gmunden am traunsee

I first saw the Traunsee through the windows of a train when I went to visit Suz in Bad Ischl in May 2009, but I didn't know the name of the lake at the time. Dang, is it ever pretty. We were there for parts of four days, and two of them were sunny and hot -- we went for a walk around the lake the first day and I went swimming (just a little chilly), and on the second day we rented kayaks and paddled down to Hois'n Wirt for lunch, with a short dip at a deserted strip of pebbley beach in between. The weather wasn't in our favor the entire time (we spent our last day in Austria over in Bad Ischl at a thermal bath to beat the rain) but we did pretty all right for ourselves in general.

kehlsteinhaus

I visited the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) two years ago, with Ann (with whom I am traveling to Italy in just over two months!), and at the time I wrote I was almost certain to return to the area. And I did! My dad has wanted to see the Eagle's Nest for ages, and I was glad we could make that happen for him. Those views remain spectacular.

Pro tip: If you go to the Eagle's Nest, do your darnedest to be on one of the first buses of the morning (they start at 8:30 and run every 25 minutes thereafter). We were on the second bus of the day, and even by the time we were heading down the mountain at 10:35 the place was starting to get jammed.

königssee

  
The Königssee and its nearby lake friend the Obersee were pretty darned spectacular.

berchtesgaden

  
My parents came to Europe a few weeks ago to visit me and my youngest brother, Conor (our other brother, Ryan, had to work!) and we spent a week hanging out in the German and Austrian Alps. First up: Berchtesgaden. We stayed at the Alpenhof, which, in Schönau, is a tiny bit outside of Berchtesgaden proper, but I didn't find that to be a downside. The hotel is charming and has all kinds of stuff to do (including but not limited to indoor and outdoor pools, a tennis court, and daily Kaffee & Kuchen [naturally]) and the food was very good (we got the Halbpension, which meant breakfast and dinner were included -- a relatively common thing in Germany, I've found). Highly recommended!