Day 27

Since we were lacking in groceries, our hunger was growing steadily as we awoke. We had booked an electric car to use for the day...for FREE! Part of the SAMO program. We went down to pick it up at the village square. It was incredible. You could barely tell that it was on, except for the sound of the air conditioner. We then drove down the mountain into Werfen, less than 10 minutes away and found a place for breakfast. Abby really wasn't herself this morning and when we sat down to eat she puked. Even though she didn't have anything in her stomach.

After breakfast, we pushed on to Eisreisenwelt. Where the world's

largest ice caves are located. When we pulled up to the bottom of the hill they told us we'd have to pay to take the bus up because the parking lot was full. We drove up anyway. We had to wait in a line for about half an hour before we could enter the parking lot. As we finished parking, Abby puked again. Still we pushed on.

We had about a ten minute walk to get to the gondola that would take us up the mountain. Abby dragged herself through this section. As we were about to board the tram, Abby puked again. Jen prayed for her that she'd feel better and not puke on the cable car ride. When we got to the top, it was about another ten minute walk to the entrance of the cave. Again, Abby was a trooper and made it through this part. The views from the top of the mountain were breathtakingly spectacular. You could see all out and down the valley that Werfen is in.

When we got to the cave entrance, we briefly waited in line for a English tour. We also took this time to bundle up because it was zero degrees inside the cave. It's at this time that Abby started to perk up. The prayer and the cold seemed to help her and she ended up being fine for the rest of the day. There was a door on the entrance and when it opened a blast of cold air hit you and almost blew you over. Once inside the cave it was very dark except for the oil lanterns that we carried. The ice caves were amazing. It was very beautiful but unfortunately we weren't supposed to take pictures, so there isn't a lot of evidence.

We had to climb up about 700 steps that were anchored right into the ice somehow. We stopped every few hundred stairs and the guide would show us something beautiful about the ice or tell us something interesting about the exploration of the cave. The kids were quite cold for the tour but it didn't really bother me until the last ten minutes.

We covered about one kilometre of the 42 km cave system. What we saw was where the ice primarily was. It was another fantastic experience for the Hansen family.

Once we descended the cave, we grabbed some snacks then headed to Hohenwerfen castle. This was depending on how Abby was feeling but she was much better and even had some food in her. Hohenwerfen castle is probably once of the most pitcuresque places I've ever seen. It is right in Werfen but it is up on a large hill. This hill, and Werfen, is surrounded by monstrous mountains on each side. It is stunning. We arrived and took a funicular up the hill to the castle where we waited to have a tour. The tour turned out just to be an audio tour in English but being shown around by a guy speaking German, it seemed a little unnecessary. It was interesting and the castle was in great condition. We also found a geocache while we were there.

We then drove to Bischofshofen for dinner, to buy train tickets, and get groceries. Once again the groceries were a bust as everything was closed. We stopped at a gas station to grab a few items for the morning. We drove home and dropped the kids off and the Jen and I drove around Werfenweng, which doesn't take too long, and then returned our car. In the end, our plans were to only be gone until the early afternoon but it turned out to be a much longer day. That seems to happen to us!