Day 4 - Playgrounds of Pertisau

We are learning that our experience of Achensee, with child, is necessarily very different from our first visit, a decade ago.  Then we walked up multiple summits, on either side of the lake. Trips up cable cars marked the start of the exploration of the higher ground. Now, it seems, it is the end. However, we are definitely seeing sights we never explored on that previous visit. Who knew that the Achensee contained so many, and so varied, playgrounds?




Today we explored play areas in and around Pertisau. Our first port of call, soon after waking up, was the pool area in the hotel. Ok, so not really a playground, but there was plenty of enjoyment to be had, particularly as we had most of it to ourselves. This was our third trip to the pool, we managed a short burst before dinner on Sunday (to compensate for all the walking), then a v long swim last night  (including swimming through a thunderstorm in the outside pool, it's not as if you can get any wetter). Like most things round here, the views whilst swimming were pretty immense.

After swimming came an enormous breakfast then, as a result of enthusiastic petitioning by Eleanor, we headed back to the playground we found yesterday, so that Eleanor could go on the waterslide. We had a very happy girl for the next couple of hours. 

We did manage to coax her away eventually, and headed back to the hotel to change into shorts, since the sun was pretty hot once it finally emerged from behind the clouds. We then walked through the village (with minimal complaints) to the Karwendel Berghbahn,  http://www.karwendel-bergbahn.at/ where we took the cable car up to the station at 1500m. 

Outside the mountain inn on the alm was possibly the best playground we have found to date. There was time for plenty of playing before the clouds gathered, the rain came down and the thunder rumbled. We ate our lunch inside whilst a pretty amazing thunderstorm raged around us.

The break in the clouds gave us the opportunity to head back down the mountain and wander back through Pertisau, stopping off to peep inside the tiny Evangelical chapel and, you've guessed it, another playground!