Take a hat

One of the major adjustments you need to make in adapting to life in Austria is at the Supermarket checkout. The checkout operator is a bit different to those in the U.K. For one they are not normally seated and also, between customers, they are moving stock or stacking shelves. They are a force to be reckoned with. In the UK, the checkout operator is sedentary and the customer sort of passes them by. The customer tends to be in control. How often do you get stuck behind someone painstakingly and neatly bagging their purchases. Only once finished, without any regard to the queue forming behind them will they dive into their over capacious handbags for 'the purse'. The purse with a frightening array of different store cards, credit cards and debit cards. Careful sorting and selection of the correct card is followed by laborious entry of the secret Pin Code, Oh, and yes, I do want cash-back aaagh! Now I know Mr Cameron will have a lot on his plate when he takes over, like re-i

Fly in and take a look at Gastein from a different angle. They have overlayed the ski runs on Google Earth and it gives a whole new perspective. http://en.skigastein.com/service/googleearth.htm

Much prefer skiing with trees around. The above was taken on the longest run in Bad Hofgastein H1 . In fact its one of the longest runs in the Easter Alps at 8km. It was in superb condition on this trip. Bit of a leg-burner! This the Ache that runs through town, in warmer seasons its a pleasant bike ride south towards Bad Gastein . On this day it was lovely walk with a stop on the way back for a bio steak sandwich at the Restaurant Ortenstein - brilliant! Fulseck , the top of the mountain that overlooks Dorgastein , on a bright morning. From here you can either ski down to Dorfgastein or turn left down to Grossarl , a small village in the neighbouring valley. Best not to miss the last lift though its helluva distance by road.

They have put a new swinging bridge in at Bad Gastein . Its at the top of the Stubnerkogel mountain and links one lift station with another - sort of. I think its purpose is more touristical than practical although one end does link directly onto the restaurant terrace! I imagine they will ply summer tourist with schnapps prior to their gravity defying crossing. Anyway, once I'd been across TW didn't have much choice but to follow. Striding purposefully across without a care in the world - not! Look out for the trolls Jacqui! At the top of the mountain they also have a play area with computer game consoles wii etc, some free internet pc's . So its a good place to check on the latest football news as well as to keep the the wife quiet. The ski runs from here opened on the 19 th December. It was bitterly cold on the day, about minus 18 Celsius so not a day for fooling around on the bridge. That was more a hot soup kinda day.

Sportgastein is the highest ski area. Its about 40 minutes on the ski bus from home. It can be quite a harsh environment when the wind's up and the snow's falling. A gondola lifts you to about 2700m and there are some good runs, particularly late season when the prettier parts of the Gastein valley have lost snow cover. On this, day the gondola was swinging in the wind and a fierce icey blast was coming off the Tauern Mountains so did not stay too long. There's good cross-country skiing up here and its a popular area for walking biking in the summer with the obligatory huts for refreshment. Think I'll come back when its sunny.

 Christmas is coming Went to the Kursaal, the local hall, for an Advent concert on Saturday. It combined some oompah, some choral singing and a little harpsichord and zither music. We quite enjoyed it, mainly locals were there. We were among the last to leave and there was a chap waiting at the door who I ushered to go ahead. Nein, he said, we have a saying in Bad Hofgastein, the gaste sind Kaiser, ' the guests are king'! We chatted to him and he revealed that actually there was a second part, die gaste sind Kaiser, aber die Einheimischen sind Emperors. 'The guests are kings but the locals are emperors'. Not sure what that makes us, we are not really guests, and we'll never be locals, just lucky I suppose. It set me thinking that even though its a tourist spot, it still has a very active community and the infrastructure the locals can take advantage of is fantastic for a small village. Apart form the mountain based activities there is a superb

Dorfgastein 2009 TW - all wrapped up  Put skis to snow today, the 10th December 2009, for the first time this winter. Dorfgastein was the scene of the shaky first run. I always worry that, over the summer, I have regressed to beginner status. Its easy to fall back, literally, into the old habit of watching the ski's rather than just letting them run. Not all the runs are open today but the hordes have not arrived yet so quality makes up for quantity. No snow-boarders to dodge and definitely no queues to take a break in. Have never really considered pre-christmas skiing before. If you are short of holidays the snow conditions are a bit of a risk. The lift pass for a week's holiday is so expensive its important to get on the slopes every day. If you have a ski pass for the season and ample time it does make a lot of sense to come out early. Advantages:- Pistes are empty Plenty of elbow room in the huts at lunchtime. No queues for the lifts Everything seems very f

Salzburg is really smart and knows how to dress up for Christmas. The old part of the city is well worth a wander at this time or indeed any time of year.. There are loads of pubs, coffee houses and restaurants, as you'd expect in Austria, along with museums and concert halls and, of course, Mozart. He gets star billing in Salzburg as their most famous son. Anyway, a restaurant we like is St Peters Stiftskeller. Its underneath a former monastery and has been serving wine since the 800's! It can be expensive but if you go right to the end of the menu you can find standards like goulash and pork steaks. We spent £40 for two. The upstairs now plays host to various stylish function rooms. See the pics. Follow your nose to the Christmas Market. The smell of Gluwein pervades the whole area. Can't say I particularly like it but, hey its Christmas, and I don't like mince pies either. Fortified against the cold by the evil brew it qualified us for a quic

Summer in Bad Hofgastein Winter in Bad Hofgastein Walking The Gastein Valley is a wonderful area for walking. Over 200km of clearly marked paths take you all over the surrounding mountains. Nordic Walking is really popular. Visit mountain huts and sample local produce. Use the summer lifts to get further and higher. Skiing Beautiful skiing area, slopes for all standards. Comprehensive snow making which allows skiing into the valley until Easter. Many mountain restaurants. Altitude: 840 m - 2,686 m.) Marked Piste: 200 kms. with 45 Ski Lifts Cross-country Skiing Network of tracks in the valley, in the Angertal valley at 1180m and at Sportgastein 1600m.

Now, I’m not a heavy drinker but I am not averse to picking up a discount bottle of Merlot and a pack of Carlsberg when I visit our local Supermarket. Making my way to the checkout isn’t a problem but that’s where the problem starts. The Supermarket uses part time staff from the local schools on the checkout and of course they are mainly under-age. So as soon as they spot the offending bottles or cans they ring a dirty great bell. Alcohol, Alcohol this man has Alcohol! Cue yours truly to try and make myself small as the whole shop turns to see what’s going on. It’s not mine, I’m buying it for a friend! Then one of the other staff, presumably trained in the noble art of ageism walks over to verify that I am of age and to push a button on the till. As its over 40 years since I celebrated my eighteenth birthday this is not a difficult decision and, let’s face it, how many sixteen and seventeen year olds walk around in a fluorescent cycling jacket with their trousers tucked in their soc