Austria / Germany

The Ice Caves (Eisriesenwelt)

Concealed within the Tennengebirge mountain range is a system of caves over 40 km in length containing a unique natural phenomenon. The lower parts of the cave are cooled by the passage of cold wind in winter and the thaw water freezes as it trickles in, forming gigantic ice figures. This the largest ice cave in the world and we saw the first kilometer of prepared paths, most of which consisted of steps (approx 700 steps up and 700 back down the other side!).

To get to the caves we had to take three separate trains to get to a town called Werfen. From there a taxi shuttle brought us to a parking lot from which we took a bus 5km up the mountain. Then we had a 20 minute hike to get to Austria 's steepest cable car and another 20 minute hike to get to the entrance of the caves.

The caves were quite cold and very dark. No lighting has been installed so they handed out oil lanterns and we had to stay close together. The tour guide used magnesium to illuminate some of the ice formations. Whether it was the cold, the dark, a missed snack before hand, or a general dislike of caves, Samantha was not too happy and felt a little panicky trying to soothe her. Who would have ever thought we would be breastfeeding Samantha while walking through the world's largest ice cave!

Note that taking photos in the ice caves was not allowed… we still snuck a few but since we couldn't use flash the quality of the photos is not the greatest.

caption note: restaurant was called Dr. Oedl's house)

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