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Saturday 23
rd May. It rained all day today! I know there
are mountains out there somewhere, but I haven’t seen any of the high Austrian Alps at all, which is really disappointing, considering that’s why I came to Austria. Certainly one can see the snowy hills looming through the clouds as one travels along the valleys, hinting at something beyond, but the intractable low cloud and rain seem here to stay.
I had most of the day in Salzburg. After breakfast I took the trolleybus in to see the Mirabell Garden, which I had heard was worth seeing. A very beautiful park, with formal and informal gardens. A walk across and then along the rushing River Salzach, with its many market stallholders setting up in the rain, followed. Returning to the main station, I took the suburban train out to Freilassing, just across the border in Germany, to visit the Lokwelt Museum. Very interesting for a couple of hours, with some historic electric and steam locomotives, and other things of interest.
Returning to Salzburg, I then took the RailJet train to Jenbach. About half the journey was inside Germany, then crossed back to Austria. I kept a close eye
on my luggage all the way. There was a group of young guys all dressed in traditional Austrian costume – white or checked shirts and lederhosen – on the train, having a great time going to and from the café car for more beer. They were on their way to a celebration somewhere.
My hotel here in Jenbach is a bit fancier than most I’ve stayed in, but lacks friendliness. Everywhere else I’ve stayed in Austria the staff have been very welcoming and helpful, offering information and advice. Here they are cold and businesslike. Any information you want has to be dragged out from the staff, and there is also no hotel information folder in the room. Example - I wanted to know where the Catholic Church was and what the service times were - pretty basic information a hotel would be expected to know for guests. No idea, and I had to head out in the rain to walk around the town to find out myself. Apparently there is even an indoor pool here at the hotel, but they don’t tell anyone about it, I only read about it on Trip Advisor!
The town itself is also
Achenseebahn Steam Locomotive
Note the cog driving wheel underneath kind of unwelcoming. The streets are mostly narrow, in many places without footpaths, but there's a huge amount of traffic hurtling around at 50-70 km/h. If ever there was a place that needed a lower speed limit, and speed bumps, this is it. It is very intimidating and alarming to walk around - you never know when a car is going to hurtle around a corner at you. I did find the Church and go to Mass on Saturday evening. The church is absolutely magnificent inside, the whole ceiling being covered with decorative plasterwork and painted scenes, and with a magnificent altar. I'll go back and get some photos.
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