Christa and Theo

You could not imagine in your wildest dreamsw better hosts than those two people.

The Fortress of Hohenwerfen

Archbishop Gebhard and King Henry IV had an argument. Not a little tiff, but a full blown fight about who was entitled to appoint Bishops. The King or the Pope. So, in 1077, Gebhard, or Geby as his friends called him, started building a number of fortresses, Salzburg and Werfen among them, in order to tell the King who's boss...








Gebhard would have been better off, to open his fortresses to the tourists. This way he would have made more money, than by appointing Bishops. And, after all, that's what it was all about.









Wooden stairs and ladders lead to openings in the walls, which enabled the defenders to pour tar and pitch onto uninvited guests. They could also shoot arrows or musket balls through these slits in the walls.








Heavy artillery lined the perimeter of the fortress. The Archbishop was not joking.

The Buttermilk "Alm"

An "Alm" is an outpost of a farm, high up in the still lush alpine meadows, where the valley farmer takes his cattle during the summer month. There they produce the best milk this side of culinary heaven. This particular "alm" runs a very nice restaurant and produces, you guessed it, Buttermilk. Absolutely delicious ( and only 1% fat )






Even the barn windows boast lovely flowers and, in the window, the reflection of the hills beyond.










The view from the "Buttermilkalm" to the surrounding Alps.

and down, to the village in the valley....

Mountains and more Mountains

I go absolutely crazy when photographing mountains. There is no end to the possibilities. Each mountain takes on a special and different character when photographed from different angles. The comes the ultimate question: How many "mountain pictures" can you show before the eyes of the viewer glaze over?
So you simply pick the best? Yes, but which is the best?
Try this one.....

St. Gilgen Taxi

The best way to get around in St. Gilgen is, of course, on foot.
The second best way is via a "Fiaker", a horse drawn carriage, the local taxi.

















The driver garbed in typical Austrian Lederhosen and on his hat, a "Gamsbart"
The "beard" of a Chamois

St. Gilgen in the Salzkammergut

The town of St.Gilgen is one of the many picturesque towns in the Salzkammergut. Situated on the shores of Wolfgangsee (lake Wolfgang) and surrounded by mountains. What more does anybody want?










Main Street St. Gilgen











Wolfgangsee

Wuestenrotstrasse 7a

My "headquarters" in Salzburg. The home of Theo and Christa.
from there we roamed not only the city of Salzburg, but also the surrounding countryside.
from the Tennengebirge, to the Fortress of Werfen, to St.Gilgen on lake Wolfgang.
A countryside very hard to top. Of course we also visited the Fortress of Salzburg...once again...