Altenmarkt Village:Harry Potter. And Beer.

Zauchensee is a tiny little village at the base of the slopes.  There are ski shops and cafes, a bank and a little shopping, but no grocery of any kind.  Everything in Europe is expensive by our family's personal standards.  This is just the way it is--and traveling with seven people means we spend a lot on food.  No, really, I mean a lot.  Hank's monthly noodle budget by itself if substantive.

So we took a free ski bus or a lovely local family taxi (Opa Schuber was the owner and one of our drivers) would come get us and take us into the larger village next door, Altenmarkt. This is not the same village where we caught the train--that was even more town further over, Radstadt.

Oh my word, this was like a gingerbread village out or something out of Harry Potter.  Not much English, but people were mostly kind and patient.  It had a nice grocery (probably more than one, but without much English and carefully timed bus/taxi service, we were conservative), as well as shopping.

Regarding the photo below...yes, there is Mexican food in Austria.  No, we did not eat it.

The family who owned our Zauchensee lodge also own a restaurant and small hotel in Altenmarkt.  Animal heads and all, it reminded me much of the pubs in the smaller Scottish villages (more surreal feelings that I can say that).

Did I mention the bread?  Did I mention the beer?