Austrian Adventures Continued

Day 84 - Drove about an hour east of Innsbruck to Imst, still a bit damp but decided to do walk anyway. Set off on the Rosengartenschlucht circuit, which took us up through a gorge along a network of boardwalks and bridges over waterfalls which were very pretty and up to a pine forest at the top of the gorge. Strolled through the forest for a bit until we came to village of Hoch-Imst which is famous for the worlds longest Alpine rollercoaster, which is like a bobsled on metal rails and went for 3.5kms. Em stationed herself at the bottom as official photographer as I took the chairlift up to the top - which seemed to go on forever, and was worth the entrance fee intself just for the views over the valley. Rushed to the start of the course as didn't want to be held up by a parent and child braking all the way down, and my haste paid off as I had a clear run all the way to the bottom - brilliant fun! They didn't have an official clock, but pretty sure I would've set a new lap record! Continued on the walk down the other side of the gorge and back to the car and back to camp. Still pretty wet

Day 85 - Early start in torrential rain, and set out for Mayrhofen about 1 1/2hours drive away hoping that the weather would clear so that we could complete the Zillertal walking circuit. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was still bucketing it down, and would have been no fun at all and no views due to the heavy mist. Instead, turned around and headed back to Innsbruck via town of Wattens which houses the Swarovski Crystal museum. Being a rainy Sunday, the queue for an indoor attraction was understandably long, so decided to drop the hire car back at airport and drove Napolivan back to the museum a couple of hours later, when the queue had subsided a little. A pretty quirky place with a garden and a maze, for the kids and us! Entered the museum through a giants mouth to see various famous artworks and buildings all made from crystal, the largest crystal ever cut - which we decided against buying - and a room that mimicked being inside a crystal with really weird accoustics. Luckily, the shop at the end was heaving so Em wasn't so keen to stay and look around, and made a quick exit - bullet dodged! Then headed towards Salsburg and stopped overnight at village near Kufstein for another walk the following day.

Day 86 - Set off early on the Kaisergebirge circuit, which started in excellent style going up on a one-man 1970's chairlift through a pine forest. I thought it rivaled the Alpine toboggan run in terms of fun, but Em was more sceptical being a bit chilly and a touch nervous, and was relieved to get feet on terra ferma at the top. Started off walk through a herd of cows with bells on, and then through some more forest to a lookout at 1449m, down a ridge overlooking the valley and a very severe rock face. Reached a stretch in the walk that the guide book described as a high altitude game of snakes and ladders, which I was again excited about, but was left a little disappointed as it was just a long set of stairs going down the hill - not a snake in sight. Reached an alpine lodge where we stopped for lunch and encountered two very friendly resident donkeys who were extremely interested in our sandwiches, and at one stage got overly friendly (as a photograph will atest), considering we hadn't exchanged telephone numbers yet or even gone out for a drink! Continued walk along river back to Kufstein and the bottom of the chairlift. Great walk, took about 5 1/2hours to complete, drove onto Salzburg afterwards and just crashed out.

Day 87 - Bit of a sleep in, then caught bus into Salzburg. Did the walking tour of the old town, similar in size to Innsbruck, but had something more about it - lots of old shops with iron signs outside, buskers in the squares and a really lively atmosphere compared with Innsbruck. Spent a while amusing ourselves watching one street performer in particular, who had an accordian and was playing it with such gusto that it looked like someone was electricuting him. Bought a painting from one stall and Em looked in several lederhosen shops for a dress. Caught bus out o airport and picked up another hire car and decided to do a short trip to Berchtesgarten in Germany, and the site of Hitler's "Eagles Nest". A little disappointing as only saw the building from afar, tours ran sporadically and were quite expensive, and apparently the building itself is now only a restaurant, so decided against going up to see it close up. Back to campsite.

Day 88 - Drove to Zell am See, about 1 1/2hours from Salzburg, and a pretty little town perched on a lake, and probably better known as a skiing resort. Caught a gondola to the top of Schmittenhohe at 1965m, and greeted by a stunning 360degree panorama of the surrounding mountains. Spent a bit of time at the top taking photographs before setting off on the walk along a ridge on the opposite side of the valley to the Grossglockner mountain range and uninterupted views of the snow capped peaks. Followed the trail for around 2 1/2hours, traversing the valley from high up with the most beautiful scenery so far! Then cut through between two peaks and towards town of Saalbach. Reached the chairlift station that was meant to take us to the bottom only to find it was closed and nobody about. Saw a sign pointing to Saalbach that was a further 2 1/2hour walk away, not having much of an option had to trudge down the hill through a forest and down some steep ski runs to the village. Luckily, got there just in time to catch the last bus back to Zell Am See. Not so luckily, the bus dropped us in the village centre, a 2km walk uphill to the gondola station where we had left the car. So I left Em in the village with a mission statement to find beer and take away pizza as it was now approaching 8pm, whilst I went to collect the car from the top of the hill muttering a few choice words along the way. Beer and pizza mission was unsuccessful so headed back to Salzburg and stumbled across an Indian pizza takeaway en route, a bit of a bizarre place, but by this stage we were so hungry and tired we didn't care that the pizza base had a slight hint of tikka massala. Another really excellent walk and well worth the effort.
Day 89 - Slept in, Em drove hire car to Eisreisenwelt (perhaps my favourite Austrian place name - you can't say it without sounding angry or annoyed at something), a big ice cave about 40 minutes away. Initially parked in car park at bottom of long hill and were going to get a bus up to the top which we thought was included in the ticket, however found out that it was extra and so hopped back into the car and drove up, at this stage met a couple of Aussie lads from Melbourne who were in same predicament but had caught the train from Salzburg so charitably gave them a lift up. Were greeted by a long queue just to get on the cable car that takes you up to the mouth of the cave, but again, well worth the wait as amazing views of the valley below when we reached the top. Joined an English language tour group, - learned our lesson from the cave tour in France when we joined the wrong group and had to listen to the whole tour in French, very romantic but not terribly informative! Were given old school lanterns with an open flame to take into the cave, and warned not to burn the arse of the fella in front of you. As soon as we walked through the door we were hit by a big gust of wind as the cold air was let out from the inside, and walked into a temperature of 0 degrees. We were prepared for this as had been told about this in the guide book, unfortunately one of the Aussie lads hadn't done his homework properly and was wearing thongs and a singlet, I would have offered him my jacket, but would have felt like an overly friendly donkey offering my jacket to a bloke I'd only just met! Ice caves were very impressive though, walked up 700 steps to the top of them and saw natural sculptures that looked like various animals. I got told off by the guide for taking a photo and felt like a naughty schoolboy - cracking shot though! Caught cable car back down the mountain and gave the Aussie lads a lift back to Salzburg. Rushed back to camp for an early dinner before heading back into Salzburg to watch a live philharmonic orchestra recital. Didn't obviously translate the billboard correctly as it turned out to be a live recital from Vienna being aired on a big screen in the main square. Still pretty cool although not as impressive as we were hoping and left and the half time interval when we were cold and wet.

Day 90 - Drove straight to the Lichtensteinklam gorge which has been made accessible by a series of wooden board walks along the gorge, and some tunnels carved into the side of the rock. Rewarded with close up views of a large waterfall at the end, although slightly marred by the volume of people on the walk with us. Headed off towards village of Hallstatt on some nearby lakes but got pretty hungry en route so stopped off at a little bar along the way advertising XXL Wienar Schnitzel mit pommes - and the sign didn't lie! Huge plate of meat and chips and not even a hint of a side salad that would take up valuable plate space, washed down with an oversized beer, and to top it off, it was all served to us by an overweight biker with a mullet, a definite pinnacle of the tour so far and left me wandering if anything could possibly beat that! Continued on our merry way to Hallstat, which is a beautiful little village jutting out into a lake, surrounded by green mountains and pretty much picture postcard idyllic. Wandered around for a while before heading back to camp via St Wolfgang, a little town on a different lake for only a fleeting visit.

Day 91 - Short drive to Hallein and the Salzwelten salt mine. Given white boiler suits to dress in to go into the mine and boarded a little train before being taken on a little tour of the mine. Highlights were sliding down two miners slides and a short boat ride on an underground lake used for getting the salt out of the rock. Obviously very much set up for kids but we enjoyed it just as much if not more than the kids. Drove back towards Salzburg and stopped off at the Hellbrunn Schloss, a garden that is filled with joke fountains that squirt at unsuspecting visitors. It was built 400 years ago by an eccentric monk and a lot of the fountains are still the originals, all very clever, and had fun getting a bit wet too.

Day 92 - Back out to Obertraun situated on other side of the lake from Hallstat. Another cable car ride up to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately views so as grand as we are used to due to the low cloud, and this time I hadn't come prepared wearing shorts and thongs. Short walk over to the "5Fingers" which are 5 look out platforms projecting over the side of a cliff, with glass floors, that look down onto Hallstat and the lake below, and weather cleared just enough to get a farily decent view. Also a favourite spot for paragliders and watched a fella trying, albeit with difficulty, to take off - he managed in the end, and was still in the sky when we left so must have worked it out. Down the cable car again and then drove back to Hellbrunn Schloss so that Emily could get her photo taken in front of the conservatory where someone sang "I am 16 going on 17" in The Sound of Music.

Day 93 - Our 2 Year Anniversary. Decided to pass through the Danube valley en route to Vienna. Found a campsite early on, right on the riverside on the south bank just east of Melk. Headed into town quickly to pick up some picnic food and a bottle of bubbly and then set up the picnic rug and chairs on the bank of the river and watched the sun go down over the river and what I think is an abbey that was overlooking us.

Day 94 - Beautiful sunny day which was welcome as starting to wander if we would see the sun again. Jumped on the bikes and headed east along the river towards the town of Krems. First stretch of teh ride was uninteresting but then the trail took us though orchards of apples, pears, apricots and vineyards. Stopped off at a fruit stall on side of the road and bought some apricots which subsequently got squished in my rucksack. Reached Krems after about 2 hours of riding and stopped for lunch and a walk around the town, fairly nice little town but nothing remarkable. Ride back along the north bank of the river was far more interesting. Rode through lots of vineyards and pretty little villages overlooking the river and stopped off in one vineyard near Durnstein to sample the local wines, gave us the extra energy needed to get back to the campsite, discarded the squished apricots and replaced them with a bottle of local plonk instead - incentive to make it back quickly! Fantastic ride past Spitz and back over the river at Melk before getting back to the campsite , pretty tired after 80km ride, but well worth it.

Day 95 - Drove straight to campsite in Vienna. Lunch in van and then caught bus and train into city centre, about 30 minute journey, and started on the walking tour of the city. First impressions were that it was far more modern than we had expected, could have been walking up a high street in England or Australia, which was slightly disappointing, but it did have a good atmosphere with people bustling about and several street entertainers. Further along we came across the older buildings which were more impressive, such as the Stephansdom cathedral and the Hapsburgs palace and wandered around the museum quarter for a while, but still felt that it didn't quite have the charm of Salzburg. Headed back on train and bus to camp.

Day 96 - Wanted to give Vienna another chance so headed back into town after lunch and walked down Gumpendorfer Strasse, which was advertised as the 'real' Vienna, but again felt as though we could have been anywhere. Wandered through a modern shopping district but stumbled upon a bar that brewed it's own beer so stopped for a cheeky one in there, and booked a table for dinner. Saw an advertisement for a lederhosen outlet store across town, so headed for that and got there with about 1/2 hour to spare before it closed. Em found a dress she liked that wasn't ridiculously priced for tourists and so bought it - photos to follow I'd imagine. Headed back across the city to the brewary for another beer and a big slab of meat before catching train and bus back to the campsite.

Day 97 - Left Vienna feeling that we'd seen everything that we wanted to and head for the Czech border. Retraced our steps a little and started west towards Linz before turning north to Freistat a little medieval town inside a moat. Stopped here for a little wander about, and as luck would have it, there was a local beer festival starting up that afternoon celebrating the local brew Freistader. Picked up a few bottles for later and headed further north across the border to the Czech Republic and a little town of Cesky Krumlov. Went into the town just looking for an ATM, but were pleasantly suprised at how pretty it was. Situated in the bend of a river it's a lovely medieval town with cobbled streets and many original buildings, a tad touristy but nothing over the top. Jumped back into Napolivan and found a campsite nearby which was just a field full of solar panels, so parked underneath one and plugged the van straight into the panel which was pretty cool.

Day 98 - Went back into Cesky Krumlov and found an English bookshop so exchanged several books that we'd already read and had another wander around the town and a coffee and watched several locals on the river messing about in kayaks and rafts. Eventually decided to move on and headed north to Ceske Budejovice to check out the Budweiser Budvar brewary, which unfortunately didn't run tours on Saturdays, so instead went further north to Plsen, arrived too late to visit brewary so found campsite on will check it out the next day instead.