Hallstatt to Salzburg

Last night we very much enjoyed an excellent night’s sleep in our lovely bed, but we have noticed that in the hotels we have stayed in, both in Switzerland and Austria, the double beds are always made up of two single beds. Even when the room/bed head would not accommodate two single beds with spaces between, they are two separate beds. Often they have completely separate fitted sheets, which must be a pain to change, and they always have two separate duvets/quilts/doonas. Weird!

See how the bedhead is in two sections? This one has a cover but you can see two separate duvets underneath.

It does make me wonder what things people find strange when they come to Australia.

Despite our room being quite hot last night there was still no cooler option sheet-wise than using either the divested duvet covers or the ornamental spread that covered the whole bed. There was a small Dyson fan but we couldn’t open the windows for a cool breeze as there were no fly screens and, being by a lake, there were plenty of bugs. It feels like a market someone could really capitalise on financially!

There’s two layers of doors and windows, one of which is double-glazed. Excellent for winter but not for summer.

Anyhow, our sleep would’ve been a bit longer but the sun was shining in through the thin white curtains by 5:30am. Fortunately we’re both pretty good at sleeping through daylight. Seeing as how many parts of Europe experience extremely short evenings for at least a quarter of the year, the ineffective curtain situation is also mind boggling. I think I’ve reached the point of the trip where all I’m noticing are problems… sorry! I am actually still really enjoying myself!

Breakfast was a buffet that seemed to be manned by one extremely busy waitress. The selection of food was great and we ended up sitting next to an older American couple who had just finished their fourth biking holiday. They were both retired teachers and we had a good chat about work. One had been a reading teacher and told me how much she had loved the First Steps program, which was developed in Australia.

We left our bags at reception and went to hire a boat!

The small electric boats are hired for 30€ for an hour and it’s a great way to escape the hot streets and noise. Plus I love boats!

We hired one immediately at 11:30am but by the time we got back there was a queue.

The boats have two speeds: slow and stopped. Fine by us, and the electric motor means the lake is very quiet. The town has signs up asking people to keep the noise down and not play music on the street. Also there were signs about not flying drones but we saw one in the air just before we left.

As we had some time before the ferry back to the train, we went back to the hotel and had a drink on the deck.

Several staff members remembered us from the night before and I got to ask one of them about living and working in such a tourist town.

He said they often work 12+ hour shifts and the hotel they work for provides accommodation if they want it nearby, but it does cost them money to stay there. He rents a place in a nearby town and travels to Hallstatt.

He said people in the village had mixed opinions on the value of the tourism and the vast number of visiting cultures had changed the nature of the place, with some people taking photos through peoples’ windows and being more invasive and pushy. Right after he said this a family came in and immediately demanded a particular table, an umbrella (in a huge concrete stand) be moved and then they plonked themselves down despite the manager of the restaurant saying she couldn’t accommodate them.

It’s almost incomprehensible to me, with my reticent Anglo cultural heritage, to argue and demand something in a business then sit down and be perfectly comfortable with people I’ve just upset serving me food and drink. I’d just leave, but according to my Watching the English book, that’s not a trait everyone shares and I guess maybe there’s something to be said for being so much more bold…?

Watching the manager deal with the situation was quite something. She was a very dynamic and direct person, and she came to our table soon after. We told her we admired how well she did her job.

It must be quite the challenge to deal with people from all over the world, all with their own ideas of what is appropriate, what is polite and how to behave. Businesses in such places seem to do all they can to manage people effectively, but when people don’t speak the language (ourselves included, obviously!) it’s not hard for things to go wrong or get very confused. The restaurant had a sign in German and English asking people to wait to be seated but a lot of people just walked right in and sat at a table.

After our drinks we headed to the ferry landing next to the hotel. This might be the smallest non-chihuahua breed I’ve ever seen.

We caught the ferry back across the lake.

It was quite hot inside but better than being on the back of the ferry in the direct sun.

We’d booked dinner and a show in the evening, not thinking about the train cancellations and travel time but it worked out fine.

We sat on the scenic side of the train this time. Apparently the water in this lake is drinking quality!

We took a taxi from the station in Salzburg to our Airbnb place in the old town.

This is the building entrance, not our front door. Pretty imposing though!

The kitchen, note the fold out table and folding chairs and the complete lack of room if you chose to use them.

The kitchen is so tiny it reminds me of our Camden flat but the lounge and bedroom are quite spacious. We would’ve really appreciated all this room when there were four of us!

The flat has windows on two opposite sides so the evening breeze is nice but the amount of noise from people walking past is quite high. The stone walls of the buildings means that it echoes a lot. Also there are no fly screens and the owner had left the windows open so there were heaps of flies zooming around.

Still, the mattress is decent and it’s nice to have cooking facilities and a washing machine.

We had a lie down for an hour then changed for our dinner and classical music evening at the St Peter Stifskulinarium, the oldest restaurant in the world.

How old??

It’s been in operation since at least 803 AD. 1220 years!

It’s huge too, over 600 seats in 11 rooms. All the rooms are different colours and themes. The main restaurant looks like this:

We had a drink here before the show, which was in a large room upstairs. Parts of the restaurant are carved straight into the cliff face.

One the way to our concert we saw some pretty amazing wallpaper.

Also some fancy lighting fixtures.

Our concert room was more traditional.

We were sat at a table with two lovely ladies, one from Delhi, one from New York, who had become friends because their husbands were childhood friends and now they go on trips without the husbands! I love that! These lovely ladies told us about an organ performance that happens at the cathedral each day at midday so we said we might see them there.

The concert was all Mozart, mostly songs from operas but some instrumental pieces. There were only two singers, one man and one woman, and they were quite incredible! The volume and notes they could reach were something I don’t think I’ve heard in person before.

I do wish there’s been more instrumental pieces though, they were Luke’s and my favourite.

A very interesting way of laying the table!

The only food I photographed was the dessert, nockerl, a local dish that I think is supposed to represent three mountains. It is served with raspberry sauce underneath and basically tastes like undercooked meringue, very sweet and soft.

A short walk home afterwards and straight to bed, although it was still warm inside. We opened up the windows for some airflow but noisy passers-by meant closing them, then putting in my noise-cancelling earplugs and playing rain sounds.

In the morning (6:30ish) a sewerage truck parked almost under our window and ran some kind of pipe down every sewerage line in the area for about two hours with a loud motor running. Not our best night’s sleep!

Tomorrow: the cathedral concert and back to our new favourite coffee shop. Also, lavender flavoured cheese!

11Jun2023

Eurobike Tour: Day 2: St Moritz to Zernez

by Miss Penny Black

Today is a 36km ride along the Inn Way, a mostly flat route that goes along a valley north from St Moritz.

Goodbye St Moritz, I hope Zernez, despite being smaller, is a bit more lively. It’s like everyone in St Moritz is competing to be the quietest. I’ve never been in a hotel breakfast room that was so hushed.

We had the Nutella-filled crepes this morning and Luke had the scrambled eggs as well. He liked them but they were a bit mushy looking for my taste.

And before we leave the hotel, here’s the shower, with more nozzles and dials than I’ve ever had in a shower before. Full disclosure: I couldn’t get anything but the top one working. I am useless with working out how foreign plumbing works. Luke seems to have more success.

Although I am generally not a fan of baths, with all the hiking and cycling on this trip it has been nice to have some long soaks when a bathtub is available.

I prepared myself for today with two kinds of hay fever tablet and three nasal sprays. Hopefully that will hold it at bay until at least lunchtime!

We set off around 10:30am, once again walking our bikes down to the lake, somewhat fearful after yesterday’s brush with the local constabulary.

Goodbye St Moritz, you were pretty, weird, and expensive.

The first part of the ride was quite a steep bit of uphill then downhill through the forest.

We stopped at a pond to take some photos.

I was trying to capture some reflections of the trees but it didn’t really work.

There’s lot of picnic spots with pre-chopped wood, bins with rolls of dog poo bags hanging beside them and a variety of designs of fireplaces. The bins are never filled to the top or overflowing.

The bugs were out in full force and I had my hair band as a mask today. I am surprised that no one else wears anything over their mouth, I definitely heard at least one person go into a coughing fit after swallowing a bug. The thought of getting one in my eye or mouth on a steep or busy stretch makes me nervous.

We passed a large group of riders and horses. Some of the horses were massive. Maybe it was because it was a Sunday, but there seemed to be a huge number of people out riding.

Finally found a good spot to capture some mountain reflections.

For about three quarters of the way the route was concrete or tarmac and the hills weren’t too bad and our choice of e-bikes really paid off.

There were super cute villages and plenty of springs where water bottles could be filled.

This bit, which was straight, downhill and smooth was one of our favourite bits.

But then disaster struck in the form of a closure of the route. We had to take a very rough gravel track, which was both steep and alongside a deep ravine.

We followed it for a while and, after many stops to check the map and double back, we decided to turn around and head to the nearest train station, not too far behind us. The road we were on looked to be heading towards the highway, where we would have to ride on the side of the busy road. We turned our bikes around just as two people rounded the corner on eurobikes identical to ours and, like two guardian angels sent straight from New Zealand, we met Jane and Rutherford!

They were more confident than us and assured us that we would be fine to keep going. We hadn’t realised that Google maps doesn’t show all the bike paths, so we wouldn’t have to ride along the highway after all. They offered to ride with us and were so kind and encouraging that we decided to keep going.

Rutherford was obviously the most experienced rider of the four of us so he went ahead. Jane was definitely leagues ahead of us but they stopped with us to take photos and we had a lovely chat.

At one point I said I’d go ahead and Luke followed behind while Jane and Rutherford had a break. The track from that point to the bottom of the valley was the most terrifying I’d ever done. The surface was extremely rough, steep, winding and covered in fist-sized rocks. I sat on my brakes for much of it and went very slowly, juddering and bumping all the way. By the end our wrists and shoulders were aching from bracing against the handlebars, we were exhausted!

Fortunately after that the path flattened out and we could enjoy the scenery again.

We saw a lot of vintage tractors as got close to town, there must have been at least 20.

Our destination wasn’t too far along and we were extremely relieved to reach our hotel for the night.

After putting our bikes and bags away, I realised the hotel did not have the pool I was anticipating… darn it! However the local pool was just a few steps down the road so I cajoled Luke into an excursion.

Well, it was $18 to get in and closed in an hour, but the outdoor pool was amazing! It had a whirlpool end that pushed you around in a circle, a row of lounging racks over jets and a wall of intense jets at different heights so you could move along and have different areas massaged. So good!

The guy at the front desk was really nice too and they had a popcorn making machine by the entrance. What more could you want? I mean, apart from a reasonable price and longer opening hours?

Unpopped kernels at the top of the machine.

When we walked back to the hotel, Jane and Rutherford were having dinner and it looked really good so we told ourselves we deserved a nice meal after our harrowing afternoon so we got changed and then went out to the restaurant.

We had a celebratory (commisoratory?) drink first.

The meal was marginally more reasonably priced than those in St Moritz, so that was something.

The little tube is mustard. This meal looks small but the sausage was quite large.

We even had dessert – the local specialty, apple strudel with vanilla sauce.

We are both hoping tomorrow is less of an ordeal! Here’s a few photos from the day to finish.

One of the more unusual flowers by the road.

10Jun2023

Eurobike Tour: Day 1: St Moritz

by Miss Penny Black

Let’s talk pillows. In the hostel in Zurich we had square (‘European’ in Australia.. do they call them that here?) feather pillows that, when you lay your head on them, squashed completely flat. Even doubled over they barely had the thickness of a sandwich, and not a decent salad sandwich either.

In our current hotel the pillows are marginally better but seem to be stuffed with marshmallow-sized chunks of foam that gradually migrate to the corners, once again leaving the head unsupported. Have Europeans not heard of polyester filling or memory foam? In the words of an irate London bus driver, it’s 2023!

Anyhow, rant temporarily over, let’s talk about our first cycling day!

To say Luke and I were filled with trepidation would be putting it precisely. Neither of us had cycled in the last few years and we had booked e-bikes which are are a little trickier to use and heavier to push. Still, we had the hotel breakfast to enjoy first.

Back to the restaurant room which was much quieter and cooler than the previous night. Would the hotel redeem itself with the breakfast on offer? Yes, yes it would.

There was excellent coffee, a selection of cheeses, cold meats, salmon, fresh fruit, Bircher muesli, and also omelettes and pancakes could be ordered at no extra cost. Marvellous!

We stuffed ourselves to the gills in anticipation of skipping lunch and managed to not be hungry until dinner.

Next was setting up the bikes. Now, before I go into anything else I will say that we did not have helmets as we were supposed to bring them and forgot. There is nowhere in St Moritz to buy a reasonably priced helmet and so we decided to go without. Don’t bother commenting that we should get them, we ride at a snail’s pace and tomorrow’s Sunday so we literally can’t. Just be aware that we both feel bad about it and know that we should be wearing them.

We wheeled the bikes to an empty (and, more importantly, level) car park and rode around in circles practicing changing gears and using the power assist functions.

Marginally more confident, we walked the bikes down to the lake and set off.

The sun was out but thankfully it wasn’t too busy on the track. The route we were supposed to go followed the valley and wound around four lakes. There were some small hills, some steep enough for us to get off our bikes and push, but all in all we managed well enough.

The problem with riding is you can’t take photos on the fly. We had to stop, which was fine but I probably would’ve taken many more if I’d been walking.

The fields were filled with flowers and the mountains felt almost close enough to touch.

We rode through a few tiny villages too.

Of course, the mountains make everything look small.

The trail was about 12km in one direction then a return back the same way. We got almost to the end when my hayfever really flared up. I’ve brought six kinds of medication with me – three nasal sprays and three kinds of tablets. I had fortified myself well for the morning but by early afternoon it was all wearing off so I took more and we sat in a cafe for over an hour to let my symptoms calm down and medication take effect.

This is what a $9.82 hot chocolate looks like. To be fair, it was excellent.

I felt a bit anxious about the hay fever when we left the cafe but it subsided. My hay fever is not so much a runny nose as my eyes itching and swelling. It’s properly debilitating and I’ll be better prepared tomorrow.

The only other annoyance of the day was the hoards of bugs. No biters or stingers but lots of ones the size of flying ants. Not terrible when standing still but to avoid inhaling any while riding I wrapped my scarf around my face. Luke used the band given to us by eurobikes but it was too small for my gargantuan cranium.

Looking stupid is worth it, many bugs bounced off my face.

Oh I guess we were an annoyance of the day – Luke got told off by the police for riding on the footpath on our way back into St Moritz.

We got back to the hotel at about 6 after a trip to Lidl for cheese and bread. Now we’re doing holiday homework – the blog and recording expenses. Fun!

Supermarket picnic served on the plastic shoe tray covered in a towel. We’re sharing the one mug to drink our duty free Bacardi and soft drink. Classy! This whole meal cost less than 100ml of wine in the restaurant downstairs.

Tomorrow we ride twice as far to a village along the trail to Innsbruck. Woo!

Goodnight!

21May2023

Sale Fell And An Afternoon Tea

by Miss Penny Black

Today was the day! My guided walk for everyone up Sale Fell then back to the lake station cafe for the afternoon tea I booked months ago. I’d been keeping my fingers crossed for good weather but it was sprinkling just a little when I woke up.

There was one thing to do first: the presenting of the gifts!

If you have family overseas you’ll know that any visitor from home will be asked to bring food items when they come to visit. Luke’s uncle Mark had requested a few of his favourites.

Next we headed to the bus stop and finally managed to be first on and grab the seats up the top and right at the front.

The slight mist of morning rain had stopped and the day was clearing a bit and warming up.

We set off uphill.

And up.

And up.

If I didn’t explain fully yesterday, Mark is Luke’s youngest uncle (Luke’s mother is the eldest of nine siblings) and only three years older than me. Mark moved to the UK in his twenties, met Sue and settled in Essex.

Mark and Sue come to the Lake District every October with a group of friends for walking holidays. They are both very fit, Mark just completed a 100km walk around the Isle of Wight (in one go, not over a week like I’d do it) and Sue runs marathons. The rest of us were a bit concerned that our pace would be a bit painful for them but they magnanimously slowed down.

Well, mostly.

The walk was a long way to the top but worth it.

Sale Fell is a nice gentle hill with an undulating crown. Good walking for inexperienced walkers and families. Great views and no sharp edges!

Right at the very top are views to Scotland and, extremely faintly if you really squinted, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Here’s Mark’s photo of ‘Luke and Lea looking like they’re loving life on the lakeside links’. (Say it ten times fast!)

We met a nice older man at the top who told us he’d heard cuckoos on the way up, which we completely forgot to listen for on the way down.

The walk down was lovely.

We decided to stop at the Pheasant Inn for a drink since we were too early for our cafe booking.

It was lovely sitting in the sun and the garden had a lot more flowers out since I’d last visited. All the azaleas and rhododendrons are in full bloom at the moment. Mum, you would have loved it.

But forget about a mere drink, afternoon tea was on the horizon!

The tables I booked were in the train cafe.

Apart from being stiflingly hot, it was delightful.

We weren’t sure how the waiters would fit food onto the tiny tables, but through sleight of hand, and possibly some actual magic, they did it with ease.

The food selection included tiny Yorkshire puddings and roast beef, delicious sandwiches, cheesecake, profiteroles, salmon and avocado mousse, deep fried Camembert and more! Lea had, rather unwisely, claimed at the pub that she would be capable of eating everything put in front of her at the tea.

Don’t underestimate the way a dozen small things can be extremely filling!

We caught the bus back and are currently collapsed on the couch, digesting!

For those who have asked me if Bonnie is missing us, here’s today’s upload from her host family.

22Apr2023

Cockermouth

by Miss Penny Black

Despite the bus breakdown, the ride to Cockermouth was stunning, with mountain, lake and forest views along the way.

I did find a big mural with the history of the place. The town has been around for over 1000 years, which is pretty incredible!

Cockermouth is an ancient town, the first written record of it is almost 1000 years ago so it’s probably been around even longer. Apart from the castle it doesn’t look very old though and unfortunately the castle is a private home.

I walked around the Main Street and saw a new history mural.

There was an historical walking route so I decided to follow that around the town.

I noticed one of those historical plaques above a doorway.

If you notice this notice you’ll notice this notice is not worth noticing.

Somehow I crossed the wrong bridge and ended up on the other side of the river.

Cockermouth is most famous (to me, anyway) for being the home of William Wordsworth. I thought it was peak daffodil season because there were white daffodils everywhere, which felt like an odd choice, considering the famous poem is about a host of yellow daffodils. A lady I met on my detour told me that I’d missed the yellow ones by a couple of weeks.

We talked about how many times her house has flooded since she moved here from the south (twice) as she lives by the river. We also talked about how small towns like this are being affected by things like Airbnb, online shopping and younger people moving away. It’s the same story everywhere, really. The towns that are thriving are too expensive for locals and the smaller quiet places feel dead because the houses are empty except on weekends.

We also talked about the largest building on the river, the brewery, which was now for sale. The locals want a museum but it all depends on who buys it.

I returned to the trail, which took me through the main courtyard of the brewery.

A man saw me taking photos and jokingly asked if I’d like to buy it and I said I was just seeing how much I had on me. He said if I had three quarters of a million pounds it could be mine! Well, I said I’d have to ask my husband but why not?

Next was around the castle wall to have a peek through the bars, then down some back lanes. I quite like the name of this pub.

Next was the churchyard.

It’s always worth pushing on a church door, just in case you can get in and have a look. The stained glass looked like it might be worth a view from the correct side.

Very nice! But I think my favourite part was where it looked like they had the local primary school kids do a project on the church then put the beet one on display.

The buildings in Cockermouth are quite brightly coloured, which is interesting (well, to me!).

It was a nice day for a wander about. The little blister on my toe is getting better but I’d like it to be gone by the time I get to Spain so I’m having a couple of easy days. Plus it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.

The last thing I did before I caught the bus back was have a chocolate eclair from a very nice bakery. I sat in the sun at the bus stop with an older lady and got chatting about chocolate eclairs and the weather and the buses and she said ‘You look very familiar,’ and I replied that there was no chance of her seeing me before as I’d never been to Cockermouth. Then we worked out that she had been on the bus that had picked me up from the broken down bus earlier that day.

When the bus arrived I once again got the front seat at the top (woo hoo!) and, since it was a different numbered bus it went back along the other side of the lake and I got to see the train cafe where Luke and his family and I have booked for an afternoon tea when we come back to the area in late May.

Before returning to the campsite I went back to Mrs F’s Cafe for some lunch. Pea and mint soup.

I asked what soup would be on tomorrow – curries butternut squash. I can’t wait!

Back to the campsite to enjoy the sun. The wind that had been predicted wasn’t affecting my little spot but, with two days of rain predicted, I decided to pack up and book a bed and breakfast.

Enjoying the view for the last time (this trip).

These people take their dogs EVERYWHERE!

As I was rolling up my gear another camper arrived, Chris, who was doing the Cumbria Way so we had quite a long talk. I had some time to fill before the 4pm check in at the B&B and it was nice standing in the sun.

The bed and breakfast was only about 600 metres from the entrance to the campsite – Keswick isn’t very big, but I haven’t stayed in this area before, close to the lake park near the theatre (for anyone who knows the place). Also about 100 steps from The Wainwright, one of the best pubs in town.

I had a lovely dinner of steak and ale pie and read my book. A lady at another table asked me what I was reading so we talked about that.

She was there with her mum and the two of them looked like they were having a whale of a time, like a two person hen’s party, laughing at everything.

I returned to hop into bed reasonably early and it’s amazing how even just one night of camping can make getting into a real bed seem like one of life’s great pleasures!