We were off on another adventure out of the country, this time a family trip to Austria. After flying to Salzburg and then travelling 61km south, we settled in the mountains above Bischofshofen all ready to experience the delights of the area.
The picture above was taken a short walk away from our holiday home and shows the environment in which we were staying. It would have been more than possible to stay there and spend the whole time exploring that area, but we decided to go to Zell am See to spend a sunny day there.
This beautiful Austrian town is by Lake Zell and our day there was spent walking round this freshwater lake. 11.1 km of stunning views during which I took 11.1 million photos and it therefore took 11.1 times longer than my walking partners hoped it would!
After arriving at Zell am See we began walking anticlockwise round the lake. It is very difficult to concentrate on walking at a decent pace when there are glorious mountains to gaze at in every direction. Adding to that there were lots of other distractions along the way and the first came in the form of a fountain display with accompanying music.
My favourite part of the walk was when we headed along a gritty path away from the roads that passed down the sides of Lake Zell; greenery and mountains totally surrounded this path along with the sound of crickets and many wildflowers.
It reminded me of summer holidays spent in Germany when I was a child and as my brother was with me on this walk, this added to the feelings of nostalgia.
I was surprised and happy to see all of my wildflower favourites around the lake: buttercups, daisies, dandelions, hawksbeard, cow parsley and forget-me-nots. These lovely flowers certainly added to the beautiful scenery.
As this path wasn’t right next to the lake we could see streams between us and the lake. In the summer, streams flow into Lake Zell but only one stream flows out of it and this one flows into the river Salzach. In the winter the lake freezes over and is used for winter sports.
We continued round the lake talking, thinking and just feeling grateful for being so fortunate to be in such a beautiful place on such a lovely day.
There was a drinking water tap on the way, many toilets and also opportunities to buy refreshments at cafes and restaurants so comfort was guaranteed.
Even though it was a very hot, sunny day there was much welcome shade to walk in if you needed it because of the many trees which lined the lake.
There was obviously plenty to do on and around the lake: boating, sailing, canoeing, cycling, sun bathing, fishing, ferry trips and swimming at lakeside bathing beaches.
Our walk round the lake took about four hours and was wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating. When we arrived back at Zell am See we each hunted down the refreshment that we fancied most, mustered up all the German necessary to buy our goodies and sat on a bench in the middle of the town and reminisced about our day knowing that in the months and years to come we will still have these special memories to keep us warm.
