After Salzburg, I travelled to Grassau, Germany to visit my family for a weekend. Many of them speak English too and act as my translators when talking with those who speak only German.
This is the centre of town. Seemingly every building is nicely done up here, and the atmosphere is much different from the big cities I was used to visiting.
My grandmother grew up in this town, and left for Canada when she was 33. The farm house where she was born is shown in the distance in the photograph above. Four of the houses on this road have stayed in the family for years and years, and are passed on. I remember the area a bit from when I was 5, but not much.
This photo of me with my Great Aunt Leni, cousin Simone (far right) and her friend Christine (far left) was taken shortly after I arrived. As you can see, they keep their yard very well decorated. Mom doesn’t like the colour of the shirt I am wearing for some reason.
Near the house is a river leading towards the mountains, which are visible from everywhere. The day after I arrived, I went to the top of the mountain with Simone and Christine (using a ski lift of course), and then we set out on an adventure to walk down the mountain.
A view from near the top.
Cows can be found in fields along the mountain-side. I believe that the mountain is owned and operated by the town, and locals are allowed to use it for various purposes.
In the afternoon, we went for a drive in the car around a nearby lake. It was a good thing we went mountain walking in the morning because the weather was bad in the afternoon, as you can see here. It actually started hailing while we were out, but got nice again before we got home. It was on this trip where I bought a bag full of candy and chocolate that Brian, Ben and Leanne thought was a little excessive once I returned to Poitiers. Haha.
On Sunday, we also went walking a bit through the “canyon” in nearby Austria. Nestled in the forest beside this river, you can find a small church and a restaurant which operates entirely without electricity. On the other side of the river, you can find the “smuggle-way”, which is a path leading into Germany that was once used for smuggling. There’s no need to smuggle goods between Germany and Austria now because they, like many European nations, have eliminated their border controls.
A spectacular view of the mountains towering over the beautiful water.
Fortunately, the weather was very nice, and I got very good photos of the area. My family was very happy I came, and it was sad to be leaving again. You can find all my Germany pictures in my Gallery at the top.