Saturday, June 2, 2012

Zell am See

06/02, Saturday
Breakfast at the pension without eggs, today. Then, a walk to the station to catch the train to Zell am See (Zell is a town on a lake in the mountains). Karin suggested we take a day-trip to this resort town...skiing in the winter, lake in summer.

It's a 1-1/2 hour ride through rural Austria to Zell at an altitude of 2,500 feet. The mountains encircle the lake and town. They reach 7,500 feet and are snow-covered year 'round. As we ascend, there are clouds caught in the mountains, but by the time we arrive, it is clear and warm. Quite a scenic train ride.

Zell is a small town with lots of tourist charm. After a quick stop at the TouristInfo Center, we decide to take the lake cruise at 2:00. A perfect day for it, and we have a little lunch on board. Forty minutes later, we're back in the harbor. Very dramatic mountain views. You can ski year round. The lake is drinking water pure. They advertise you can ski, play golf and swim all in one day. Nice, small quaint town with a very nice hotel right on the lake. We used their WiFi, which was great.

In some ways, we are reminded of Lake Sunapee...set among mountains that come down to the lake. Lake Zell is much smaller...about 1.8 sq. miles, 225 feet deep. Not as many homes either. The ski areas appear to be very close to the lake. And, they have seven golf courses nearby, just like Sunapee-New London.

It's a good biking locale...relatively flat around the lake...so we rent bikes for an hour. That's not enough time to go completely around the lake, but the rental place closes at 5:00. Good path right along the lake and comfortable bikes. We both feel like we got quite a bit of sun. I even dipped my toes in the water.

We had thought we'd stay until 7:15, but there's not much going on. We had a late lunch and are not hungry yet, so we depart on the 5:15 back to Salzburg. Seems we can now do a small town in a few hours ! Nice leisurely day.





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