Day 8 - the long trip!

'Today we decided to visit Wattens, the HQ of Swarovski crystal, which I collect. As a member of the collectors society I get access to the VIP lounge. We always pop in here for coffe and a loo stop before we back track to a lovely little town called Rattenberg. However today was going to be a bit different. 

We entered the grounds and got a ticket for the shop, which is free. The Kristallwelten is basically a modern museum, celebrating all things Swarovski. I've visited a couple of time but it is SO pretentious that I would never bother again. The entrance is a large grass mound in the shape of a giant. 

We bypass this and go to the lounge for our drink and this is the weird entrance tunnel!

After this, and once I'd been given my free gift, we made our way out through the he massive shop and returned to the car. As we were leaving more people were arriving. This is one of the major attractions in Austria.

The difference this time was that we were going towards Innsbruck for a change, so that we could visit a village in the mountains called Igls. We are staying there for the first time in Septemebr so whilst we were so close, I thought it was worth having a look. I decided to pop in to our hotel and see if we could upgrade the room. When I made the booking we weren't given the option so I thought it was worth calling in and speaking to the staff. It worked!  We were shown tow rooms in a higher category and we picked one, 301. It is lovely, with a balcony overlooking the mountains and so has a fantastic view. We don't have to pay until we go in September, which was good news in case I have to cancel the holiday.

This is the back of the hotel but you can get an idea of the views!

From here we made our way to Rattenberg where we always shop for glass. This time we stopped and had a picnic by the river that flows thought the town. 

Rattenberg is a medieval town, which is clear from its buildings and main road, now pedestrianised. 

When you pay for parking, the ticket gives a discount for the town museum.  Never having been there before, we decided to find it. What a gem! It's the old monastery and dates from the 1300's. I've never seen anything like it and was so glad we visited. 

The sacristy contained glass cabinets displaying all of the gold and silver belonging to the Augustinian monks. 

To our utter amazement, there was a full size church inside, with wonderful altars and wall paintings. The ceilings were painted too, it was completely breathtaking!  

From here we ascended to the first floor, which brought out to some gory paintings. Having siad that, there was a lovely picture of the Madonna and Child too. 

There were also doors, on leading on to a fretwork balcony, overlooking the altar below and the other at the rear of the church where all the monks would sit to listen to the service. This was all a little creepy but again, fascinating. 

From here is was up some very steep, open stairs to the roof. Suffice to say that I didn't go bu the Husband did. He managed to get some good photos on his camera but I haven't got access to them until I get home. 

We left the museum feeling really pleased we had made the effort to find it!

Now it was time for shopping for glass. We went to out usual shop, Kisslinger, and started at one end, searching for what I wanted. There are tow entrances to the shop as it takes up a massive area. In a town like this, with small shop fronts, it only looks like a tiny shop. 

I always look for unusual vases and, after about half an hour, I found it. The shop is amazing as its built into the mountain, so parts of it are very cold. As it was 32 degrees outside, it was most welcome!

There are corridors into what look like caves or the crypt of a church. 

Once I had finished we left via the second doorway, emerging into the bright sun and heat about 75 metres further along the road!

What a wonderful shop! I really hope I get back there in September, as its only about half an hour from our hotel, whereas it's currently and hour and a half from the farm. 

So, after all this shopping we only had to visit Aldi (called Hofer here) to get some supplies for tomorrow, fill up with fuel for the journey and then make our way back to the farm. 

We've decided that, if we are able to return to the village next year, that we will think about staying somewhere else for a change. There's a new hotel being built but I doubt that will be ready in time, but you never know in Austria! There's one hotel next to Cafe Schmid, where the Shearings people stayed but I wouldn't stay there now having heard their reports on it. We've stayed at two otheres, so wouldn't go back, which left one I hadn't even considered until now. It's a bit tucked away and I forget it's there but it's undergone a massive refurbishment, which has totally changed it from how it was before. Before tea, we wandered over to see it, having checked it out on the Internet first. It looked really good but very modern. We are going to think about it for next year, as we can only book a short time before we can visit. 

We went for tea at the Schnierderman - again but this time having something really basic, sausage and chips, Tirolean style! 

Having said that, this was my view out of the window!

And so to bed. 

 

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!