After having a wonderful dinner and spa evening, some of us had a restful night. That, however, was not Ken. He didn't sleep most of the night, but did get caught up on reading the NY Times. Paige and I enjoyed our night and woke up ready for the day. Ken, not so much.   

We had a nice breakfast in the hotel and headed to the bus stop to go to Bad Gastein, a few miles away and where the main ski lift went up the mountain. After a bit of a wait for the bus, we got on and within 20 minutes were at the base of the gondola. After getting in, a guy joined us, who was from Holland. He was skiing at different mountains for the week, and this was his last day before driving 10 hours back home. 

  As we ascended, the mountains were surrounding us and the higher we went, the more the sun came out and the he view as truly spectacular. We just kept saying WOW.  It was really one of the most amazing views I have seen.  

At the top, we walked around, took pictures and found the suspension bridge. None of us are big on heights, but it wasn't as scary as it looks in pictures. We crossed over, took advantage of the free picture, then headed down the other side of the mountain in a different gondola. When we got down to the bottom, the outdoor Red Bull bar was doing a big business so we decided to join in the fun and enjoy a cappuccino.  

Interesting trivia: Dietrich Mateschitz, a billionaire who invented and owns Red Bull is from Salzburg and has several high end bars/clubs. He is a big celebrity in these parts and Red Bull is in full display all over town.  

We caught the bus back to Bad Hofgastein and were scheduled to take cross-country ski lessons from Andreas. He wasn't in his little ski hut a the appointed time, so we went ahead and rented skis/boots and taught ourselves. He ended up showing up as we were getting our skis on, and we learned he didn't speak a word of English! So, the lesson would have been quite interesting. Paige caught on very quickly and was off, while Ken and I took a more leisurely approach around the 1.5 mile track. The sun was out, the view was beautiful and it was a nice way to get some exercise.

After our skiing, we went to see if the little sausage stand was open, for a quick snack. Unfortunately, it wasn't…however a cheese and sausage stand was, and after a sample, we decided to do an afternoon wine, cheese and sausage experience. We took the cheese and sausage back to the hotel, found a great table with a nice view and added a bottle of Austrian red wine.   

Once we finished our wonderful snack, it was back to the thermal spa. This time we found the sauna's…which we learned are all NO CLOTHING. We tried to go in one or two, but were told we had to take off our bathing suits. They were also full of naked, older men who really needed to have something covering them. So, we hit the family area were there were two very fun water slides and everyone was appropriately dressed.  

Then, it was back to the hotel and dinner. Instead of a four course dinner, it was a buffet with lots of meats, salads and soups. A nice way to end a wonderful day!