The day everyone has been waiting for..!! The village was abuzz with locals and visitors alike. Whilst the 25th Dec is not observed as the tradition "Christmas Day" that we in Australia/UK/USA/NZ do...we have our "traditional" Christmas Day lunch at the Hotel Central. Kathie and I spent some time adding Christmas decorations to the Christmas Table - including some Cracker Jacks for the younger children. (we did this last year for everyone - but as they are "made in China" thingys that requires some time and patience to put together - the cardboard "jack", the joke, the party hat and then the ribbon ties - it makes for aching fingers, so we just did enough for the younger ones). Santa had been caught up in the floods in outback QLD, so he sent 2 bags of ... read more

A sleep in this morning before we departed for Italy - jusy 45 minutes from Seefeld. it was not snowing today - but as we climbed up toward the Brenner pass - the temperature droipped from+7C to +0.5C - just cold enough to get some snow flurries. Our destination was Bressanone/Brixen, a town of around 15,000 and just 30 kms from the border. They have a neat Christmas MArket here, as well as an impressive cathedral and monastery. Due to it being so close to X-mas, we encountered a traffic jam getting into the old town area. What should have taken us 10 minutes took around 25 minutes. The town was crowded with other sightseers. There was not as much snow as last year - when we saw several snowmen that had been built in the ... read more

This morning we had a guided walking tour of the old town with Harald - one of Salzburg's noted specialist guides (Sound of Music expert) - whi pointed out landmarks such as Mozart's birthplace, the fortress Hohensalzburg, various locations used for the Sound of Music movie, and the centrepiece of the old town - the Dom (cathedral). The group then had time to enjoy the Christmas Markets, watch children enjoying themselves on the small ice rink in Mozartplatz and browse the stores along the Getriedegasse. Mid afternoon wedeparted for the scneic drive through the heart of the Austrian Alps - passing renowned ski resorts like St. Johann, Kitzbuehel, Kirchberg, Ellmai, Going and Soell. We approached Seefeld - our Christmas destination - just on dusk, complete with twinkling lights and a special "glow" from the snow that ... read more

The snow eased up today. The weather forecaster was correct. Blue skies, no snow, but cold. It was -5C when we left for our tour to Bratislava. We arrived in just over an hour - the new autobahn from Vienna to Bratislava cuts about 25 minutes off the drive - and found our guide "Big George" waiting for us in the appointed place. A quick trip up to the castle..but only a short stay as the wind was bitterly cold. Fortunately down in the old town it was a little "warmer" - no wind - but still -6C. Had the walking tour for about 45 minutes, then headed in the Irish pub for some lunch and to enjoy the open fire. After, a walk through the marketplace, bought a few Christmas presents for the group, then ... read more

Ouch. This has been one of the coldest starts for a tour in Vienna we have had. Temp. was onlyt -6C..but the wind-chill factor must have been around -15C. Bloody cold. I bought an extra hat - a ripper for 10 euros. On exiting the store - wearing the hat - I walked past a derro wearing the same hat. I gave him the "thumbs-up" and smiled at him - to which he replied in English - "this hat is the best thing I have bought all winter"....! Took a couple of the ladies to Parndorf Outlet shopping Centre before we came back to the city for the Welcome drink and Dinner. ... read more