After having lunch in the restaurant at the ice cave, we made our way to Hohenwerfen castle. This was a castle originally built at as a fortification in 1075. Over the centuries it has been used as a residence for the ruler of Salzburg, a hunting lodge, and a prison among other things. Today, it is considered an adventure castle. It had stopped raining, but was still pretty cloudy on the short ride from the ice cave to the castle.
The view of the castle as we approached:
Upon arrival, you take a funicular up to the main area:
We were originally supposed to do the castle tour then the falconry show. However, the guides flipped the order not knowing what the weather would be. So, we made our way to the falconry show which was held in the garden/courtyard.
We really enjoyed this demonstration. There are 5 different types of birds in the show, and they do get pretty close to the audience. It actually looked pretty cool to have one of the birds come out of the clouds. At certain spots in the show, the trainers would toss food into the air and seemingly out of nowhere a bird would appear and snatch the food out of mid-air with its talons.
The 2 trainers:
The stars of the show:
After the falconry show, we waited for our tour to begin in an area where the kids could play some games. Aiden finally got going on the stilts:
We then toured the castle starting in the chapel, going by the bird training area, through many rooms, and making our way to the belltower. The following are some photos from the castle.
The final activity of this long day was to be the schnapps tasting. However, there was an issue at the factory and they had to reschedule. This was fine with us, as most people in the group were exhausted. On the way back to the hotel, we were given the option of going to the hotel or being dropped off in the town of Berchtesgaden. In our group, everyone went back to the hotel. Some in our group had made reservations at the Michelin star restaurant in the Intercontinental. We went to the pool, then ate in the bar. They have awesome burgers in the bar (not to mention the beer). As it began to clear, we finally got some great views around our hotel. The mountains around the hotel and a view of the Eagle's nest.
The sun finally sets on the day
The view of the castle as we approached:
Upon arrival, you take a funicular up to the main area:
We were originally supposed to do the castle tour then the falconry show. However, the guides flipped the order not knowing what the weather would be. So, we made our way to the falconry show which was held in the garden/courtyard.
We really enjoyed this demonstration. There are 5 different types of birds in the show, and they do get pretty close to the audience. It actually looked pretty cool to have one of the birds come out of the clouds. At certain spots in the show, the trainers would toss food into the air and seemingly out of nowhere a bird would appear and snatch the food out of mid-air with its talons.
The 2 trainers:
The stars of the show:
After the falconry show, we waited for our tour to begin in an area where the kids could play some games. Aiden finally got going on the stilts:
We then toured the castle starting in the chapel, going by the bird training area, through many rooms, and making our way to the belltower. The following are some photos from the castle.
The final activity of this long day was to be the schnapps tasting. However, there was an issue at the factory and they had to reschedule. This was fine with us, as most people in the group were exhausted. On the way back to the hotel, we were given the option of going to the hotel or being dropped off in the town of Berchtesgaden. In our group, everyone went back to the hotel. Some in our group had made reservations at the Michelin star restaurant in the Intercontinental. We went to the pool, then ate in the bar. They have awesome burgers in the bar (not to mention the beer). As it began to clear, we finally got some great views around our hotel. The mountains around the hotel and a view of the Eagle's nest.
The sun finally sets on the day
