Friday and home

Friday's forecast of rain all day was correct so we just walked in to Mayrhofen for our last coffee and cake, choosing a cafe which was full of a British coach party! We have come across very few English speaking tourists during this trip.

The hamlet in the rain;

On Saturday we returned the hire car, flew back from Innsbruck (what a quiet airport), caught the train from Gatwick then had a much needed walk home to stretch our legs after sitting down all day.

Both of us could have carried on travelling.....must plan the next adventure soon.

Thursday

We woke up to low clouds and light rain but decided to head out prepared for a hike anyway. We went back to the tourist office, this time Martin came in and we got much better advice - huh!

We decided to drive to a high level reservoir and do one of three possible hikes. We had to pay a toll and received a leaflet which was in german but stated that something was happening today - I couldn't translate it with my app though. As we drove on the winding road we suddenly saw this massive dam;

According to Martin it is a 'gravity arch' design.

To our delight we discovered that today was the first day of the season so the road had just opened and there were guided tours of the dam! Whilst we waited for the tour we had a coffee in the cafe and the owners announced that we were their first customers of the season. We had a good chat and learnt about their lives including getting the kids to school 25 km away on the winding road by 7.30am.

The tour was great, there were a german couple and us and the guide said everything twice once in german and once in English.

We then hiked up the valley hoping to eat our lunch in Italy - the border was 2 hours away. It was a beautiful walk with waterfalls cascading down both sides of the valley. After about an hour and a half there was more and more snow which made the going a bit difficult and in the end we stopped when we saw the last part of the path was all snow. It was a shame not making it to Italy.

We walked back taking loads of photos.

Wednesday

Today we left the Salzburg region to drive to the Tyrol region. On the way we visited the Krimml waterfalls which are advertised as the largest in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. We walked up to see the falls from the numerous viewpoints and it was definitely worth the £2 entry fee.

After lunch at the foot of the falls we drove over the pass to Mayrhofen. On arrival in the town I popped in to the tourist board. The young girl was obviously too interested in flirting with a chap as when we looked through the info at the apartment it was next to useless. We looked on the internet and discovered that all of the chairlifts and cable cars were closed and that the weather forecast for tomorrow was bad. Ah well, we were happy with the view from our balcony with paragliders landing in the meadow opposite. 

Tuesday

There are 2 dams here and the power company run guided tours but, much to Martin's disappointment they don't start until 29 May. We could only visit the exhibition centre which is open all year round and we did get a view of the turbines.

For today's hike we parked in the valley the other side of the mountain from our apartment. It was an extremely steep and long hike up - we are probably only 1/3 up here;

At the top we came across a cafe but the gate was locked. I was desperate for a drink and, as we live by the mantra "don't ask don't get" I asked the owner if it was possible to get a drink and he agreed. So we enjoyed a refreshing drink whilst watching the antics of the animals in the petting zoo including a 4 day old goat.

Another rest on the way down; the bottom of zippered trousers make a great improvised hat!

Monday

The skies were clear today so we took the opportunity to drive up the Grossglockner road. This steep alpine road is 48km uphill with 36 hairpin bends. Our hire car is a small VW polo and we were in 2nd gear most of the way up so it took us well over 1 hour to reach the top.

I hope the photos will show the view clearly enough and the Pasterze Glacier. In the second photo you can just about make out some small figures. It was the army - I thought practising arctic type conditions but later I saw they were lining up to take turns to slide down a slope!

On the way down we stopped several times to view the excellent exhibitions on the flora, fauna, road building and geology, as well as the views.

There were many motorbikes on the road (it is one of the top 10 motorbike rides in Europe) as well as some super fit cyclists.

Yes we drove up there too -

Sunday

When we were settling in to this apartment the loudest air raid siren I have ever heard started in the village below. After about 5 minutes fire engines and ambulances began racing across the valley so we presumed the emergency staff are retained and have to be called into service. Thankfully there haven't been any emergencies at night .......... yet.

We aimed to hike to a good height today to look over Zell Am See but the footpath signs disappeared about 2/3 of the way up and there were several choices of paths. We ended up choosing the wrong way and, despite climbing to a great height we didn't achieve the view of the lake we had hoped for.

On the way down we came across this - official paths blocked by barbed wire and cows so maybe the farmers have been 'disposing' of the signs we needed.

Moving on

On Saturday we took the scenic route to Zell Am Zee to our next base. In the afternoon we managed to fit in a 2 hour walk around the lake so it was good not losing a whole day to travelling. We have a small studio apartment but a fantastic view;

Zell Am See;

Friday

Friday was a cloudless day so we headed straight off to the Dachstein glacier cable car to beat the crowds. However we were pleasantly surprised that there were not many people for the 3 hours we spent up there.

We went to the 5 Finger Lookout which had fab views but stuck out over fresh air. I did go onto it but always looked out, never down. We watched several paragliders taking off - just launching themselves off the side of the mountain.

We went down into the heat of the day and walked to see a waterfall thundering out of a cave. On the way we crossed a glacial river coming down from the mountain and were amazed at the drop in temperature as we neared the bridge, about 1 metre after the bridge it was like entering an oven again.

Thursday

The sun was back today and we did a wonderful 13 mile hike from the apartment alongside Halstatter See which is a beautiful lake. At the end of the lake we caught a ferry boat to the town of Halstatt which is a bit like our Clovelly; a lovely town but a real tourist trap. We caught the ferry back across and walked uphill to suss out a cable car ride to a glacier which we hope to do tomorrow,  weather permitting.  Our legs were starting to ache and we caught the train back.

It feels great to be doing proper hiking at last.

When we got home we put our sore feet up and skyped Kath to hear her presentation on her MSc research. We will be thinking about her tomorrow when she presents to her peers and staff but she should do well as it sounded and looked excellent.

Wednesday

We had a slow day - our first since arriving on April 21st. We wandered around the local town then walked around a nearby lake. When we were 3/4 of the way round the thunder started then the heavens opened. We were soaked and it was a good job we were not far from home so we could get changed.

These poles are in every town;

A fir tree is chosen, stripped of its branches save for the very top, decorated with wreathes and ribbons and installed as a maypole on 1st May. Locals are challenged to climb the pole (no climbing aids allowed) and take a ribbon to prove their skill. Neighbouring villagers traditionally try to steal the pole then demand food and drink before it is returned.

We have also noticed that many locals dress in traditional costume as a matter of course. We passed a builders merchant and the office lady was dressed in a dirndl.

When we were in Salzburg a german lady approached us and said something about not having her camera. We surmised that she wanted us to take a picture for her and I guessed she would want it emailed. She led us to the back of a building and excitedly showed us this statue.

But, it turned out that she just wanted us to have a picture of it. I asked if it was famous and she said no. Wierd!

Salzburg is very genteel and it was strange to see this sight in the main square

A Korean national karate team performing Katas

Birthday in Salzburg

Yesterday was my birthday and my choice was to spend the day in Salzburg. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the drive there past some of the lakes was lovely. I admit I did cause us to waste half an hour as I misinterpreted the park and ride bus route so we had to get off, cross the road and get a bus going back to the right place!

We walked round the sights then climbed up to the fortress. We had lunch by the river and soaked up the sun.

We went to an organ recital by Johannes Berger in the great hall of the Stiftung Mozarteum. Amazing to see the necessity of two people for the performance; the organist playing with his hands and feet and the assistant turning the page and pressing buttons. We were impressed by the skill especially in such a young musician but not sure about the musicality - some of it sounded like crashing chords.

Vienna to the Lake District

We said goodbye to our lovely host in Vienna who gave us a Vienna souvenir bag as a leaving gift. After collecting the hire car at the railway station we navigated through the city centre and headed for the hills. We took the slow route parallel to the Danube to the Wachau region with its vineyards and rolling hills. We stopped in medieval Durnstein for lunch and at Melk Abbey for a quick photo. We then joined the motorway and drove for a couple of hours to our base in the lakes, Bad Goisern.


Durnstein

View from our apartment

Off to the countryside

Tomorrow we pick up a car and make our way west for the next 2 weeks, hopefully getting in some hikes in the Austrian lake district and the Alps.

 Mozart......

 Strauss......

Vienna

Our apartment is a 30 minute walk from the city and we have walked for miles over the past 3 days. On Friday afternoon we went to the May festival - same as in Bratislava with bands playing and food and craft outlets.

We walked around the major sites on Saturday.  The city is very elegant but packed - possibly bad timing to come here on a public holiday weekend.  There are lots of men dressed in 18th century costumes trying to sell concert tickets. At one point, fed up with being hassled and asked where I came from (so they know which language to use in their sales pitch) I resorted to our technique developed when we were hassled in Egypt of flumoxing them by saying 'Jersey'. It worked.

We made sure we were at this clock at 12 noon as music plays and figures move across the front for a 10 minute show. It didn't keep good time though as it didn't start until 12.04!

We saw the famous Lipizzan horses in their stables but that is the closest we got as they even charge admission to watch them exercise.

This morning we had our regular Sunday morning skype chat with Jess and Ryan in New Zealand; proud of Ryan securing the job he was after with Treescape. Jess is still looking and will hopefully have good news soon.

We then went to watch the finish of a cycle race - the Gran Fondo Giro d'Italia - amazing to see the sprint finishes after 137 km.

 The winner;

Bratislava to Vienna

We walked down to the river on Friday morning to catch our 9am hydrofoil to Vienna. As we were going against the strong flow of the Danube the journey was supposed to take 1 and three quarter hours. We were second onto the boat and we had front row seats - the boat did not lift as much as we thought it would so we had a great view.

As we approached Vienna we had to wait to enter a huge lock. The gates opened and we glided in. The water rose very quickly and we noticed that the gate we would exit through would rotate under the water rather than open out like normal lock gates. The water rose above the level of the gate and the captain started the engine; we had a clear view of the river ahead. However the traffic light remained on red. After about 5 minutes the light was still on red and the engine went off. 15 minutes later the light was still red so we assumed there was a problem with either the gate or the light. There was no communication on board but at last after a delay of at least 30 minutes the light went green and to a quiet cheer from the passengers we were off.

We were welcomed to our apartment with a home made apple strudel (and no nuts!) - this is the first time we have used hometrip.com to make a booking and we are really pleased - it is like a home from home.