Once again we woke to beautiful snow falling. Lying in bed looking out at the snow gently falling is so beautiful. We had hoped for lots of snow, but knew it was in no way guaranteed. Somehow we have ended up in the middle of the biggest Austrian snowfall in thirty years.
The kids headed up the mountain again. Anna went off to ski school but Matt decided to do his own thing. He wanted to use his limited energy on the runs he really liked. We caught the bus to Kaprun, the neighbouring village a few kilometres away. We wanted to hike up to the castle behind the village, but had no idea where to get off. It wasn’t long before we realised we’d missed the closest stop and were heading to the mountains again. Rather than walk back, we just stayed on the bus until the end of the route and hoped the driver would let us go back without buying another ticket. It was a lovely scenic ride up to the base of the Kitzsteinhorn skifield. The driver kicked us off the bus, but we were able to jump straight on another one and the ride back was free anyway.
We got the right stop second time around and walked in the direction of the castle. It was still snowing, but really quite mild. The snow on the roads was turning to slush, so we had to be careful to step back when cars came or we got sprayed with slushy mucky snow. The castle was shut, but we were able to wander around the outside. Back down in the village we found a cafe for lunch, then caught the bus back to Zell.
In the afternoon we checked out the pools at Zell. They were more of a swimming complex than a spa, but had a great steam room. The walk there and back was gorgeous though as it was a super snowy part of the town. It’s fascinating to see how the locals cope with such vast quantities of snow. A lot of effort goes into digging, shovelling and shifting snow to places to keep people safe.
The kids both eventually turned up back at the apartment safe and sound. They had both had a good day with great snow, although visibility had been pretty limited. We finished the day with a nice meal at a local restaurant.
