And it feels like home

I'm sure I have said it before but it is an observation that still stands; Austria seems to have been designed as the perfect holiday playground for the two of us.  There is always somewhere to cycle or walk, the beer is good, the cakes amazing, the camp sites excellent quality, the meadow flowers are abundant, the public transport efficient and accepting of cyclists and it all looks stunning.

We are camped on the shores of Wolfgangsee, with a view across the lake to the mountains;  mallards and swans passing by and swallows flying overhead; it doesn't get much better in terms of location and after two days of rain the sun is shining.

After a morning of laundry a breaking-us-in-gently cycle ride was called for. This is our first holiday with mountain (rather than road) bikes and we bounced through the forest tracks happily.  We took the boat across the lake so that we could cycle around the northern half of the lake back to the camp site and as we toiled up the hairpin bends above the lake, we realised that the tourist information leaflet with the cycle routes on didn't show the contours, so much for an easy day.  Of course, no one said Austria was flat and if we were able to move here to play permanently we would soon get used to the gradients.