Blogs from Mayrhofen, Tyrol, Austria, Europe

Now Sarah and I both go weak at the knees at the sight of any impressive mountain range, so as you can imagine, we have a love affair with Austria that has actually been ongoing for some time now. We’ve previously visited three times on skiing holidays and just love the place for what is has to offer, we’ve skied at Iggles, Leche, St Anton, Mayrhofen and the Zillertal Valley and have a very good perspective of this place from high up on the mountains in the snow - the aspres ski is great too! However this time we were visiting at the end of summer, and rather than arriving by plane into Innsbruck we were arriving by car from Germany across the border. Well, at least the imaginary border as they don’t seem to monitor ... read more

The Berliner Hutte is quite famous for its age and splendor. Its a huge hut and on this day it was completely full. We had hard time finding beds, but we were lucky as we are not as big as Germans ;) - that's what the reception told us and gave us a separate room at price of dorm beds. The room was indeed tiny and it was in a separate part of hut which is called winter house. The view from room was really great - glacier covered mountains and huge waterfall. We met some nice German couples and exercised our German with them. The food at hut was not bad. We also found out that bridge to next hut was also out and way was officially closed. So that made the decision that we ... read more

We have been thinking about hiking in Austrian Alps for a while. The Berliner Hohenweg (meaning a hike at high altitute) was featured as one of the top 10 backpacking trips in backpacker.com magazine. That magazine has not let us down yet, so we decided to do part of this. The while trail is 7 - 10 days long, but we decided to spend 3 days on it + 1 day out of the mountains. The area is about 1 hr bus ride from Mayrhofen that ends at a lake. The lake is between 2 main mountain ranges, in a valley. Like almost every alpine lake in Europe, it has been dammed either for electricity or to prevent flooding. That of course takes away some beauty from it, but this dam is not so bad. While ... read more

We headed out of Klosters, Switzerland and started a full day of driving. We worked our way out of the Alps and headed North towards Zurich. We drove through the fertile farming region at the base of the Alps. The highway lead us through a Swiss Army base and then came to a set of flags; we were now leaving Switzerland and entering Liechtenstein. The country of Liechtenstein was interesting. It is only 150 Km sq. The country is famous for three things: Postage stamps & passport stamps (because everyone wants to show they’ve been there) & dentures (the countries main export). We stopped and got our stamps, took a picture and headed down the road. In less than an hour, we were out of the country. Next, we entered into Austria. It was like ... read more

I've got myself a new job in....Switzerland! I start on the 23rd of April so will literally finish up here then be home for a week or so and then onto a completely different dialect again! Doing a fairly similar job but this time no children involved. Somewhere in the Bernese Oberland (more to be confirmed as and when I know!) What other news can I give you? Well I left Vienna on wednesday very early in the morning. Had a lovely time. Enjoyed a city even though I have to admit I did miss the mountains. Even the cows of which there are a plenty. I have now been informed by the locals that I have perfect hands for milking! Hahah maybe it's fate I came to Austria. All I need now is a ... read more