Ice

The following day, the rain followed us to Salzburg and Werfen. They are both in Austria. Here the mountains were beautiful, more rocky, and steep, but wasn’t high enough to shelter any snow, at least during this time of the year. We reached the mountain top, some distance on foot, some by bus, and some by a ropeway that was more like a lift (almost vertical).

The Eisriesenwelt ice caves of Werfen are the largest in the world. The details of its formation are pretty interesting - http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/013_science.pdf. A guide led us through the hallways and alleys of the majestic cave. It was dark and the some people were given lanterns, while the guide lit splinters from time to time. Photography was prohibited, but that is not for me to follow. However, the low light in the caves, and the fact that we were continuously moving were the major deterrents behind my poor photography.

The two photographs below are from the official website of the caves:

During the descent, the skies cleared for small periods, giving glimpses of a grand landscape that lay before us.

The connection by which I returned to Heidelberg, had a stopover at Ulm for 45 minutes. I took this opportunity to visit the Ulm Minster, which at 162 metres, was for a period in history, the tallest artificial structure of the world.