second short trip - Lake Worth (Austria!)

Next, we headed off for a short bit in Austria, on the shores of the Wörthersee, a beautiful lake right on the other side of the border of Italy. We enjoyed a bit of lake, a bit of mountain, a LOT of fresh air, and some more gorgeous views!

We also were happy to catch a concert of Chanticleer in a gorgeous old church up on the side of a mountain.  We thought it would be a short walk, which turned into a 15-minute straight-uphill trek.  Oh well, we seemed to be doing that a lot.  It was our exercise for the day!  The concert was SUBLIME, and I was able to catch up with Christine Bullin, their general director, who has been one of my mentors since the beginning of my career.  What a night!

Afterwards, we visited Maria Wörth, a town on the edge of the lake, and its gorgeous church.  It sits up at the top of the hill, and the grounds are surrounded by a graveyard.  Talk about resting in peace and having a great view for all of eternity! 

That day, we got caught in the most amazing storm - you could see the clouds arriving over the lake, and all of a sudden the cloud was over us and POURING down.  I don't usually like storms, but this was spectacular and so refreshing.  A good excuse to hang out with some hot chocolate in a bar!  

We were also able to go to the house where Mahler spent his summers composing.  It was a trek to get up to the TINY cabin in the woods, up above the lake, but it was worth it.  Now I know where he found that heavenly music.  I still can't believe they lived there the whole summer with two little kids, though...  Must've sent them hiking during the day??

From the sublime to the inane...  We also hit the Reptile and Spiders Zoo, which was cool to see but a bit sad, as the poor little animals don't have much quality of life.  I suppose it's good for the kids to see the beauty of these "scary" animals, which are exquisite instead of "icky."