fake polaroids of real places

The fake patina of Poladroid fits the places I visited in the last couple of days perfectly. The Salzkammergut, a region dominated by its mountains, lakes and picturesque villages, has a lot of old-school charm going on. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself immensely. We went to Bad Ischl which was like going back in time - for one thing it is still thriving on its legacy as the Habsburg family's favourite holiday resort and for another, we used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger.

I still love the old mansions, however kitchy they might be, with their little fountains and odd combination of typical Ringstrassen-architecture and "country"-elements. It was great to walk around, eat great cake and observe that virtually nothing has changed in the last 10 years.

I found a deer with the skin of a KILLER in Sankt Wolfgang!

After the killer-encounter, we walked down the Schafberg. Going up there by a strange mini-train was extremely weird, we were surrounded by Dutch and American tourists who almost wet themselves with excitement about the view. Ah well, I suppose the train is a real feat in engineering. Or something. Glad I didn't have to hike the 1,700 metres to the top as I had initially suggested, being sceptical about the train. The Schafberg is a great mountain, we saw five different lakes. Nice.

The view when we were already halfway down. We saw the Dachstein! (Only Austrians would understand...)

Today we visited Pürg, a tiny village with a chapel built in the 12th century (and frescoes just as old!) which looks just like it must have looked like 100, even 200 years ago. It has somehow managed to not be overrun by tourists - I think only people interested in the church know about it. It was beautiful.