During our stay in Austria, we got to visit Zell am See a few times as it was only a 45 minute train ride from where we were staying. When we first rode the train from Sankt Johann to Salzburg on a sunny day, we noticed its bright turquoise color and its beautiful surroundings and knew we had to stop there at some point. We spent a day by the lake on one of our days off and then one afternoon after work when I went paragliding.
The village is a decent size, not too big to where it feels like a town, yet big enough to have a grocery store, at least a dozen restaurants (a mix of Austrian and some Middle Eastern), and plenty of hotels, B&Bs, and some touristy souvenir shops.
There are many hiking trails that start in the village as well as a cable car up to the top of Schmittenhöhe at 1965 meters elevation (Zell am See is at 750m). Taking the cable car up is definitely worth the views and there is a 2.5 km panoramic round-trip promenade at the top. For those with a little sense of adventure, one could walk down (about 3 hrs) or fly like a bird and go paragliding!
Nature breathes life into my soul as we dance together on this eternal journey,
exchanging the building blocks of life, constantly shape-shifting matter into what has never been before.
The fabric of existence interwoven so neatly that its perfection
would be silly to deny when every part of the whole has within it the code to re-create itself
- a hologram within a hologram -
reflecting itself through itself to marvel and smile at its own glory.
& what a silly joy for us to be alive and aware of it all.
❤SO