A PILE of knick-knacks!

While the soup cooked, I set to the task of packing. First, for my own
amusement, I laid out all the things I bought along the way on this
trip.
I am so not a shopper... But for some reason, a lit of little things
jumped out at me a something someone would like... And once you start,
it is IMPOSSIBLE to stop. Argh.

And, the truth is, this pic doesn't even do it justice! 6 tee shirts,
sweatshirt, 8 beer mugs, 6 boxes of marzipan, chocolate, cookies, cans
of sausage, 8 wooden dolls, pencils, ornaments, books, a very fancy
vase, apron, poster, etc, etc.... AND that doesn't even touch the 40+
postcards we sent.

Yes, I shopped. Europe, you can thank me, but I can't wait to get back
to my weak little dollar!

Farmers market chicken soup

For my final night, I made Jana a big vat of homemade chicken soup
(she is still trying to kick the pesky cold she has had for the past
week!). It was fun to sit down for a nice at-home meal, and chat with
Jana & Noah. We have spent so much time on the road this month that
time at-home is a treat!

The gate to the Sussman's apartment building

The ivy on this gate turned red in a matter of days while we were in
Austria!

Fall is here

The New England girl in me is so excited to see the leaves changing
all over town. Makes the quaint old town even cuter.

Final shopping spree in Nuremberg

We both slept in a bit, lingered over tea and breakfast... Then made
on last little jaunt into old town for some final knick knack
shopping. Can't believe all the little trinkets I have aquired this
month, needs to make sure all my bases were covered... But I am
TOTALLY over shopping! Ugh. Wait till you see the pile of sutff I need
to pack up, somehow. Ha.

Sunset on the Autobahn

The infamous autobahn took us home. For all it's freedom from speed
limits (in select hunks between towns), it is not a relaxing drive!
After being in Germany and driving around for a month, I have asked
endless questions, and brushed up a bit on the driving rules and
customs in this country. All very intuitive from the big picture, but
a lot to be thinking about while driving, as well as a lot of
profiling based on the car you drive. For example, a VW would not pull
out in front of an Audi, and you need to judge this based on the grill
of the cars coming up behind you. I think I am a confident driver with
some daring and savy... But I was white knuckled, and convinced I was
going to die on the autobahn. The main rule is that you stay to the
right at ALL times, and only are allowed to move left to pass. If you
are not actively passing, you must return to a right lane. Problem
being that the speed difference between lanes on the highway can be up
to 30-40km/hr (and I was generally doing 150km/hr in the slow lane!).
Pull out at the wrong time, and it is REALLY dangerous. Ugh! Glad I
got to do it... But by the time we got home (after I drove the
autobahn for 2 1/2 hours), I was FRIED!

We drove around 500km in the one day... But it was so worth the
amazing day and scenery to have made that trip to Austria. :)

Austria in the distance

As soon as we crossed the border, it was noticeable that we left the
mountains behind, and we were back to the gentle rolling hills of
Germany.

Almost back in Germany

Sun was starting to go down as we approached the border back into
Germany lighting up the remaining peaks

Jagged mountain peaks

Bordering the towns between Austria and Italy. It was no small effort
to gently convince Jana not to take the turn, and continue driving
into Italy. Why did I do that again?

Exactly what you expect Austria to look like

Couldn't put the camera down...

It was just too lovely all around

Journey back through Austria

Our GPS predicted a 5+ hour drive home from the point we wandered to.
We pointed the car in the right direction, and enjoyed the gorgeous
Austrian scenery as we went along. Houses surrounded by green fields
with livestock (sheep, cows, goats) cut into the mountainsides
everywhere. The few trees were bfginning to change over to the bright
fall colors. And the grand alps were ever present somewhere on the
horizon....

Leaving Großglockner behind

The mountains in the distance as we rolled out of the park into the
closest town.

Leaving the valley of giants

We hit the obligatory gift shop, and got a bite to eat, wandered
through the nature center... Then decided to continue on with the
journey. Instead of backtracking through the entire park, we exited
through a little town on the western side, and let the GPS system
figure out how to get home from there.

Johannisberg peak (3,460m) & Pastetze glacier

In the visitors center there was a fascinating exhibit that showed the
melting of the glacier over the last 200 years or so. Only about 25%
of the mass remains... It previously filled a lot of the valley in
this picture. Großglockner mountain is the beast in the shadows on the
left.

Tourist center at the end of the road

The road through the park dead ends at the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Höhe...
Viewpoint for the Großglockner peak (3,798m), and the Pastetze glacier
(longest glacier in the eastern alps).

Hairpin corners

There are signs marking all the hairpin corners (of which there were
36 in the 48km drive to the glacier).

Driving along...

Coming into the southern mountains

We passed through a tunnel, and came down from the snowy peaks into
the southern mountains... Just as big, just not quite as snow covered.

Animal crossing signs...

All along the road, there were signs to beware of the various mountain
wildlife including sheep, ibex, and Jana's favorite.... The marmot!!

The road ahead

Looking off in the distance, you can see theroad continuing to wind
it's way through the mountains. At the point, we were only about a
third of the way into the park.

Girlwonder on a wall...

Standing on the snowy wall, carefully turning around to take the
panorama photos.

Panorama #12

Panorama #11

Panorama #10

Panorama #9

Panorama #8

Panorama #7

Panorama #6

Panorama #5

Panorama #4

Panorama #3

Panorama #2

Panorama photos going counter-clockwise

Panorama #1

Taken from the top of Edelweiss Spitz (2,571m). From the previous rest
stop, we drove up a steep and narrow road to this lookout point at the
top. Jumped up on a wall at the top of this lookout, and took a
panorama of photos. The little tour book states that more than 30
peaks over 3,000m are visible from this point!!

The mountains off in the distance between the snowy peaks are the ones
we photographed the day before surrounding Zell am See. They look like
babies from here. Ha.

Good thing Jana wore her boots!

Looking back down into the valley

Terrible day. Ha. :)

Standing on top of the world

Rest stop, Fuscher Torl - 2,428m

We stopped at the little rest area at the highest point in the main
road through the park. It was cold (right around 2.5 degrees Celsius),
but amazing to be surrounded by snowy mountains!.

Happy driver!

Sunday afternoon ride!

We passed dozens if brave bikers pedaling up, up and up! One dude was
even wearing jeans! We got a good chuckle out of that. Ha.

Snow all around

We finally crossed the snow line. The roads were clear, but we could
tell that all the rain we suffered the last few weeks dumped snow on
these mountains.

From the side of the road

The crazy road kept winding up, and the valley floor kept getting
farther and father away!

Happy mountain girls!

Oh my!

Big angled peak to the right is called "Hohe Dock" at a mere
3,348meters (a little over 10,000 feet). Viewpoint was around 1,600
meters.

Ascending the windy road....

We were speachless! Driving on the edge of a crazy road... We were
instantly in the middle of a half dozen 3000meter + mountains.

Little did we know, it was a national park!

As the scenery got more and more grand... We hit a gate, the enterance
to the national park. After a split second of indecision we paid the
28€ enterance fee, and drove on. We were there, the weather couldn't
be more gorgeous... What the hell! :)

And the mountains kept getting g bigger!

And we kept driving!

Not a cloud in the sky!

We couldn't have had a better day for driving through the mountains...
So we decided to head to a "scenic" road called Großgloeckner pass. We
figured it would take us to the snowy mountains... Definitely
underestimated what we would see (in a great way)

Hotel Marten

Hinterglemm, Austria
That beautiful green slope behind the hotel is the ski slope!

(getting VERY excited for zermatt in January!)