Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Zell am See and Kitzbuehel, Austria (ski resorts)

 Zell am See, population 9,500, swarms with tourists in the winter and summer.
Beautiful Lake Zell is popular with swimmers, boaters and cyclists--who can cycle around the lake.
 Zell am See shopping street.
From the lakefront it takes about 40 minutes of belly-busting uphill cycling to reach one of the main ski lifts.
There's a line with over a 100 people waiting to climb into a cable car for the ride to the top of this mountain. Many just admire the view from up there but many also make the hike back down.
Austria and Switzerland are the only two countries where I've seen this: major newspapers are sold in newspaper vending machines using the honor system. You lift up the plastic cover, grab a paper and, put the correct change in a small metal box. There's nothing to stop you from grabbing a paper for free. I wonder how this would work in America.
 A big surprise was finding so many muslims in Zell am See. More startling was the number of muslim women wearing full-on black clothing covering everything except the eyes. Wow, I thought this is 2016 and not the Middle Ages.
It turns out Zell am See is very, very popular with tourists from the Middle East.
The ski resort of Kitzbuehel, population 8,000, is famous for being popular with the international jet set crowd.  Shopping street.
 Notice the night lights strung along one of Kitzbuehel's main shopping streets.
 Catching Kitzbuehel on quiet Sunday morning.
Approaching the Austrian town of Feldkirch (very close to the Swiss/Austrian border), visitors are greeted by Schattenburg Castle.

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