Day 7 - out and about!

So, after my best sleep since leaving home, I woke early to a lovely, sunny day in the Austrian Tirol. 

We had decided to visit one of our favourite places, Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, about an hour away from our village. We followed the usual route but when we got to the turn off to take us there, the road was closed! It had been open yesterday when we passed on our way to Salzburg. There was a diversion in place but they can be difficult in another language so I told the Husband to programme the sat nav. You would thought I'd asked him to build a PC!  In the end I managed it and we found our way  via a town called Bad Reichenhall. This is another salt town and we visited there quite a few years ago. 

Eventually we arrived in Berchtesgaden, where Hitler had his Eagles Nest on the top of the mountain. It's a lovely Bavarian town and again, we revisit every year. 

We always have coffee at the same place too, Cafe Forstner, which is in the square next to the new, posh, hotel Eidleweiss. 

I also visit Dollinger, a traditional clothing shop. It's amazing to see the beautiful clothes, the colours are so lovely. It's also interesting to see how many wear these clothes every day. 

We only stayed there for an hour or so so, since we had to follow the diversion again, we decided to also visit Bad Reichenhall. They have a really good shopping area there but it's a bit of a trial driving around looking for parking. In the end I parked at the salt museum in the centre of town. 

The town is a mixture of traditional and modern but it works well.  What amused us was the massive chocolate shop/cafe dedicated to Mozart chocolates. Mozart was Austrian and Salzburg is full of places cashing in on his name, so it's funny to see a similar shop in Germany!

As we had also decided not to visit Cafe Schmid today (shock!) I allowed the Husband to have a slice of apple strudel with whipped cream!  

We've not had many decent meals because we've got too full with cake and ice cream so tonight we're off out for dinner. 

Once I'd paid the bill we went inside the shop to buy a few extra gifts. I've never seen so much chocolate!

Then, I actually did some ordinary shopping, buying a couple of tops and a black hand bag. Bad Reichenhall is a really good place to show and it's not touristy, which makes a nice change!

We left here and made our way back to our village. We picked up some essentials, tools for breakfast and a big bottle of Almdudler, together with a 'vignette'. This is a pass that has to be displayed in the window a a toll to use the Austrian motorways, the ones in Germany are free. We are off on all gosh trip to morrow, so I did t want to forget to buy it. 

When we got back to the farm the Husband needed a nap so I walked down the hill to visit my friend. I wanted a quiet chat with her to let her know what's been happening with me this last year. I also had a chance to play with her puppy, as I'm really missing Schmid at the moment. I had a lovely hour or so with her and then returned to the farm. 

We went off to the Schneiderman for tea, but timed it badly as there was a large family group in. So our meal took a while! Never mind, it was worth it!  

After a lovely meal it was time for another film then bed!

Day 6 - Monday, the real start of our trip!

The weekend is a waste of time in Austria because very little is open, so we have everything planned for the next five days. 

On putting on my new glasses this morning, they broke - again!  I only got them before I came away so I'm not best pleased. Fortunately I brought some glue with me so the Husband was able to do a temporary repair on them until I get home. Of course I forgot to bring my spare glasses, just as he forgot the big brolly!

As it was raining again this morning we decided to go to Salzburg and visit Hangar 7, Red Bull HQ. This is a brilliant place to visit, apart from the fact that it's free. It's just past the airport and uses the runway for its own planes and helicopters. It's basically a lopsided geodesic dome full of Red Bull vehicles, together with monthly art displays. 

They have a meeting room up in the centre of the roof, with the walkway to reach it, just above the white tail fin on the plane. 

One of the photos on display was amazing. Standing in front of it, I could see the raw aggression in its eyes. I'd love to know how they got the shot!

We picked the wrong day, there were quite a few school trips, as the children break up for summer on Friday. But, it was still well worth a visit, if only to use the magnificent loos! They are in the basement and are amazing! Walking in to the ladies, you see a fabulous floral display. 

The loos are straight ahead and continue with the plane theme. The sinks are incredible and next to them is a stainless steel stand with a built in bin. On top is a container of soap and lots of small flannels, which are actually single use hand towels. Once used, they are thrown in the bin. 

At the end of the room there's even a small vanity unit and chair, with yet another floral display. 

There is a very good Carpe Diem coffee bar on site, overlooking the displays. As usual, the Husband asked for a cappuccino but I went for a hot chocolate. The choice was bitter or milk, so I chose milk. What a surprise when it arrived! It was a cup of hot milk, with what looked like a chocolate lollipop. It was meant for stirring into the hot milk! They definitely do things different here! It was delicious!

From Hangar 7 we went shopping at the Airport Centre, which is a MacArthur Glen, like Cheshire Oaks. It's all inside, so a great place to go in the rain. There's two hours free parking, plenty of time for us.  We weren't very lucky this time and I only brought a gift for the Son.

It was lunchtime, so we did the unforgiveable and got MacDonalds, something we didn't really enjoy! But, hey, the sun came out!

From here we made our way back and had a quick supermarket stop, then a garden centre stop then, finally, I went to buy my special shampoo in another nearby village. 

I'm now stocked up for the coming year and bought so many bottles that I was given two free!  It's wonderful stuff and would probably cost double at home IF it could be bought there. 

Or last stop was, of course, Cafe Schmid. This time he decided to get the cake to take back for tea and had ice cream instead, a massive strawberry sundae. There has to be a full punnet of strawberries in it!

In contrast, I had hot raspberries over vanilla ice cream a lot easier to eat. As you can see, the glass sundae dishes are gorgeous. They are Italian glass and there are shelves full of them. 

We took two pieces of cake back with us for tea as we were t going out for food. When the time came I could hardly eat mine but of course some one polished his off, no problem!

Day 5 - Sunday, day of rest!

As I didn't have a very good sleep, I ended up sleeping in until 8.30am. Then it was raining, so I ended up spending the morning creating a PowerPoint for next week.  I got so engrossed in it that the time flew by and I had to stop for lunch. 

We always go to Lofer, to the Schweizerhof, for our Sunday lunch. We only visit once a year, but have been going there for longer than I care to remember. As soon as we walk in, the same waiter greets us and doesn't bother giving us a menu because he know we always have the same thing!  The first thing to arrive are the drinks, a fizzy Apple juice called Almdudler. It can only be bought in Austria so we often brings some bottles home with us in the car. 

The meal itself is called Tiroler Grostl and I suppose it's a type of bubble and squeak. Any meat that's being used on other meals is cut up into very small pieces and fried with onions and potatoes. It's presented in its own cast iron frying pan and is served with a fried egg on top. It's also accompanied by sauerkraut and a small side salad - delicious!  It's SO tasty that I've learnt how to make it at home!

Once we had finished it was goodbye for another year and then we made our way back to the apartment. It was still raining, so we kept inside until it was time to go and visit our friends. They live only a few minutes away across the meadow, but with it being so wet, we had to drive down the mountain and along the road to reach their house. 

We spent a lovely afternoon, catching up, giving presents to the two youngsters and the new puppy!  We have known this couple for many years, in fact before they were even a couple and we used to stay in the main hotel in the village. 

From here we went to our usual afternoon haunt at Cafe Schmid. However, as we were later than usual all of the cake had gone!  The Husband had to settle for a Black Forest ice cream sundae instead!

I had a walnut sundae, with so many walnuts that I couldn't eat them all!

As you can imagine, we were so full that there was no chance of us eating dinner after that, so it was off back to watch a film then bed!

Day 4 - Lofer

Yet again we woke up late, we must need our sleep!  We decided just to go to the next village, Lofer, our second favourite place in this area. 

Austria is the way we used to be, closing the shops at midday on Saturday and not opening again until Monday morning. We had about an hour, just wandering around and looking at all the changes. There are new buildings in each village, shops no longer there and not being replaced except by apartments. A bit like home really!

We went to my favourite clothes shop, Farbinger, but I was unlucky this year, there was nothing I liked, which is very unusual for me! Maybe I'll have better luck when we go into Bavaria to visit Berchtesgaden next week. 

From Lofer, we made our way to St Martin, a little hamlet with a lovely church which is only a few minutes away.

I always go into the church and light two candles for my parents. 

This church is unusual in that it has the body of a saint inside a glass case and on its own altar. The skeleton of St Gaudentius is covered in bandages and the fingers have jewelled rings on them. 

The church yard had the traditional graves, no stones, just fancy, wrought iron grave markers. Many have everlasting candles and little enamel pictures of the deceased. 

From here, and just around the corner is the house, known locally as the flower house. It certainly lives up to its name and looks different but wonderful every time we visit. A great deal of hard work must go into caring for the hundreds of plants in the window boxes. 

When we returned to the car, we saw a battered VW van was parked nearby. I thought you might like to see what was written on it!

Before we returned to the farm, we visited the local garden centre to look for a plant we had seen at the farm and really admired. 

We actually found a similar one, but it is so big that I don't know if we can get it home!  It's an amazing bargain because the price included the tall pot it is planted in! We shall have to see if we can manage it. 

We went back to the farm and as I parked the car we could see a couple sitting on the bench by the small farm memorial at the edge of the driveway. They were English and we went over to chat with them. They had come on the Shearings coach and explained that they were having a last walk before they leave this afternoon. I asked them about their hotel, the Tiroler Adler which is in the centre of the village and next to the Cafe. They said the rooms were good but the food wasn't! I wont go into detail but, suffice to say, if we came here again in the winter we would probably stay there but NOT be on half board!

Once they continued on their walk! we had lunch, I had a little sunbathe and listened to my audio book but before long it was time to go to visit our friends at Cafe Schmid. 

Here are a selection of the fabulous cakes, but the photo does not do them justice. They are massive and this one is about ten inches high!

Today I had a banana split, mainly so I didn't have to eat so much ice cream. The Husband had his usual, cappuccino and Black Forest gateau. 

 I have to add that most people get the cake with two forks and share it!

We had fun with our friends because I have an audio translation app on my phone and I was seeking into it and it translated my words into German!

We said our goodbyes for th day and made our way around the corner to the local church. We always visit it as it is SO beautiful. Again, I lit two candles,so I should be in good books up there!  

It started to rain heavily as we left and I only had a small umbrella, due to SOMEONE forgetting the big one so I got soaked going back to the car!

We got back to the farm, intending to go out for tea at about 7pm, as usual. We watched TV for a while and by that I mean Sky News, the only English channel. However, when I went in to our bedroom to get changed, there were ants running over the bed! I nearly had a heart attack and ran to get the owner. She was mortified and got her husband to come and vacuum them all up. Fortunately, there isanother double bedroom in the apartment, so we are using that tonight until everything is checked tomorrow. 

After all this excitement we decided not to go out and just had a light tea, having had Cafe Schmid earlier. We watched a downloaded film on my laptop then went into our new bed, for hopefully a good night's sleep!

Day 3 - the market

We didn't have a good nights sleep, due to one thing and another, so we rose late at 8.30am there is a one hour time difference so to us it was 7.30am really. It made a change for last evening when it was both raining and sunshine which brought out a lovely double rainbow outside our window. 

It was a lovely sunny day and we knew that we were going to the next village of Sankt Johann for the Friday market. This is our view from the window. 

This is our apartment, with the open door and all to the right on the ground floor. 

We arrived at Sankt Johann at around11am. 

Being late, it was a bind finding a car parking space, but I managed it. We went first to visit out friends who own a jewellery shop. I had bought a watch there last year and damaged the ceramic face so they were going to fix it for me. We have become friends over about ten years, when they used to have a jewellery evening at the hotel we used to stay at in the village. We chatted for a time then had to go, otherwise I wouldn't get my shopping done before the ticket ran out!

We made our way past various market stalls until I came the one I wanted, Natur Adria. Schana, the lovely young woman who sells the smellies, recognised us immediately and there were handshakes all around. I bought gifts for friends, both for now and Christmas, as the things she has are unique and so nice! 

We just back to the car in time and then left the village to drive to another favourite place, Kitzbuhel. We always park at the gondola lift car park but this time we were unlucky. We got to the barrier but there were no tickets, so I had to turn the car around and look for somewhere else. We found another one, but it turned out it was for locals, so there was no way we could stay there, so we gave up and went back to the apartment. We'll try again next week. 

I filled the car up with fuel at the best price I could find, the equivalent of 96p per litre!  The prices differ widely so you have to be on the ball to find the best price. It even changes during the day and it's best to buy fuel in the morning as its cheaper!

On returning to the farm, we had lunch then the Husband had a sleep, whilst I actually sunbathed, listening to an audio book. 

Time moved on and he soon came out, asking if it wasn't time to visit Cafe Schmid. I gave in and off we went, but then the rain started. Guess who had forgotten to pack the big brolly? So I had to get my little one out for the both of us. As this was a planned visit, I brought presents for the family on this visit. I didn't have ice cream today, just had a drink instead. The Husband was shocked!

We also thought that we heard the sound of English voices but brushed it off, as the village is off the beaten track. However, what a surprise when we left the cafe. There was a Shearings coach on the car park, off loading a mass of English visitors!  We spoke to the coach driver and asked how long they had been coming. This was a new trip for them, so that is SO good for the village. The last coaches were years ago,so it's good to see them back again. We laughed at the thought that the coach company was based only a few miles away from us at home though!

So, that was our first real day in Austria. We've decided not to travel too much here, there and everywhere this time and make time to chill. This blog might get boring! 

Day 2 - onwards to Austria!

We were up for 7am, had a nice breakfast and made rolls for our lunch, then we left by 8.15am. We were now on the German autobahns and we certainly knew it!  I love driving here, as the roads are brilliant, but you really have to have eyes in the back of your head, as one minute there's nothing behind you then zoom, a car comes from nowhere at over 100 mph!

This time there were lots of roadworks, so more often than not we were driving at 50mph. You could see that it really upset some of the fast drivers. Often they were racing each other and we saw a number of accidents, all on the opposite carriageway, thank goodness. 

We only stopped twice on our journey to Austria but that, and the roadworks, added an extra hour onto our arrival time, so we arrived in the village at 4pm. Our first stop was at the local Spar supermarket for provisions, but then it was off to Cafe Schmid!  As always, as soon as we walked in, it was hugs for the Husband and he was immediately given his usual cappuccino and massive slice of Black Forest gateau!

Most people get two forks and share the cake but not him! He scoffs the lot, every day! I had a chocolate sundae, but it filled me SO much that we couldn't go out for tea later. 

We spoke at some length with the grand daughter,who has grown up into a fine young lady. Her English is excellent, so I'm lazy and talk with her instead of practising my German. 

After spending a very happy hour, we made our way up the hill to the farm, where we have an apartment every year. Again, another lovely welcome, then we were given a jug full of fresh milk from the cows. I never have to buy milk when I stay here. This time we had brought a toaster with us from the UK, as this is the one luxury missing from the kitchen. We used it straight away since we weren't going out to eat. 

To finish of the evening, I unpacked, got everything straight then settled down to watch a film in bedon Sky Go which is on my laptop. The wifi normally isn't too good here, so I downloaded a few films to watch. However, this time they appear to have upgraded the wifi, so I'm able to write this in comfort, on the couch instead of being perched on a bench in the hallway!

Austria 2017 - Day 1

From home to Germany

We left the house at 6am and hit the M6 motorway. It was busy, as expected but not too bad over Thelwall. The road works were annoying and we were 10 minutes behind schedule when we got to Stoke. Husband drove. 

We went on the M6 toll and stopped at the services for a loo break. Very disappointed, the standards of cleanliness seems to have plummeted! Far better was our stop at the next services by Silverstone race track. They are always good. Our experience here was far better than last year because it was here that we began to think there was something wrong with the car. From here on we spent the whole trip worried until it finally broke down! This time there were no problems at all and we arrived at the Eurotunnel within plenty of time.  We had even more time than expected as our train was delayed by 30 mins due to an earlier cancellation. I took over the driving for the next nine days. 

Once our car was called to proceed, we made our way to passport control. No problems here but then we were pulled in for a security check, as were most other vehicles. I've never seen so many being processed. We were asked the usual security questions and if we had any weapons! The driver's door and the dash board were all swabbed for drugs/explosives and a man in while gloves went along the side of each vehicle, touching the wheel arches and handles. 

Once this was completed we were all allowed to make our way to boarding. We entered the train, parked up and then had our lunch. I have a travel fridge, which is wonderful for these journeys. 

I set the car up for travelling on the continent, changing the units to kilometres from miles and changing the country on the sat nav.  The Discovery has one built in but it's rubbish, so I have a really good TomTom. In fact, we use the two together, as the onboard one is only good for on the motorways, as it indicates when the next services are coming up and what's there! 

We arrived in Calais and disembarked. There was a large police presence on the site as we drove out. We saw three immigrants who had been turned away by them as they had presumably attempted to gain access. The first twenty minutes driving is always testing, getting used to being on the opposite side of the road in an English car!  However, I soon settled and got comfortable. The weather was iffy, rain clouds, then rain, then dry. It really didn't know what to do! There were lorries queued for miles, waiting to go to the UK.  I'm not looking forward to the delays on the return trip!

We got to Dunkirk and we turned right, heading south to Lille. As we had been delayed over half an hour, I knew we would hit traffic there and we did. However, it wasn't as bad as its been in the past, just slow moving. We carried on to Belgium, passing the turning for Ypres, which we'll be visiting on the way home. The land is very flat here and I don't particularly like this part of Belgium. However, we were soon approaching Charleroi airport, where we will be staying on our journey home so that we have time to visit Ypres. It will be a very long return drive from Austria to here in one day, but worth it. 

After a few hours we were approaching the Ardennes. Now this a my favourite part of Belgium, having stayed here a few years ago for a memorial ceremony for WWll. It brings back very happy memories!  We were nearing the border with Luxembourg when we stopped at our favourite services, Air de Wanlin. It looks like two tepees across the road!  We pulled in and parked, amazingly next to a transporter carrying THREE new Land Rover Defenders! They had been souped up, just like the Child's so I took lots of photos to send to him. 

It was here that we found out the cost of the loo - 70 cents.  All the loos are very smart, many have revolving toilet seats. They only do that once they are flushed and it's a way of disinfecting the seats. 

After we left these services we entered Luxemburg. It only takes 15 minutes to drive from one side to the other and I always make sure that we stop for fuel before we cross over into Germany, as its so cheap. Once this was done, we were only a few minutes from our hotel, the Sonnenhof at Perl, just over the Moselle river and the heart of wine country. 

The hotel is near to the autobahn, but in the countryside and is really lovely. In fact, we just cannot fault it and have returned for our third visit. The rooms are modern, clean and comfortable. The food is really good and the staff very nice, although English is not spoken here. 

So, we checked in, went straight down for dinner then went up to bed for a good sleep, ready for the next day's journey to Austria!