Achensee Lake and Hall

Today was our last full day in Innsbruck. We are sad to leave our friends but excited to move on and see new things. Tomorrow we will drive to Venice, spend one night, and then go to Florence the next day. We'll spend a week in Florence.

Today we went to a lake named Achensee. It was an absolutely beautiful crystal-blue lake. Completely amazing. It was a little cold and windy. If you ask Emma it was "freezing"- not so. We had lunch at a lake-side cafe and then enjoyed watching kite surfers while the girls played at a playground.

Emma as 'The Unibomber".

Look at that lake! Seriously!

Aven really wanted to go swimming, but she quickly changed her mind after dipping her toes in. Ian proclaimed that water to be "not that bad" (it was a glacial lake, it was barely above freezing). Ian did not take me up on my challenge to go for a swim (baby).

It doesn't matter which continent we are on, Etta loves swinging!

After the lake we drove to a little village named Hall. The girls were sleeping, so I sat in the car with them while Ian and Emma went exploring. After a while Emma and I switched spots so that I could see the village. It was a charming little village right out of a movie (think 'Chocolat'). We went shopping at a little street festival and bought some beautiful gifts. We also had gelato (I am going to need to figure out how to make that stuff once we get home).

The village of Hall.

Street festival. Every stand had goods hand-made by locals ranging from schnapps to jewelry to clothing. Such a gem!

Wish us luck in our next leg of the journey! Thanks Ben, Missy, Addie, and Ruby for being the most amazing hosts of all time- we will NEVER forget the generosity, hospitality, great conversations, and fun.