The Peak of the Gaisberg / Gaisbergspitze

Today sunlight came streaming through our windows for the first time in weeks. We had gorgeous weather when we were in Innsbruck, and supposedly it was nice in Salzburg then too, but we weren't here to see it. Some time during all those days of grey and rain, autumn crept in. The trees are starting to change color and leaves are starting to fall. It's weird. I know it's October, but it doesn't feel like it should be autumn already.

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and drive up to the peak of the Gaisberg, the small mountain that we can see from our kitchen window for a view of the mountains. At only 1265 meters, we weren't expecting snow at the top of the Gaisberg, but to Nikolas' delight, there were some patches and the bigger mountains in the distance had plenty of snow which made for spectacular scenery. Nikolas threw about a million snowballs and tried, unsuccessfully, to make a snow angel. We ate lunch at a restaurant, joining the crowds basking in the sun at the outside tables. Half of our table was still covered with snow and ice!

After lunch, we wandered over to an area from where paragliders take off. It's also a spot that overlooks the city, so there were lots of people out admiring the view, sometimes in the way of the paragliders, who had somehow gone unnoticed even though they had been laying out their wings and testing their lines right behind them. The paragliders had to keep calling out, "Entschuldigung!" (Excuse me!) when they were ready to take off. About ten steps down the side of the mountain and they jumped, catching the wind and flying off. What makes a person think that it's a good idea to do that, to jump off the side of a mountain, the first time they try it?