his blood. Boy, he then mentioned about this "big incident" over and over again for the rest of the trip.

We stayed at the lake side for about 20 minutes, then walked back via the same path.

I asked captain to carry my hat and glasses for me for a while, and that's the way he carried them. Cute...he made me laughed wholeheartedly.

Taking a short break here...

Taking another short break here too. This photo was taken by 2 Chinese girls, who dressed extremely hot and sexy, somemore wearing high heels. Amazing.

One last look at this beautiful place. When the boat came, we hopped in and went back to where we came from. That's take another 3o minutes time.

So cute, with my hat and my sun glasses. I think the hat and glasses are more suit them than me. (Jealous lah)

We didn't take our lunch at the restaurant in Obersee, caused we were not hungry, cuase we had taken a really heavy breakfast in Star Inn in that morning.

Anyway, when I saw this biscuit, called Susse Brezen (one of the popular local delicacies in Germany), I bought one straight away. Besides the original version, there also got several modified version. I picked the original one.

Well, this biscuit isn't that tastless-hard-dry as husband had described before. In fact, I quite like it. So do the boys.

When we get back to our car, husband saw a summon ticket put on the windscreen. We didn't know we should have paid a parking ticket before leaving our car there. Luckily, the charge was only €5, not €50 or €500. Someone told husband he could settle the summon at any local bank. So, we quickly order 2 sets of MD's meal to go, and husband drove to the nearest small town to look for a bank.

Funny thing is, the "xx-bank" building that we saw is not a bank. Apparently, bank means something else in Germany & Austria. I couldn't remember what bank is called in Germany's word. End up, husband could only find the real bank with the help from a foreigner student. Husband said this young man hates this boring place, and he can't wait to leave here for long. I think he must like Hong Kong then.

Salzburg's Old Town

2009-07-31T00:50:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Frankfurt International Airport around 0630, safe and sound.

Feeling quite ok as we all managed to catch some sleep during the 12-hour flight. William is the champion, he has slept nearly 7 hours though in a curly position. When he got to sleep, nothing can stop him. He has my genes.

Waiting in the Frankfurt Airport for the flight to Austria, departure time : 0830. See the leather couch husband was lying on, it's so comfortable. We haven't been in such a position for at least 24 hours by then Gosh, it's so comfortable that we lazed there for quite a long time.

The most sleeping piggy wake up as the most playful piggy of all.

The kind of plane that commute between Frankfurt and Austria. Wow, look at the propeller... some kind of antique huh? When I first saw it, I really preyed hard and tried not to think negatively.

There is only 76 passenger seats in this small plane. Its interior is quite cute, something like a big toy plane.

The flying time is slightly more than 1 hour, piece of cake to us now. The boys spent their time munching the simple snack and playing the simple toys they have been given. One hour pass by very fast.

As for me, I spent my time looking out from the window...

It's a beuatiful sunny day, the scene we saw with human eyes is prettier than the image captured by a camera.

Being live in a crowded city for such a long time, I really envy the people who live down there. I wonder how's the density like, 1-in-20 meter?

Slowly approaching the landing point...

Finally we arrived our first destination, Salzberg, the fourth-largest city in Austria.

After claiming our baggages, we hired a taxi and go to a small town in Germany's border to take our rented car. We were surprised to see the car is a luxurious Mercede Benz Kompressor instead of Golf. Husband said Avis had upgraded the car for us with no additional charge. Strange enough.

The next thing we got to settle was to pay for the road toll charges. Husband drove to a nearby convenient store and I accidentally spotted an unknown sticker put on the windscreen. Suspecting it might be the sticker for road toll, husband removed it and took it to the store for checking. Gooddy, we are right. The sticker is still valid. Save us some money.

We then drove to the hotel that husband had booked via internet before departure. It's in Salzbery down town area, so he didn't take a long time to find it. Everything ran smooth. After we checked in to the hotel and off load our baggages, the time was 12 noon.

Feeling a bit hungry, we went downstair, crossed the road and walked to the nearest restaurant. Well, the nearest is a Chinese Restaurant, just opposite our hotel. The interior design looks pretty high class to us, or it's normal here in Austria, I have no idea then.

We checked the menu, 90% of the items cost above €10. We ordered 2 different kinds of fried rice and 2 bottles of coke. The bill was €26 (HKD280). We paid 10% for tips as it's a norm here. My gross impression about the living standard in Austria vs HK is 1 : 2.5 (Taking a deep breathe).

After the lunch, seeing the weather was just fine, we decided to go into the town for a tour. Yo, let's go....

The white building on the right is our hotel (Star Inn). This one cost €105 per night, including breakfast for 4. Husband said that's the best deal he could get near down town area. We stayed in this hotel for 2 nights. Oh yeah, must mentioned that breakfast was good, lots of variety, better than our expectation.

Knowing it could be difficult to park our car in the town area, we decided to walk. Husband said all we need to walk is just to cross this tunnel. Fine.

The entrance of the pedestrian tunnel. At the midway, there is a detour leading to elsewhere. We were eager to enter the town, so we didn't go to check it out.

The tunner is indeed short. We were out from there after a 5-min walk. This place served as the landmark for us to walk back to our hotel.

The Old Town of Salzburg was was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.. Salzburg is a toursit favourite, with the number of tourists outnumbering locals by a large margin in peak times.

Mozart Monument. Salzburg is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It's also the setting for parts of the musical and film "The Sound of Music", which features famous landmarks in Austria, but focuses mainly on Salzburg.

The late Mozart had been used in various chocalate packaging. He probably have never thought about it for his whole life. Yes, life is like a box of choclate, you'll never know what you are going to get (quoted by Forest's mom).

Ancient transportation method...

vs modern transportation method. Interesting.

Shoppers on Getreidegasse, along the street is a concentration of interesting shops and numerous restaurants.

A concentrated street artist who ignored the whole world around him.

Those rolls look very attractive. No wonder many people were lining up there to take their order.

Out of so many choices, I'd picked the tuna fish roll.

No kidding, it's very delicious. I love it.

The boys found their toys along the street too. Of course they bugged their boss to buy one for them, but the boss didn't give in. After some time toying the puppet, boss asked them to thank the lady and leave. Didn't know if the lady had given us a black face at our back or not?

The Franziskanerchurch, which is the oldest church in Salzberg.

Same as many famous church in other European cities, the interior of the dom is remarkably beautiful. The main and side altars of the Dom are quite pleasing.

Although the church is small, it is unique.

The baroque main altar is one of the masterpieces of Fischer von Erlach in 1709. He was one of the best known baroque artists and architects in Austria.

It's good to sit underneath the dom to appreciate the detailed of frescos and stuccoworks that adorn this structure.

This large "bowl' is the place to baptize the newborns.

Next to the Franziskanerchurch is the Petersfriedhof (St Peter's Cemetery), the oldest Christian graveyard in Salzburg, dating back to 1627. Many of the aristocratic families of Salzburg lie buried here along with many other notable person.

St Peter's Cemetery is one of the most important tourist attraction in the city. Many visitors come to see the place where the Von Trapp family hid out in "The Sound of Music".

This place have many beatutiful ornamented graves, with lot of flowers and small trees. It looks more like a garden than like a cemetery.

Catacombs in the clifff face. For a small admission fee, visitors can climb a steep set of stone-carved stairs and view several rooms with altars, faded murals, and inscriptions. But we were too tired to do that.

The Hohensalburg Castle that sits on top of Festungsberg Hill, which overlooks the city, makes for quite an icon on the horizon.

The cemetery includes two notable chapels. One is the St. Margaret's Chapel.

And this one is The Romanesque Chapel of the Holy Cross.

The Hohensalzburg Castle (Festung Hohensalzburg), sits on a hill is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe, with views over Salzburg. It was built in 1077 and expanded during the following centuries.

Hohensalzburg Fortress was refurbished at the end of the 19th century. It is easily accessed by cable car (funicular), installed in 1892, reaching the top in just 1 minute.

To reach the castle, visitors can choose between the funicular, departing every 10 minutes; or taking a 30-minute walk to the top. Looking at the hot sun, plus tired, we'd decided to buy the Fortress card.

Fortress Card, which includes the funicular ride; admission to the fortress grounds and interior rooms; Fortress Museum; Rainer Regiment Museum and Marionette Museum; Almpassage and Multimedia show cost us €24.30 (family ticket).

There's a restaurant at the fortress. It is very rewarding to take a nice meal overlooking the city from the top at the same time.

The magnificient panorama of Salzburg City, view from the top of Castle Hohensalzburg.

Salzach River divides the city into 2.

We walked up the castle by climbing this staircase.

I like the backdrop...quite an extraordinary view.

After the Napoleonic wars, when Salzburg was secularised and became part of Austria in 1816, Hohensalzburg Castle served as a prison and an army camp. During World War I, Hohensalzburg Castle was used to imprison Italian officers as prisoners of war.

After 1933, Salzburg became one of the areas in Austria that were most fiercely targeted by Nazi unerground terrorists. When some Nazis launched an attack near Salzburg, they were imprisoned in the fortress in 1934. This was the last time that Hohensalzburg Castle held prisoners.

Running up to the rooms, which mostly have become museum now.

Some of the things that is displayed in the many different rooms...

Inside the walls of the Hohensalzburg, it's like a small town inside a castle.

Started feeling exhausted, we have no mood to continue the tour. We then walked back to our hotel by using the same road. After taking shower, we all felt into sleep very fast. The time was about 6pm.

The next morning, we woke up early. After taking breakfast, we couldn't wait to depart to our next destination. Before that, husband drove us to another famous attraction located in Salzbury town, the Mirabell Palace.

The famous fountain in Mirabell Palace (backdrop), as seen in the Do-Re-Mi song from the film "The Sound of Music".

Gardens in Mirabell Palace, full of flowers.

This photo was taken by a tourist from Shanghai, as a favor after he asked me to take a photo of him.

We didn't spend a long time here, because husband and I were eager to go to our next destination.

In fact, we didn't spend any other time to tour around Salzberg. City sight seeing tour is seldom our cup of tea, not at this time, this age. Maybe some other 15 or 20 years later, when we become physically weak, then city tour is our target.

When we can still walk and run freely, we want to go for more challenging trip.

One last glance at the city...I feel the intricated cable web that cover the whole city is a way bit too intensive, to the extend that it spoilt the view. Anyway, it's still a beautiful city, no doubt.

So long Salzberg.

Going to Austria & Germany

2009-07-26T00:44:00.000-07:00

This year's family vacation, we had finalized Austria and Germany as our destination. The reason is simple, husband and I have been to many safe-to-go European countries before, but Austria.
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As usual, husband as the vacation planner for our 9D8N itinerary, had to map out the route we would go as well as for other details, like hotel booking and car rental. When he faced the dilemma, I'll be his advisor. I did it based on my guts feelings, but husband sometimes seems very agreed with it.
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Unlike last year, when husband got only a few days time to plan for our England trip, this year, he has 2 weeks time for that. Thanks to the light loading (due to poor economy or swine flu?), husband could plan the trip in more advance.
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Cathay Pacific doesn't fly Austria directly, so we had to fly to the nearest port, i.e. Frankfurt. Our flight departed at 12 midnight. Great, it's our sleeping time.

As usual, we tried to make our baggage as light as possible. We brought minimum clothing and other necessities, all packed in 1-big and 1-small baggage. But the past experience had taught us to prepare some instant foods as well. So, we stuffed another small baggage with cup noddles, for that, the boys were so thrilled about.

Germany seems to have strict rules for the car passenger, age below 12. Depends on the age and height, children will need to be fasten in a car seat or car booster. My dear friend who live in Germany has confirmed this.

We could have rented the car seat from our car rental provider, but it will cost €8/day (HKD86/day). That means we have got to pay HKD770 for the whole trip. No way. End up, we've decided to take our own car booster along. And lucky we, our car booster was made in Germany, 100% comply with their rules and regulations. Just that, we had 1 more small baggage to carry.

Noah's Ark

2009-07-04T21:01:00.001-07:00

The weather condition has gone somewhat haywire for the past 2 weeks.

First, it's darn so hot, no wind can be felt at all. At home, we have to turn on the air conditioner for 24 hours. Sure the electricity bill will hike crazily for this month.

Secondly, it's been raining for almost everyday. The humidity level had easily scored over 95% RH. Sigh, hot and humid, one of the worst condition to living.

Furthermore, due to swine flu outbreak, all of the kindergarten and primary schools have been suspended since 12-Jun, and summer holiday was officially started from 26-Jun (instead of 17-Jul). Sigh, my boys and their grandparents, they were like locked up in a small cage for these raining days.

So, when it's not raining on 1-Jul, which happen to be a public holiday, husband and I had decided to take all of them for an outing. Well, this time, we went to a newly open park, Noah's Ark.

Yo, finally out of the hot and humid prison.

See the huge boat behind us, it's Noah's Ark.

There are 3 types of ticket available, from HKD55, HKD85 to HKD100. We bought the most expensive Ark Package which grant us the access to Ark Expo, Ark Garden, Ark Life Education House, Treasure House.

The Ark stands on Ma Wan territory. Facing the sea, the huge ship seems to be able to depart from the land at anytime.

The Ark Adventureland is the least crowded place under the extremely hot sun. Really, I think anyone can suffer a heat stroke if staying there for 20 min.

The heat outside had naturally made everyone to squeeze indoor. Inside the ark, we lined up at the shortest queue to get into the Treasure House, yet this still took us 30 minutes.

To adults, the Treasure House has nothing too fascinating. Anyway, the paintings on the wall are kind of spectacular.

There are 15 discovery galleries in Treasure House. Elements of life education, multiple intelligences, critical thinking and liberal studies are all integrated in the fun-filled exhibitions and programs especially designed for children age 3-15.

Archaelogy gallery.

The boys were very enthusiastic in digging the dino bone. Luckily no one come to scold them or me. (photographing is prohibited in all of the galleries)

Being Human gallery.

Robotic City. The children are fascinated about those giant toys.

Music Wonders.

Outside the ark...

At one corner, some foreign teenagers were singing and dancing to worship the GOD. Well, under the hot sun, not many people could stand the heat to watch their performance.

The story of Noah's Ark, begins with God observing the Earth's corruption and deciding to destroy all life. However, God found one good man, Noah, "a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time", and decided that he would save him. God instructs Noah to make an ark for his family and for representatives of the world's animals and birds in "whose nostrils is the breath of life".

Anyway, where is Noah? and his family? I couldn't see them anywhere in the Park...weird. Aren't they the major characters?

The Ark Garden is more like a Zoo, just that all of the animals are fake one.

I always feel that HK need to have a zoo. I don't understand why the government doesn't want to build us a zoo???

We really have no mood to stand under the hot sun and count on the pairs of animals. After snapping some pictures, we just get out from there quickly.

The restaurants in the Park are obviously can't support the massive crowds. Since we were desperately longing for a cool place to fill our empty stomach, we decided to walk further to the pier side for other restaurants. Unfortunately, the small restaurants over there can't fit in all the crowds as well. End up, we bought some breads and gobbled them quickly at the benches overlooking the ChingMa Bridge.

After the simple lunch, it didn't take us a long time to finally decide to leave the park, though we haven't entered the other 2 attractions, i.e. Ark Expo and Ark Life Education House. Bugger, we spent nearly HKD600 for the tickets, but we didn't use up 50% of what we had paid for.

In summary, this is a lousy trip. The facilities in the park are simply not enough to handle the crowds. I hope the management will study the way to improve the condition. Till then, I don't think I want to go there again.

In Memory of MJ

2009-06-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

This morning, when I was sitting in a train heading to ShenZhen, a shocking news had caught my attention. From the subtitles shown in the TV screen, I was sad to know that Michael Jackson had passed away at his LA's mansion, on Thursday evening. It is believed that he died of heart attack.

To me, MJ is the only singer that fit into the category of a talented SUPERSTAR. There is not many singers in the recent history who I can easily spell the songs he sang, but MJ. Also, his unique way of dancing is absolutely fabulous.

I told husband before that I would sure want to go to watch his concert if he ever landed HK one day. But now, my wish will never going to happen, and it will become a regret. Just like a curse as it said, a SUPERSTAR won't live long.

Here, a tribute to the legendary SUPERSTAR. I will always remember you.

Bad Luck

2009-06-09T01:33:00.000-07:00

These days, I just feel a big-dark cloud is whirling above my head. Unpleasant incident happened one after the other.

When the 1st happened : I shrug my shoulder, take it easy.

When the 2nd happened : I frown, still able to pull myself together quick.

When the 3rd happened : I frown some more, with numerous deep sigh, mind starts floating.

When the 4th happened : I scream oh-no-that's-not-happening. All I want to do is to hide in Holy Island.

*
*

Like it or not, "bad-luck" signal is hoisted now.

Fantasy Land

2009-05-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

After so many years living in a 'real-cruel' world, I think I have gradually lost the ability in fantasizing. I don't even remember when was the last time I dream in my sleeping time?

When I review the things that I did for the past several years, I find that most of the things I did, I did it for a purpose, and always after certain levels of consideration. I still practice this. There is virtually not much thing I do out of spontaneous basis, without a clear objective. Gosh, what a down-to-earth people I have become.

But back to fantasy term, how to define it? Some defined it as the creative imagination; unrestrained fancy (positive). Some defined it as hallucination (negative). Positive or negative, sometimes it's hard to define right.

It's not a fantasy to visit a castle, but it's a fantasy to live in a castle.

It's not a fantasy to see this lovely scene, but it's a fantasy to see them not to fight in any day.

To some couples, maybe it's a fantasy to have 2 boys like this. To me, it's not a fantasy (hehe..)

but it's sure a fantasy to own a house like this...

Also, it's not a fantasy to meet the princesses...

but it's definitely a fantasy to become a genuine princess.

After seeing some real castles in England, this Sleeping Beauty Castle seems so petite and fake.

And the funny thing is, I fantasize better in an old-real castle than a new-fake castle.

This clock, it looks newer than the clock at my home. So, how to have nostalgic feelings about this Fantasy Land?

Fantasy Flowers.

*
*
Cinderella Carousel, is still my 8-year-old & 5-year-old boy's fantasy. *

To me, the only place that can arouse my fantasy a bit is this place, "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh".

Well, I do feel like I've entered a twilight zone when I was taking a ride inside there.

Just that, too bad the ride is a bit too short.

Sigh, fantasy won't last long?

It's A Small World

2009-05-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have bumped into many of my ex-colleagues in the place I work in. Some of them had left the company for a very long time, including our ex-CEO. I have never seen them else where until now. Apparently, they work in this place too.

Isn't this a small world? I guess my ex-colleague would feel the same too.

Yes, it's indeed a small world.

Every 30 minutes, the door will open and there go the doll-parades following the song of "It's a small world".

From the beginning of the journey till its end, all we hear is the song of "it's a small world", sang in different languages. So much that after I walked out from there, my brain was so full with the rhythms. That's what brain wash is all about, right?

Tomorrow Land

2009-05-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Land is not very tomorrow's feel.

Actually, I don't have many ideas how's our future world is going to look like? There is only one thing I can visualize here : Will the global warming eventually destroy our planet to a very severe level? Well, I keep my finger crossed that it's not too late to mend things over by now and ever.

Anyway, this is kid's Tomorrow Land, for sure.

He likes to think he is as mighty strong as Superman does.

The moving recycled-bin was pathetically bullied by the children who saw it. Emm...I think they should have programmed the robot to scare off the children, and not run away instead. That would be funny, haha..

Buzz is standing there to brief the visitors. But not many people were paying attention to him.

It's good that not many people were lining up to go in there. So, literary one could play as many times as they wish. For us, we played 2X for the 1st day, and 2X for the next day too. Ok, we feel very satisfied this time.

In average, Vincent got 20,000 points; William got 17,000 points; me got 27,000 points; husband got 100,000 points (hello, is it correct? or his counter has something wrong?)

Stitch Encounter is our 1st time. Heard many people said it's very hilarious to have real time interaction with Stitch. So, we definitely want to try it out this time.

Vincent was picked as one of the targets this time. It was indeed funny to see how Stitch was trying to make fool of him. Vincent was so happy about his encounter with Stitch that I'm sure he will remember it for a long long time.

*
William wanted to have this encounter for his own too, so we went back to give him a try. Too bad, he wasn't picked. And he was pretty unhappy about it.

Anyway, the formula of the interaction is pretty much the same like the previous one, probably it's the same for every show too. So, we lost our interest in it very fast.

The next morning, when we went back to this place again, we bumped into the "real" Buzz Lightyear. He made a lots of different poses for every single shot, tried to please everyone who queue for him. That's what 'professional' and 'dedication' all about, right. Thank you, for the man behind the heavy costume.

Well, so long for Tomorrow Land.*

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Last night, I've started to lecture the boys about Mother's Day again, thought they have forgotten about it after 1 year long. Lastly, I gave them one assignment to do for Mother's Day, to make me happy.

Ok, when they wake up in the next morning, the first thing they should do is to brush their teeth, change their pyjamas, and then go to my bed and kiss me. If they can remember to do all these 3 things without me nagging them as usual, I would be happy enough. They nodded their head in agreement.

This morning, William woke up and he did, come over to kiss me. I opened up my eyes and happy to see that he had successfully accomplished the 3 tasks. Good boy.

As for Vincent, he did brush and change, but he hook on to the computer's game instead of coming to kiss me. Well, not bad too.

At least my day wasn't started off with some routine nagging.

My Mother's Day gift, from son (actually from the school).

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers.

Disneyland Hotel

2009-05-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

Although we didn't stay in Disneyland Hotel, we went there to check it out anyway. Next time, we sure want to try this out.

The outlook of the hotel doesn't look a modern design to me, I mean not fashionable. Instead, it looks more like a country house.

When we entered the lobby, the first thing that captured my eyes is this giant chandelier hangs from the high ceiling.

The interior design is very elegant...

very classic too..

The handsome host, never get old, not even a single bit.

I wonder if Minnie had ever married to Mickey? Or she remains his girl friend forever?

The side that is facing the garden view.

The garden that is facing the sea.

The maze is kind of interesting to the kids.

Sigh, the boys want us to find them in the maze. It's really exhausted to do that. Really, if one wants to have kids, should do that while still young. Otherwise, where got energy to run with them?

Next to the garden is the place for those who want to tie the knot and say "I do".

Sometimes, I would think : who is the girl that you will say"I do" to?

Thus, I want to live that long, long enough to see you boys to grow up, live well, and build your life & your family. Then, I will consider my biggest project in this life completed.