Wurzburg, Germany Before heading to Austria, Bren and I spent a few days in Wurzburg, Germany. Wurzburg is the Catholic capitol of Germany and as we were there during Fasching, there was a lot going on! Gorgeous city seething in history. Various pictures of cathedrals, the Bishops Bridge and the gatekeepers into the Bishops Tomb.

Home sweet home for the week we stayed and trained in Thiersee. Our accomodations were at the Ferienhaus Veronika which is the house directly center, second from the top. Pictures would have been taken from the shore of the small lake that sits in the center of town. Can see more pictures of the beautiful town of Thiersee and the surrounding Tirol HERE (takes you to another web page. Hit your "Back" button to return) Hinderthiersee (translation = behind Thiersee) is a small village up the road from where we stayed. Cute little place where we did some urban trailing. Was amazed as every neighborhood had their own ski lifts. Children would get out of school and immediately strap on the ski's and that is where they would be until dark. The meeting in Austria was truly an international affair where dog handlers from Germany, Austria, Spain and the US met to work dogs and exchange ideas.

If you look closely in the picture, you can see a motel perched precariously on a ledge. Believe the only way to get to it is via chairlift or hiking. Altitude of the hotel is around 6800 feet. To the far right of the picture, coming down from the top of the ridge are avalanche barriers to help stop/prevent a slide from starting Picture of the city of Innsbruck. A very beautiful and ancient city. It was there that I stopped in at a restaurant where both Mozart and Beethoven ate, touched a wall built in 1444, walked in the town square beneath the "golden roof" where the King of Austria built an observation platform where he could watch the knights spar. Although the King of Austria made his permanent home in Vienna, he had a secondary home in Innsbruck...this "home" managed to take up most of 3-4 city blocks. Typical Tyrolean mountain (Mount Serles. Elevation approx. 8,150 feet) Hölblinghaus (original building built in 1560 renovated and changed into rococo-style in 1732) A river runs through it...view of Innsbruck from the Innbrigde. It's called Innbridge because it was the first bridge over the river Inn, erected in 1165. It remaind the only bridge for hundreds of years. Hofkirche,was built between 1553 and 1563 by Ferdinand I. It contains the most impressive of Innsbruck’s imperial monuments, the Cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian I – a sumptuously decorated sarcophagus ringed by 28 larger than life bronze statues, representing the Emperor’s ancestors and his heroes of antiquity. The Golden roof. The late Gothic oriels are capped with 2,600 gold-plated copper tiles. It was constructed for Emperor Maximilian I to serve as a royal box where he could sit in luxury and enjoy tournaments in the square below. Completed at the dawn of the 16th century, the Golden Roof was built in honor of Maximilian´s second marriage, to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan (Maximilian was a ruler who expanded his territory through marriage, not conquest). A hotel and restaurant that has hosted many famous people through the years. Marble plaques on the wall show who have eaten or slept under it's roof and when. Here is the secondary home of the Austrian king, built in 1460, redesigned by Maria Theresia in 1754.

The Eurobridge at one time was the highest bridge in Europe. Now I think it is number 2 or three. Whatever it's ranking, it is one heck of a long distance from the top to the bottom.

"WHEE! Look, it's ME!!" A few shots of the wild man and his mother (and European fan club) checking out the sights on the Austrian/Italy border in the town of Brenner (or Brennero as the Italians call it). At one time, the town was a very active check station and military base. Now, essentially deserted, it is a quiet little stop at the top of Brenner Pass.