Hai ho

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I have absolutely no idea how people can go away for months at a time. It hasn't even been two weeks and both of us are so tired and looking forward to boarding the plane on Tuesday to come home. Not that we haven't enjoyed ourselves, but sometimes it's good to get back into normal life - working, being at home, having your own bed and not living out of a suitcase anymore. It's fascinating how people can do it for so long!

Anyway, today was a late start for us, as we were slow in moving. When we first entered our hotel in Vienna almost two weeks ago, I was confused why they appeared to have air conditioning and no heating. I mean, we are in the middle of winter! We are going to need heating. Ha! Almost every night we have needed the air con on. It has been so hot in our rooms, that last night we really had trouble sleeping. Today, we have it on full blast.

It's interesting, that, especially the fact that all the beds offer are a doona (duvet) for us to sleep under and even that is too much sometimes. It just shows how well heated things are here - when you need to put the air conditioning/cooling system on in sub zero temperatures.

So, after we finally managed to get ourselves out of the hotel we headed for the bus station. It was going to be a 45 minute walk to Ambras Castle, where we were planning on beginning today. They offered buses that went straight there, so we were going to cheat. A week ago, you may have found us walking, but since we have managed to navigate the public transport system here over the past week, we've become lazy.

On Sundays in Austria, though, shops are closed almost everywhere. You'll find the odd café or restaurant open, but all normal shops are shut. We suspected as much, despite planning a shopping day, but as we walked towards the bus our suspicions were concerned. So, on the way to the bus station we had a quick change of plans and decided to do our Monday schedule instead - which was going to Schwaz and going into the silver mines, and then on the way back go to the upside down house in Terfens.

Trains are fairly easy to work here, and they have ones to Schwaz about every 30 minutes, so we bought tickets and boarded one after a little wait on the platform.

Schwaz is a little hidden gem in the province on Tyrol, but 500 or so years ago, it was a completely different story. Thanks to the silver there (legend has it that a young farm girl discovered the first piece which then led into a full-on mining industry) it was the largest city in Austria next to Vienna and also was home to the largest silver mine in the world (back in the Middle Ages, of course).

Although bigger than a few other nearby towns, Schwaz is a relatively small city these days, and mostly residential.

Thank goodness for free WiFi almost everywhere in Austria, because without it, we probably would have been lost on our way to the silver mine. From the station to the mine it is approximately a 30 minute walk. We were able to get Google maps up to direct us. Without it, who knows where we would have ended up!

Despite making sure it would be open on a Sunday, when we finally reached it, it was fairly quiet. It is located quite a way out from the main area of the little city, and we needed to walk past many houses before reaching it. Truthfully, it was a nice walk, and I enjoyed looking at the differences in houses. They're so big here, and so spread out. There can be quite a fair bit of empty space before the next house.

Buses run out to the mine, too, but being a Sunday, they didn't run.

After looking around the souvenir shop, we finally managed to work out how to get tickets and purchased them for 17 euro each, which is the adult price. Kids under a certain age get in for free, so I don't feel it's too expensive. Especially for a 90 minute tour.

Thankfully, we had arrived only 20 minutes before the next tour started, so we had only a little while to wait. It was still pretty quiet around, but by the time we started we ended with about 5 couples, plus a family of 5 joining us.

Before you go in you need to put on silver coats and a helmet. The helmet makes sense, but we were not really able to work out what the purpose of the coat was for. Well, our curiosity was piqued almost as soon as we entered the mines, for water drips from the ceiling. They moderate the temperature and the humidity, meaning it's actually very wet down there.

So, the mine itself was fascinating. On a little train-cart thing you go down approximately 7 minutes into the mine with your tour guide. It's very narrow on the way down and you really need to keep all arms and legs tightly together so as not to get injured. Once we reached our stop, a previous group was already waiting to board. I'm not sure how frequently a tour goes down, but they run from 9-4 during the winter, so there would be a few.

The only thing that was difficult was that the tour was in German. We were the only non-speaking German people in our group, and although our tour guide would give us basic instructions in English, all the information was in German. We had an English information guide, but it was hard to know what room we were in when and what he was talking about. Our only benefit was the rooms where you watched videos or listened to pre-recorded information, because they had audio guides in those sections of the room which we were able to listen, too (apart from the one where he couldn't get it working and therefore we missed the whole part about that).

Regardless of that, though, going down into a mine was the most exciting part. As we were down there, we really got a feeling for the conditions in which the miners lived. They were horrible, and most died young due to constant exposure to wet conditions and lack of fresh air.

What was interesting, though, was that we were able to see one of the first ever water wheels. They were designed by the miners to assist them in their mining, and it is still working today (though mechanically now). That was fascinating, for how often do you see a working mechanism so many years old?

Before you know it, the 90 minutes is up and you are heading back up to the top. They have a cute little gift shop at the end, which has lots of jewellery and other silver products (as well as a few stone things, too). I bought myself a pair of earrings, which I liked.

After leaving the mine, we began our long walk back to the station, stopping in for lunch at a restaurant just up the road. There is a squash and tennis club, with indoor courts. If we thought the pizza was big at L'Osteria, we were in for a big shock here. We had seen two guys eating pizza next to us, and when the waitress asked me for a small or large, I jumped at the chance of a small, seeing the size of the pizza next to us. Well, apparently, those guys were eating the small, and Albert had ordered a large.

It was safe to say we couldn't finish them.

By this time, we decided to abandon the idea of going to the upside down house. If the walk there was going to be less than 53 minutes, we may have done it, but it was turning into 4 o'clock, so we decided to give it a miss and come straight to Innsbruck. On the way we stopped in at an old church (which Schwaz seems to have a lot of) and then we rested up and then ended up at McDonald's for dinner. I was desperately craving a salad, which they had to offer.

Tomorrow is our final full day in Austria, which we plan to get some shopping down, as well as visiting Ambras Castle and Olympia World.

Then, we prepare for the long journey back to Sydney. I really hope we can sleep most of the way. That will be nice.

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Photos

Getting ready
Ashleigh dressing up for the mines

Mine train
Just before we left to go down

Water wheel
One of the first ever made