We discovered a place open on a Sunday!

Burg Altpernstein – A medieval castle 45 minutes away in Micheldorf. The castle is around 1000 years old and has been completely renovated. Pre-Covid, you could reserve a room and stay the night here if you wanted. While some attractions remained closed, we were still able to grab a snack and eat with the friendly castle goats. It was foggy when we arrived, but on a clear sky day this castle is magical. There’s a webcam you can check out all hours of the day and at night you can see the city below, the mountains in the distance and the stars.

 We also drove to the Ebensee Concentration Camp, a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp established by the SS to build tunnels for armaments storage in 1943. Between 8,500 and 11,000 prisoners died in the camp, most from hunger or malnutrition. It is a stark contrast. A place where the unimaginable took place and thousands of people died is also located within the one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Now, over 70 years later, residential homes exist on the site of the camp. As we drove by one of the homes, the yard was filled with storks announcing the birth of a new baby. Another strange juxtaposition to see a celebration of life right where so many others died. It is customary in Austria and Germany to set up a stork in front of a house of a newborn child. This stork remains standing until the new parents are accustomed to the new life, then the stork is picked up again. People can drive by and drop off presents for the baby to help welcome the new baby.

xoxo
The Pack Mama