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Published: February 24th 2008
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Schnitzel anyone?
Rob tucking into the local Wiener schnitzel, eating all of that Rob? This blog is dedicated to Lilly Golliker (Granny) - 6 March 1914 to 23 December 2007: In memory of life!
Servus(hello)
We entered into Austria from Italy via the impressive Brenner Pass. There was a drastic change in scenery with snow everywhere which excited us to no end as it would soon be time to don the skis.
Innsbruck was our home for around 11 days (again the longest time in one destination since April 2007) and as Rob’s mom was only with us for a short time we spent the first two days visiting some of the local attractions, including Maximilian’s golden roof in the old town and it seemed mandatory to check out all of the Christmas markets. There were around four or five of them and of course we had to sample all the local cuisine in the name of... err... travel research. Yes again! Dishes like noodle pasta with spinach, ham and potato noodles, a cross between a doughnut & Yorkshire pudding with cranberry sauce and their infamous apple strudel. All washed down with mulled red wine (gluvine) and good old Austrian lager. This was also our first introduction to the lower temperatures; it
Early Xmas celebration.
Mom and Wendy enjoying an early Christmas celebration in the van! was around -4deg at 9h30 in the morning, Polar bear territory. No wonder all the other campervaners we met on route were migrating to southern Europe, oh well they won’t have the snow so it’s their loss!
On our last night with mom we had a mini pre Christmas and decorated the van with all the goodies Wendy purchased in Lapland, Finland - way back in August 2007. This was followed with a meal at the local restaurant. So once again it was time for the local cuisine and to sample Austria’s famous Wiener Schnitzel . Very tasty and also very big - and Yes Rob did manage to finish it all!
So it was goodbye to mom again and time for the ski slopes. Well not yet anyway as the next day we sorted out all our gear and un-wrapped the new set of skis and snowboard that we purchased in Andorra a few months back. It was sort of very early Christmas presents, to Rob from Rob and to Wendy from Wendy, got to be done every once in a while you know! After a successful first day on the slopes we met another English couple
Rum & Hot chocolate break!
All that skiing makes one thirsty, Kuhtai - Austria. at the camp site, Mike & Karen. They were in a massive American Winiebago and were towing a small car on a trailer at the back of the van, which meant no more buses to the slopes for us. We joined them for a few days skiing, including Christmas day at Stubaier Gletscher. Guess what that meant? We had made that elusive White Christmas after all, check pic. Christmas evening we joined Mike & Karen in their monster van for Chilli Con Carne washed down with plenty of wine, beer and apple sours, just for a change.
Unfortunately it was soon time to move on again and in all honesty we did not give Austria the justice she deserves by only visiting Innsbruck however we will return in the near future to explore the rest of her.
Southern Germany was the next port of call to visit a friend, Anita, for New Year in a quaint small town, Bahlingen, Freiberg.
The town and its surrounds were very picturesque and we visited some wonderful places including very small and quaint medieval towns: Riegal, Endingen and Sasbach. We also drove along the river Rhine to the border that divides Germany
Santa Clause and his wife!
Christmas day was spent on the ski slopes, Stubaier Gletscher - Austria. from France and enjoyed some very good wine tasting at the local coop. We did not realise that Germany produced such good wines. A hop into France was also in order to visit the magnificent Medieval Chateau Haut-Koenigsbourg in the Vosges Mountains; earliest mention of this great castle was in 1147 so who knows when it was actually built.
One evening Anita decided it would be good for us to see the city of Freiberg at night so we ended up in an Irish pub of all places. Well you will recall our previous track record of Irish pubs, almost had our bikes stolen at one and we did have Wendy’s bag stolen at the other. Fortunately for us we had one of those fantastic evenings that you can not plan. There was a live band playing and we met two German couples. This chance meeting ended up being very good for Rob’s ego as one of their wifes thought Rob looked like Tom Cruise! Easy now Rob! There was also a promotion at the bar where you got a card stamped for every drink and a full card could be exchanged for a funky Christmas hat. This seemed
to be a challenge to see how many of these funky hats we could collect. It was a great evening however (yes here she comes again) our guide extraordinaire having now led two innocent soles astray had us jump off the night bus on our way home one stop too soon. How long did you live here again Anita? So an half hour walk in the pitch dark later we arrived at the next town where we had to wait for the next bus before we could make it home. It was around 5am when we eventually did.
We saw in the New Year on the top of a hill in Bahlingen with great views across the valley to the neighbouring towns. Our champagne corks popped as an impressive display of fireworks exploded across the sky in a thunderous display of load banging in an array of colours. A great evening in all!
Our final stop in Southern Germany was a very small town literally in the middle of nowhere. Bad Rippolsau-Schapbachwas (try that one after a few beers!) is in a small valley surrounded by trees and consists of a few houses, shops and two saw mills.
Wine tasting again!
Wendy and Anita enjoying the local wines in Germany Our time here was very hectic as we spent our days walking in the nearby forests and just chilling. What a start to the year.
We will be returning to Germany to see more of her when we eventually attempt to make our way back to the UK however for now our next stop is the ski slopes of France - bring it on!
Zum Wohl(cheers)
The happy travellers R&W
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Shane, Casey & Charlotte
non-member comment
WOW!
Looks like you guys are having a whale of a time -Mrs G hasn't changed one bit