Despite a gray and rainy day, we walked back down the mountain from the gasthof to the village of Baad. I felt like Heidi in the book of the same name. We paused to step into the highly embellished St. Martin’s Church before going a brief distance to the town’s only traffic circle where we caught a bus to Riezlern. We mingled with festival-goers celebrating cows going down to winter pastures. Different groups of decorated cows came into town at various times during the morning and early afternoon. A large beer tent provided live music and refreshment, and other tents sold wares ranging from honey to sausage to hats to wood carvings.

I was amused at the many mirrored street signs which assist drivers in seeing past thick hedges and blind corners. Also, I took a photo of one sign reminding drivers that school has started again and brakes need to be used.

After shopping at a couple of stores and eating pea soup in a local cafe, we jumped onto a very crowded bus (filled with both tourists and school children) which happened to thin out considerably by the time we reached the last stop at Baad. It had stopped raining by this time, so we walked back up the mountain path to our gasthof. 

A few hours of relaxation and a traditional Austrian/German meal ended our day of exercise and rest.