I woke well rested, so after a quick breakfast and coffee I headed into the village. Though sunny it was crisp (cool) and windy as I wandered the village, only to find most of the shops and restaurants were closed until two in the afternoon as they take a long lunch hour (plus many businesses were taking advantage of the lull between ski season and the summer season for their own holiday breaks).
Ended up at the Maria Alm Church, a pilgrimage church from what I could gather and after my visit I can understand why. Though unassuming on the outside, it is beautiful and very peaceful inside. I found it to be a special place. Though I have now seen several magnificent cathedrals/churches, this was the first that really touched me. Initially, the human skulls on the shelves in the niche below the statue of Christ, seemed somewhat gruesome and out of place but the connection and peace inside outweighed the oddity.
The graveyard has mostly ornate wrought-iron markers on family plots that all seemed to be very well cared for with flowers blooming and trimmed grass walkways between each site, not a weed to be found. The church grounds also feature a second more modern design chapel, a stone path labyrinth, shrine and a monument to those lost in the World Wars.
It had clouded and started to rain as I left the Church so I popped in to a pub/restaurant for a hot bowl of gulash (that is how it was spelled on the menu), coffee and Eisnacher Tort (a spicy cakem, layered with cream filling and iced with sugar icing and chocolate).
The rain let up long enough for me to meander back to the grocery store to pick up a few provisions, so I don't have to eat all my meals in restaurants - just the basics, cheese, cold cuts, bread, jam, granola, yoghurt, fruit, juice, canned cherries and a local beer.
Back at the Alpenland Sporthotel, I checked out the facilities from the sauna and swimming pool, to the "skittle alley" (what they call bowling), pinball and pool table. Spent a little time catching up on my travel journal and world news as the room had CNN (BBC) in English on the TV.
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