Today we visited Hohenwerfen Castle. The older kids were up late last night playing Monopoly and were difficult to rouse this morning, so we didn’t get an early start. We arrived a little before noon and took the funicular to the castle. As we arrived we realized that there were two birds of prey shows, one that had started a half hour earlier and another in about three and a half hours. We were worried about how to keep busy until then, but there was no need. There is much to do here. First the small kids played throw the ring on the unicorn while the older kids of all ages learned to walk on stilts.

There are many neat parts of the castle that we say on the tour, but the highlight for most of us was the birds of prey show. It was amazing in every possible way: the venue, the number of birds, the skill of the falconers, and the alpenhorn players.

During the show the falconer would throw treats up into the air for the birds to catch. This was often successful, but at other times dead mice and baby chicks would fall into the crowd. You don’t see that at Disney world. Once an eagle missed a catch and immediately afterward a vulture swooped down and ate it off the ground, then decided that it would be better to walk up the hill rather than fly. For a few moments he was walking directly toward Everett.

A few more photos:

After we left the castle Gwen we came home for dinner. They kids played games and then watched 101 Dalmatians while the adults chatted.