Written 31 My 2012
Yesterday we woke up at a reasonable hour so we go to the ice caves and watch the Birds of Prey show at Werfen.
This is the castle there.
The Ice Caves are way above the town of Werfen. You drive up quite a bit and then walk up for about 20 minutes.
Next you hop in a cable car thingie. It is incredibly steep. I stood at the from for a bit of a thrill but Steve stood facing up. He was glad to get off.
The castle, which looks high above the village when you are down there, looks tiny!
You walk another 20 minutes until you reach the entrance of the Ice Cave.
There were some curious birdies up there.
It was pretty cold up there. I put on a polar fleece, cardi, hoodie, and thin jacket. Oh, and a beanie!
We were breathing out fog like choo choo trains.
A German speaking tour went and then was the German and English tour. We got to go at the front because the guide wanted the English speakers at the front. That was quite good. Except I could't sneakily take any photos. :) (It was banned.) Each pair got a cute wee lantern. I had been to the caves last time I came to Europe but I loved it and wanted to take Steve to show him.
In the ice caves it was dark, cold and airily beautiful. The hollow clop clop of people walking up the wooden staircase added to the airy atmosphere.
The next three photos are of post cards but give an idea of what it was like. They use magnesium to light up the ice so you can see it better. It was amazing that people scaled the ice in the cave in the 1700's (I think 1780 was the first attempt.) In 1914ish a bloke managed to concur the massive steep ice wall (which looked nearly vertical!) But he died the next year in the First World War. The ice was beautiful and shimmery in the low light. Each year it melts a little and then the next year in the spring more forms so it gradually grows. The reason this happens is because during winter they leave the access to the cave open so cold air can come in and make the rocks and inside of the cave super freezing. In Spring they block off the cave entrance so the cold stays inside. When the water outside the mountain begins to melt it seeps into the cave through holes and then the ice forms. Some of the ice stalagmites and ice stalactites were just stunning.
There was one ice wall where you could see thousands of years of layers of ice. Some where different colours which was interesting. I wondered if they could tell anything interesting from the ice but when I asked the guide he misunderstood my question. Oh well. :)
After being awed by the Ice Cave we headed back down the mountain and then back up the little castle hill to watch the Birds of Prey Show.
In the background of the picture you can see the mountain we were up for the Ice Cave.
I think you would like this castle Sophie. I'm not sure if you have been here or not.
The birds were very impressive to watch. They are so fast and agile in the air.
Here is the falconer catching the bird in the air on his thingie.
They showed lots of different birds of prey.
Some were so big!
This one was cute and funny. When he stood up he came up to the guys hip!
Next we went on a tour of the castle. We had audio guides which was cool. It was interesting to learn about the different parts of the castle and it's history.
This was the prison hole. They dropped prisoners down there and it was really high! I think it was 9m but Steve thinks it may even have been more! They keeper one fellow down there for years ( I think 7) and the audio guide said he survived but he went blind and mad! Some survival!
This was in the torture chamber. It was a chastity belt! Owch! Imagine being made to wear that! Talk about uncomfortable underwear!
These were some of the instruments of torture! Talk about sick minds!
Here is some of the castle.
This is the bell tower from the outside.
And this is inside.
And this is the view from the top.
After the tour we shared a pretzel.
And Steve tried out some flags for marching into battle.
Next was an exhibition of weaponry. It had so many weapons! I was impressed with their collection and so was Steve. It showed the progression of weapons through time. I thought you would like that too Sophie so I took some photos for you.
As we were about to leave a pretty rainbow appeared.
We were tired from our big day and didn't do much in the evening. Just relaxed.
This morning we got up earlyish again and drove towards Hallstadt to visit the Salt Mines. I had been to the ones in Hallein before so we decided to try different ones this time.
We drove past lake Mondsee.
That mountain in the background is the one we went up in the weekend with Lisa and Peter on the cog railway.
When we got to Hallstadt we had to go up the mountain in a thingie on a track. Steve liked it better than the one from yesterday.
It was fun!
The view was really pretty.
I'm not sure if this picture really shows how steep it was but It was really steep! Look how tiny the town is!
This was a map showing the different places over time that people have mined there for salt. People have been mining salt there for 7000 years!!! Crazy!
There are thousands of grave sites on the mountain and many of them have been excavated.
The path we walked up was so pretty. It was fringed in wildflowers and lovely green forrest. The flowers all smelt delicious too!
At the top they had reconstructed a primitive minors hut. Don't think I'd like sleeping on that bed of straw! How about you?
We had to dress up in some cool clothes so we could go fast on the miner's slides.
This was the entrance to the mine.
We walked into the mine in single file.
The mine is a constant 8 degrees C. and 60% humidity. In the old days the miners used to dig the rock out but then they changes the technique so that water would dissolve the salt from the rocks and then they would pump out the resulting brine and process it to make salt.
There were examples of old mining gear and also presentations which were interesting. The salt originally got there from an ancient sea which dried up. Then the land moved on the salt was covered and repositioned as the mountains formed and buried deep within the earth. People first found the salt because animals came to drink at the salty springs and when the people hunted them they were also drawn there. They used to use the salt to cure pigs too.
We kept going into the mine.
The miner's slide was super fun. We got the fastest time out of the whole group! We went 32.3 km/h! Stoked! It was really exhilarating.
They had examples of salt rock. They were about 90% salt. The red ones also contain iron, the white calcium, and the orange magnesium.
Next we got to see a subterranean lake.
And saw a show about how in the 1700's they found a prehistoric minor who had been crushed by falling stuff.
We got to walk through a little tunnel - I didn't have to duck... but Steve found it a little tight.
And then we got to catch the minors train back out again which was cool too.
We walked back down read miring the beautiful view.
At the town we got some lunch and then went to find the bone house.
Steve found a little car which looks like she belongs in Italy.
Hallstadt is a cute little town which is all squashed together at the base of the mountain. The houses almost look as if they are piled on top of one another!
There were some pretty swans to look at.
This one was having a good clean up.
And some were resting their heads on their back's for a snooze. Cute!
We found our way up to the bone house which was behind the Catholic Church.
It was very interesting. There is not enough room in the graveyard so after at least 10 years of being buried the big bones were dug up and bleached by the sun and moon for while. Then they were decorated with floral designs and marred with the name of the deceased and the year of their death. The sculls were placed in family groups. I thought it was a nice idea. It seamed like quite a loving way to treat the bones of the dead.
The last scull was placed there in 1995. It was the scull of a lady that died in 1983. She had requested to be placed there. They don't normally put people there now unless they request it.
The church in the background is the Protestant Church.
Steve found a friend on the way back down to the village.
Down by the lake we saw a wall marked with flood levels. Some would have come half way up the buildings on the main street.
This was the highest one which you can see is at Steve's head level in the photo above.
On the way home we spotted 6 more deer!
And that was another nice day in Austria! Now we are relaxing at Lisa and Peter's again.
