Austria

We crossed the border from Slovenia to Austria and ended up in Carinthia via a steep pass. This southern part of Austria has some similarities to South Tyrol. It is characterized by mountains but also has a southern feel, albeit with less Mediterranean flair. However, there are many beautiful lakes here. Due to a Harley Davidson meeting (which had already annoyed us in Kranjska Gora), we decided to stay at Lake Millstatt.

A truly beautiful lake, still quite warm. There are many nice outdoor pools. For our taste, everything is a bit too regulated. In the town, there are four different lake baths, everywhere you need a key or the corresponding card to access them. We spent a relaxing day at the lake swimming, cycling, and playing in the playgrounds. Nearby, the gemstone garnet is mined. An exciting museum introduced us to this precious stone, and the coolest thing was that we could also do some mining and have the finds cut and polished.

Afterwards, we did something that somehow also belongs to Austria: we spent three nights in a family and wellness hotel. The boys needed a break from us and enjoyed themselves in the kids' club. Which we happily accepted and filled our time with reading and spa visits. The hotel was located at the Katschberg, a mountain pass between Carinthia and Salzburg. This place offers an incredible amount for children and we really liked it.

The last stop in Austria was in Salzburg, where we spent a day sightseeing. We conquered Hohensalzburg Fortress, indulged in cake in a classic old-fashioned café, and had fun at the playground in Mirabell Palace Park. Surrounded by impressive mountains, along the beautiful Salzach River, and filled with restored, well-maintained old town houses, Salzburg works great as a tourist city.

We had some difficulties with the COVID policy in Austria: 3G is fully in line with our thinking, but also the FFP2 mask plus contact tracing information is somewhat redundant. And then it also depends on the type of store whether a mask has to be worn or not, our logic doesn't always keep up with that. Maybe our Austrian jokes, which Gian already finds incredibly funny, do have their justification after all...??

But otherwise, we had a great time in our eastern neighboring country, the (mountain) landscape is impressive, the food is good, and the tourist infrastructure is also well-developed even in the smallest villages.