A walk on the Graukogel
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| On the shelf - Zirben Schnapps is getting ready |
Zirben Schnapps is an ancient home remedy claimed to be sure sure-fire cure for anything from melancholy to upset stomachs.
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| Zirben Pine Cones |
It's made by adding sliced up pine cones to sugar and alcohol. Not any old pine cone of course. They have to come from the Zirben Pine, a conifer that grows high in the Alps above 1500m. The Graukogel is home to a number of the trees and the Cafe at the top has a sideline making this extremely tasty and, erhmmm, healthy liquor.
Of course we were up there just for a walk. It is a 40 minute bus ride from home. The bus rattles its way up the valley, through Bad Gastein and then takes a left along a winding road to the bottom of a two stage chair lift. The lift operator at the bottom was in a jolly mood and wished us a great day as the chair whisked us away. It's a slow lift so there was plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. Not much wildlife today, just one Nutcracker. It looks like a Jay and also is nuts about Zirben. At the top we turned right and passed the cafe for a walk to the Palfner See. We took a bit of a detour by going down to an abandoned hut, the Palfner Alm, and then climbing up to the Lake. We did not have a paddle sadly, we were getting hungry and needed to get back to the Cafe for Lunch. It took about an hour to get back making a total walking time of about 3 hours in the warm Autumn sunshine.
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| TW on the Graukogel |
After a good, simple, lunch of Wurst mit Pommes (sausage and chips) followed by Apple strudel it was a quick march to the chair lift and a ride home.
Did we have a Zirben Schnapps? Our secret!
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| Palfner Alm view |
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| Walking on Graukogel |
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| Up or down? |
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| By the Palfner See |
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| Heading for the cafe |
Of course we were up there just for a walk. It is a 40 minute bus ride from home. The bus rattles its way up the valley, through Bad Gastein and then takes a left along a winding road to the bottom of a two stage chair lift. The lift operator at the bottom was in a jolly mood and wished us a great day as the chair whisked us away. It's a slow lift so there was plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. Not much wildlife today, just one Nutcracker. It looks like a Jay and also is nuts about Zirben. At the top we turned right and passed the cafe for a walk to the Palfner See. We took a bit of a detour by going down to an abandoned hut, the Palfner Alm, and then climbing up to the Lake. We did not have a paddle sadly, we were getting hungry and needed to get back to the Cafe for Lunch. It took about an hour to get back making a total walking time of about 3 hours in the warm Autumn sunshine.
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