Week 56: We love Austria!
- Sep 26, 2022
- 6 min read
Our stops this week:
· 3 nights at Camping Bad Neunbruunen am Waldsee (Near Zell am See in Austria)
· 1 night at Camping Falken (Near Lienz in Austria)
· 3 nights at Camping Arneitz (Near Neuegg am Faaker See in Austria)
Gees, I’m glad we are writing this blog or in a few months’ time I would have completely forgotten where we’ve been! Steve and I just had a 10-minute discussion about where we’ve been in the last week, with me trying to visualize it so I can write the blog. As an a side, we have looked at companies that convert blogs into books…which we think we’ll do at some point when we return. (Just so I can look at the pictures and sob, as I am back at work full time in the bleak English winter, with rising inflation and another crazy PM!!!!)
So, Steve finished last week, with us being in Stams. On the Monday we left here early and drove to Kitzbuhel. Another well-known winter ski town, it was incredibly pretty. A number of the campsites we have stayed at in Austria, cater for winter campers. It seems that this is a busy season for them, with people camping to ski… The campsites then seem to have very good shower and cleaning facilities, with under floor heating, drying rooms, storage rooms for kit etc. The caravans seem to be used like static caravans with services (water and gas) accessible on the pitch and lots of different insulating methods added; the caravan stationed under wooden structures with tiled roofs, the caravan wrapped in thick insulating material, insulated huts added next to the caravan. Quite interesting to ‘nose at’ when you are not use to this. Steve has started to tell me how lots of people ‘motorhome’ in winter to access the snow and how they insulate their vans so the water tank does not freeze etc. I am putting it in writing here and have told Steve ‘NO!’ before he starts his next persuasion campaign….I can see where his mind is going…this would be a step too far for both Bear and I. I am happy to ski again but when returning to a warm chalet, with more than 3m squared space in which you don’t have to de-frost the water!!! This was part of our discussion when walking around Kitzbuhel. I did say, I’d consider buying a chalet in Kitzbuhel and we could rent it out. When looking at prices, a 1-bedroom studio apartment (although very nice, open planned, top floor of a chalet) was 5 million Euros!!!!! I’m still NOT winter Mo-Ho-ing.
Kitzbuhel
On the drive I was also trying to watch clips of the Queen’s funeral, although Steve is not a fan of the monarchy, when looking back at this blog-I thought it would seem odd not to mention a key moment in UK history. The key reason though, was our friend was marching with the Navy, escorting the Gun Carriage. It was surreal to be in different country, having had the Queen’s death consistently broadcast everywhere and to see Nic marching with the coffin. I haven’t had a chance to ask her yet but my questions are the random ones like: when did you get to use the loo and when you got to the Abbey for the service, did you then have to stand outside in formation the whole time??? Anyway, it was amazing to see.
We spent 3 nights near Zell am See on a quiet campsite, we had no immediate neighbours…it seems it’s not yet cold enough for the locals to camp! Since we have been in Austria the weather has been a lot colder, at some points dropping below 0 overnight, with quite a lot of rain. It has also been hard to find accurate weather forecasts, as the weather is so changeable in the mountains. Steve is a bit ‘miffed’ when I say this though, as he seems I am being negative about ‘his’ (just in case you didn’t realise, Steve is ¼ Austrian) Austria and will instead tell me how beautiful the mountains are. The mountains are beautiful… and Austria is very clean, easy to navigate and friendly…but it is still cold. We spent longer at this campsite as Steve is completing some online coaching, through a charity, which supports self-development for young people and needed good wi-fi. He has been completing some coaching training with them and whilst here, was his first time meeting the students. I’m also ‘plodding’ on with my MA and worked on this. We had some walks, caught up with the washing and cycled into Zell am See to see the lake. We were also waiting for a break in the rain (erm..I mean glorious and plentiful droplets of fresh mountain water…not sure if this is an interpretation which is viewed as less anti-Austrain??) so we could complete the Grossglockner Mountain pass.
Austrian donkey near the campsite and view from campsite
Negotiations over who is driving the next section...
The next day was the designated day! The forecast had outlined temperatures of 18 degrees and sunny. We woke up to 5 degrees and very cloudy, we decided to still go. Luckily the clouds cleared during the morning, it didn’t rain, and the sun even made an appearance. The Grossglockner is Austria’s highest mountain and a famous 48km drive through a national park, with lots of opportunities for walking and taking pictures. (We really have expected a lot from Gordon this year, he probably can’t wait to head home and rest on the drive for a while.) It’s also an expensive bit of road with a hefty toll charge to drive it! Although there were lots of sharp corners, steep uphill’s and downhills, there were also beautiful views, crisp mountain air and Bear went crazy in the snow.
You can see the different heights from where there was snow and where there was not!
A snow bear!
Post Bear lick...think it was a thank you for making it off the mountain safely.
We spent a couple of hours slowly driving through the mountain pass and stopped at the campsite, just the other side of the mountain pass. It was fine for a night but both the campsite and Lienz itself, were a little odd.
The following day we drove to the town of Villach, Steve has seen quite a lot of Austria, through visiting family during the holidays but had never been here before. Villach is where his Austrian grandmother and English grandfather met after the war. His grandfather was stationed here after the war and his grandmother worked as an interpreter. We both really liked the town and had great weather. Bear enjoyed his walk along the river, we had a lovely pizza for lunch and it was soooo hot I even had to take my coat and fleece off! Even though I am sure it has changed a lot in the last 50 + years, we both could see his grandmother loving the cafes, little shops and walks along the river.
Villach
On the way to Arneitz campsite, we had to stop to complete some secret shopping. It was going to be Bear’s 4th birthday on Sunday, and we had not got him anything yet. We never thought when celebrating his 3rd birthday last year in Cornwall, we would be in Austria this year. We also got ‘side tracked’ and found a Mo-Ho dealer…we love Gordon and have no intention of changing him…but quite accidentally we may have stumbled across a Mo-Ho for the future, could have turned out to be a very expensive stop…and we really need to get some jobs!
The campsite was by a beautiful lake and was quite empty, as it is the end of their season with them closing next weekend. However, Bear wouldn’t be swimming in the lake on his birthday. The receptionist's instructions were ‘to the point’ and officious when checking in: dogs must not go in the lake, dogs must be on a lead at all times, dogs cannot camp on the front row by the lake, dogs cannot ‘toilet’ on the campsite. I don’t think she’ll be attending his birthday celebrations…
Little random entrance to Arneitz.
Opening his card
Birthday presents, waiting for the chef to make scrambled egg, negotiating to get the card back and finally worn out!!!
Looks absolutely amazing. Happy birthday Bear
This looks amazing (but I’m with you on the cold bit)…!!!
Did the donkey in the pics bray with an Austrian accent… ? 😉 I can’t believe Bear is 4…!!!