Today was the day I was probably most looking forward to on the
ABD: the ice caves! But first, the amazing breakfast buffet at the Intercontinental. Unfortunately, I didnt take pictures, but can I just say pancake and waffle bar (including chocolate waffles) with a selection of at least 10 different sauces (chocolate, vanilla, mango, etc.) to put on them? Yum!!
We had pretty much all kinds of weather on this day of the ABD, but we got pretty lucky weather-wise for the hike up to the ice caves, lunch and the falconry exhibition at Hohenwerfen Castle. Then came the fierce winds and driving, sideways rain.
It was a scenic drive from the hotel back into Austria for our tour of the ice caves, especially when we came in view of Hohenwerfen Castle, which we would visit later in the day. From the pictures that will follow, you will get an idea of just how high we climbed to get to the entrance to the ice caves, which involved two hikes of around twenty minutes each and a gondola ride (in between the two hikes). I think some on our trip felt the hikes were a little too strenuous, but I was thankful for the physical activity. After logging miles and miles walking around Prague before the ABD started, we hadnt done much walking or other physical activity since the start of the ABD. And the views on the way up were amazing! I had to force myself to stop taking pictures of Hohenwerfen Castle below us, LOL. In fact, on the way up to the ice caves, the card on our camera gave us the dreaded full notification. It turned out the card still had a bunch of pics from a girls trip I had taken a few months earlier, so once we deleted those, we were good to go again. But we had to rely on iPhone photos for the rest of the day.
The ice caves did not disappoint. This was really a highlight of the trip for me. Unfortunately, there are no pictures allowed in the caves, but we did buy a couple of post cards that you will see in the photos, and it turns out the guides sneaked in a few pictures as well. It is really hard to describe the scale of the caves and the ice structures it contains. Just amazing. This is the largest ice cave in the world. There are no electric lights in the ice caves. In order to have enough light to see the structures and where you are walking, about every fourth adult visitor is given a magnesium lantern (open flame, thus the requirement that you be 15 or older to hold a lantern) to light the way. Our group had a dedicated guide, who led us up the 700 steps inside the caves (and yes, we had to come back down the same 700 steps), stopping at the various ice structures to talk about them and provide information about the discovery of the cave, the age of the ice (some of it 20,000 years old), etc. Given the cooler temperatures in the Alps, I had dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt for the day. This was fine for the hike up to the ice cave. A short-sleeved t-shirt would also have been fine, since you tend to work up a sweat on the hike. But I wasnt uncomfortable in what I was wearing. I definitely recommend wearing hiking shoes or sturdy sneakers. I didnt want to lug my hikers on this trip for just one activity, and I was fine in my sneakers. We had packed gloves, and I am really glad we did. There are metal handrails in the ice caves that are very cold to the touch. I also wore a fleece zip up jacket and was warm enough in that. My fingers and toes were the only body parts that were really cold by the end of our hour and 15 minutes inside the cave.
After our tour of the ice cave, we hiked back down to where the gondola had dropped us off for our lunch at the Oodle House. It was warm enough to eat outside, and lunch consisted of traditional Austrian dishes served family style. The food was pretty good, although a little on the salty side. But the setting was great, and lunch was very relaxing.
After lunch, we were off to Hohenwerfen Castle. Luckily, we saw the falconry exhibition first, because the heavens opened up shortly thereafter. I really enjoyed the exhibition, even though there was no translation for what the trainers were saying. The fabulous setting made everything seem very dramatic. A guided tour of the castle was next, but it was cut a little short due to the fierce winds and driving rains.
When we got back to the hotel, there was an optional schnapps tasting for the adults. It was held in the hotel bar and was conducted by one of the bartenders who provided a little background on the different flavors of schnapps (and was generous with the samples). Jennae had likened the taste of schnapps (any flavor) to nail polish remover. Not a bad generalization, although I was able to distinguish a few of the different flavors. I actually really liked the chili chocolate schnapps. The tasting wrapped up pretty quickly since most of us were still wet from our adventures in the rain at Hohenwerfen Castle.
Dinner was on our own that night, and we opted for a very casual dinner in the lobby bar area. I had a bison burger that was very good (huge!) and cost something like $45. We definitely were not in the Czech Republic anymore, Toto!
