Winter is here!

Sunday 28th October 2012
Who would have thought that this exact time one week ago we were sitting out in T'shirts on decking having a meal in glorious sunshine watching a fantastic sunset beside Lake Cheming and today we are covered in snow with daytime temperatures struggling to get above 2c and night time at minus 7c…brrrrr.

Its good fun though as we have certainly come prepared. Out has come all the winter clothing and we can really test the new winter features of the motorhome. Technology has come along so much since our last big trip in 2005 and the central heating systems they now install are so efficient. It's a blown air system and you can't have it on full as it's too hot!. We topped up with plenty of fresh water as for once the main tank and piping is on board and insulated away from frost so nothing will freeze. The garage area at the back houses the main central heating unit and even the garage is insulated so the whole space acts as a big airing cupboard. Also our beds run over the top of the garage so it's all rather warm and cozy. 

Bradley has adorned his pyjama's for the first time, the look on his face 'do I have to?' as he gets dressed for bed is a picture, but after a few minutes he really feels nice and snug and loves them really.

I forgot my big thick totes so it's off to town soon to try and source a pair. 

Its due to stop snowing tomorrow so we will be off on a walk to the nearby town and then when the weather warms up a little in the week we will plan our trip through the Black Forest towards Luxembourg. 

Auf Wiedersehen

The wrong arm gesture!

Saturday 20th October 2012.

Well, staying here at Bad Fussing has been lovely. It is an area that is very popular with the German people that come to visit the numerous health spas and wellness clinics dotted throughout the area. Bad Fussing is a very clean and modern town laid out with plenty of facilities to relax and get well!. The local authorities leave lots of easy chairs dotted throughout the town are where you stop to relax and read your newspaper watching the world go by. We quickly realised however that the average age of people milling about was about 65yrs and that made us feel so young, Bradley was in his element as many stopped to admire him and give him a friendly pat. One local man stopped to talk to Bradley and on realising we were British he promptly stood talking to us about everything for 20 minutes to practice his English which was very good. 
Lorraine had been suffering from the injury to her upper left arm and shoulder so after a chat with the local Apotheke (Pharmacist) we were pointed towards one of the many local Arxtpraxis (Doctors). The very nice lady Doctor took some time and rightly diagnosed the injury where a jab first took place in the buttocks followed by a course of tablets and this time with detailed instructions on keeping the arm moving with diagrammatic instructions of gymnastik (Physiotherapy). These 'gymnastik' procedures can be done whilst walking along so as we walk there is no better time to keep up the therapy. The following afternoon after a walk we were walking back into the campsite when Lorraine was going through her gymnastik's and I noticed a few not so friendly glances coming our way. I looked across at Lorraine and suddenly realised as she was marching along, elevating her left arm skywards at 45 degrees with hand and fingers pointing forward it exactly resembled the famous salute once given by a not so nice German leader of the last war who's name began with A' and had a tiny moustache!!.(she might join the ministry of funny walks!). We hurried into the motorhome and shut the door not venturing out again till dark.. lucky we were leaving the next day!.

Sunday 21st October 2012
We have now arrived or rather stumbled across a lovely little campsite beside the Chieming Lake (Chiemingsee). It is one of Europe's largest natural nature reserves where 30,000 (who counts them all?) birds migrate from all over the world and we can hear them too!. It is very peaceful and the afternoon coffee has now been replaced by the finest Bavarian beer. We also saw one of the best sunsets we have seen and photos can be seen here. 

Weather reports indicate possible snow in the next few days so we want to move on tomorrow further west and away from the Alps to lower ground around the Black Forest

Auf Wiedersehen

Watching the cruise ships sail by!

Saturday 13th October 2012
After several days beside the lovely lake at Wolfgang we have eventually prized ourselves away from the shoreline and picturesque towns and headed further east towards Vienna. We noticed several campsites were located by the massive River Danube so it looked a good place to hang out for a while. We checked into our little campsite, literally on the banks of the Danube and noticed we were the wrong  side of a massive flood defence system… yikes!. After further checks it transpires that where the campsite is located is the most dangerous part of the river alongside the pretty town of Grein. Not really that clever but there wasn't any rain forecast so we felt that two nights would be OK!. The Danube is a massive wide fast flowing river starting well into Germany snaking east through Europe and finally ending up in the Black Sea. We noticed big landing stages alongside the town and soon we could see the massive cruise ships sailing by or stopping off. Now, we are not talking P&O size but still very long and not so tall, more like the big floating hotels you see on the Mississippi. The clever bit is the Captain's bridge of the ships that have a scissor type hydraulic lift so that the crew go up and down according to how high the bridge is they are passing under. We enjoyed watching these long hotels sailing by and manoeuvring around the bends against the fast flow.
Our hosts on our campsite were Romanian and we noticed that the further east we ventured the more we met people from the eastern European countries like Slovenia, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic. Our Romanian owner told us that jobs were not good were he was from and he also mentioned that they had just heard the UK were now insisting they had to have a Visa to work in the UK, interesting as he wouldn't say if it was good or bad!.
After Bradley called a meeting we decided to stick to plan A and head towards Germany. We had seen most of Austria now and have picked a great place we would like to return for Christmas and the New Year.
Well, the Great Danube didn't flood thankfully and we set off for a lovely Sunday drive to our next campsite in the bottom South Eastern tip of Germany. It's great driving over here on a Sunday as nowhere is open and the roads are so clear of traffic. It's really strange planning your shopping knowing that literally everywhere is shut on a Sunday. Personally we would love to see that return to the UK as so many more families would spend quality time together and you would feel much more relaxed as an employee with the added bonus of most lunchtimes off between 12 and 2pm and sometimes to 3pm, and thats compulsory!
Autumn has finally arrived for us now and we don't expect many more barbecues outside on our chairs watching the sun setting. The winter clothing is slowly coming out and short sleeved shirts will be stored for next year. Our campsite at Bad Fussing (Bayern region) is lovely and we may well stay here now for a few days planning our way around Germany. The Black Forest area beckons!.

Auf Wiedersehen

Back to local shopping!

We have certainly had a busy week so far in Austria, our visit to Salzburg was lovely and whether we are in the city or the country it is just so clean and pleasant. When in the city or towns we are just amazed with the colourful architecture and woodwork, going into the country you then see rich greens like you have never seen before. You can understand why they filmed the Sound of Music here as they keep the grasses and fields cut so nicely, and the flowers, there are flowers everywhere. One thing that stands out is that it's like Switzerland,  everything is so clean, no chewing gum on pavements, run down properties or litter. Everyone seems to take great pride in their country and that reflects around every corner. Food standards are incredibly high and we have learnt to shop differently. There are no large 'out of town' shopping areas and certainly no massive supermarkets, DIY or electrical stores. Instead there are small versions of each, often family owned along the high streets of most Cities, towns and large villages. It works well as it makes you go into the picturesque streets to explore and like many years ago the smaller local street shops are thriving. You buy things fresh here, no weekly shopping pushing overloaded trollies with defective wheels towards long checkout queues!. Yes, you get trollies but they are smaller and a bag or two is your limit at the checkout. The 'sell by' dates are far shorter and you may only buy a couple of dinners but they are fresh and you visit the small well stocked supermarkets every 2 or three days. We were worried how this was going to effect us travelling in a motorhome but we have quickly adapted and are enjoying the cuisine that these marvellously organised countries have to offer. Fresher food means less processed food and we feel we have a far healthier diet as well which means healthier people as can also be seen by the amount of cycling. Everyone seems to own a bike and the authorities provide cycle lanes and walkways (Wanderwegs) everywhere. The pedestrian and cyclist is well respected as can be seen by the way traffic will instantly yield and give priority to anyone on foot or riding a bike. We tend to walk everywhere to take full advantage of these excellent safe facilities and Bradley loves it, we also sleep very well!We are currently by the Wolfgang Lake near St Wolfgang and this whole area just comes alive at Christmas with original and authentic Wolfgangseer Christmas Markets. We found this massive floating metal structure beside us on the lake and eventually realised it was a giant Advent Lantern which is floated out with stars all over the lake at Christmas. We are seriously considering returning here over the Christmas period as it just looks so nice. We will be moving further East soon toward the great Danube. I was considering a brief visit to the Czech Republic or Slovenia but Lorraine is not too keen. Also there are insurance implications if we enter these countries and we met someone who had just returned from Slovenia, who said it was really empty and there was nothing to do, so we may well stick to plan A and go into Germany for a month.  

Auf Wiedersehen 

Did you know?...

At this time of year in Austria the cows wear flower garlands when they are brought down off the mountains to lower ground. What a din!. The Sound of Music was filmed here by our lake (Wolfgangsee) but I am not wearing those leather shorts and slapping my knees for no one!

Stunning place shame about the history!

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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It's strange isn't it that one of the most popular visitor attractions in Germany can remind us of such a shocking history in the beautiful Bavarian mountain region where the 'Kehlsteinhaus' (or Eagles Nest as some know it) is located. Built for Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday this magnificent building is literally perched on top of the Kehlstein Mountain. Getting there is also exciting as you climb up a very step road to Obersalzburg where there is a bus terminus and visitor centre. Here you buy your tickets (Bradley goes free) and hop on one of 5 busses that then all leave in convoy to take you up the most precarious bus ride we have ever been on with only a single track and overhanging hairpins. You arrive at a turning point and immediately walk into a tunnel for about 124 metres before arriving at the original lift all decorated in lovely wood and brass to take you very fast up 400 feet inside the mountain. If that hasn't amazed you at the top you walk out onto a viewing gallery where it really does take your breath away, all you can hear from the many tourists around are all the oooh's and aaahh's. The building was for Hitler to entertain people and maybe discuss or make some of his dreadful plans for domination and its not as big as you think. At the fall of the 3rd Reich, Obersalzburg was virtually distroyed and occupied by the allies but the Eagles Nest Tea House as it became known as at the top was left alone. The Americans well and truly captured the area and opened the local ski resorts and Eagles Nest for their own use and most of the allied troops used it for recreation at the end of the war and for sometime after.
After another of our high altitude meals (How they get all the fine foods and beers up that high beats me) we then booked our return bus and headed back down the mountain. We drove out of Germany again back into Austria and have found a little campsite in Salzburg only 3km from the centre where we hope to go in and visit some of Mozart's history on Friday. Our renditions of 'The Hills are alive with the sound of music' whilst driving are beginning to effect Bradley as he has started covering his ears!….
Click here for pictures on our website gallery

Auf Wiedersehen

Our new addition!

Friday 28th September 2012.

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We finally got to the great Grossglockner Pass described as 'Having a driving and nature experience of a special kind on 48 kilometres of high alpine road with 36 hairpin bends and an altitude ascent to 2,504 metres!'. We also chose a brilliant day thankfully as its pointless going up this high if there is any cloud cover. For me this has been a dream long coming. In 1977 I was sat in my Panda Car on Marsh Mills Roundabout in Plymouth, Devon watching the world go by and only 2 years into my 30 year career with the police. I was on night shift and it was about 2am in the morning and I could see the headlights of something slow coming towards me down the A38. It was a Mercedes Motorhome and a posh one too for those early years of motorhome design and the very nice couple we asking me how much further it was to Padstow. We got chatting and they happily let me look around inside before they went on their way. I got back in my car and had this dream that when I retire I would love to have a motorhome and take off across the highest points of the Alps into Austria and Switzerland. Well, today Lorraine and I just did that!… and what an experience, well worth waiting the 35 years for!.

The pictures we took (see here) speak for themselves and we spent the whole day exploring the many roadside attractions, views and historical parts of the pass. Considering the height, the engineering is jaw dropping including a fully functional and heated restaurant at the foot of the largest glacier in eastern Europe. It didn't matter what the meal was (It was lovely by the way) but sitting there with the views we had will never be forgotten. Bradley found (or rather sniffed) out something new called a Marmot. Marmots are everywhere at these altitudes and live in the wilds but love the scraps from the tourists. They are very cute and not unlike our own beavers but with different tails. We had to hold onto the lad as he suddenly thought he could become a mountain goat of sorts and start chasing them all over the place. A trip into the souvenir shop found a lovely selection of these cuddly squeaky Marmots so we just had to get one. But what do we call him?. Well the Emperor of Austria Kaiser Franz Joseph and his wife back in 1856 climbed to this point which is now named after him so our new addition is affectionately known as Franz Joseph! and he sits pride of place on the top of the dashboard. 

The motorhome coped well as the descent is particularly heavy on your brakes but careful driving saw us safely down on lower levels to book into our next campsite.

The weather has finally closed in for a couple of days so we are chilling out near another lake before heading briefly over the nearby German border to try to visit one of Hitlers hideaways during the war called Eagles Nest. (Featured in Band Of Brothers) 

Auf Wiedersehen (Or Cheers as we have heard some Germans say)