Take a hat

Mountain Restaurants  One of the great delights of a holiday in Austria is to drop in at a mountain restaurant. Put the gloves on the stove and warm up with a hot soup! Bad Hofgastein is well endowed with excellent eateries. Baerstein Alm  Summer view at the Baerstein At the top of the Schlossalmbahn train at Kitzstein turn left and about 400m on the left is the Barstein Alm. Non-skiers can walk down. When the conditions are right you can also ski down on H4. In 2011 the lack of snow has meant that this has not been such a regular haunt. Nice family run house with great food. Off the main routes so a bit quieter and well worth the diversion in high season. Friendly waitress service which, apart from anything else, avoids carrying a tray wearing ski boots on a wet floor! That's probably more risky than ski-ing. Deer is very good here when it is on the menu. The schnapps is a bit special, schh! secret recipe! Has accommodation. To us it almost fe...

A Day in Winter - 13th December 2012 All quiet at the Advent Market - Daytime in Bad Hofgastein Winter in Bad Hofgastein Bad Hofgastein Kur Park with the Stubnerkogel in the background Bad Hofgastein Kur Park - across the frozen lake Ducks to water The current High Pressure system has brought low temperatures and clear blue skies. TW had the day off and took a few pictures as she walked into town through the Kur Park. In the evening the Advent Market is full of people enjoying a Gluwein or Hot Chestnuts and horse driven sleighs criss-cross the Park. During the day, all is quiet with just a few shoppers and some very hardy Mallard Ducks in the Kur Park. Open Loop - 14th December 2012 On the tracks We can see the Langlauf Loipe (cross-country loops) from our window and we noticed that they had put in some classic tracks. Had to give them a go. Slide and Glide, Slide and Glide. Looking North in Gasteinertal Looking South No downhill today ...

Lovely snow with a cold wind - 11th December 2012 Heading down - leaving work early A cold gusty wind drove us down the mountain early today. The new snow built into deep drifts near the start of H2. Did not see another soul on the way down to the middle station. When sheltered by the trees the conditions were excellent, when on the top and exposed to the wind things were a very different. The Haitzingalm Lift on standby A proper winters day Linking Up  12/12/12 More lifts and runs opened today. We were able to ski from Bad Hofgastein to Bad Gastein via Angertal for the first time this season. Everything seemed fresh and new. The lift operators are always friendly at this time of year, they have yet to suffer the Christmas hordes. No feet stuck in the doors, no people trying to fit 9 skiers in a gondola built for 8. Nice to be welcomed back at the Hirschenhutte. They like it when people return year after year and we get to be treated as a Stammgaste (Regular)...

Trying to keep up with the locals - 9th December The Icing on the Cake - the Weitmoser Schlossalm  Definitely an Austrian feel to today's proceedings. The locals were out in force for the first Sunday of the ski season so the standard of skiing was pretty high. The Scandinavian tourists were probably all at Sportgastein enjoying the sunshine. Not that the Swedes and Danes are bad skiers, but they do tend to either ski in large groups on the piste or form splinter groups on the most hair raising off piste sections. Most of the locals had lunch in the Weitmoser Schlossalm. It is self-service and offers a good selection of traditional soups and stews. I had a delicious Goulash Soup with a Weiss Beer and TW a Knodel Soup with an Almdudler. From the outside the place looked like the decoration on a Christmas Cake. H3 heading down to the Valley The lifts near the Haitzingalm are idle at the moment TW wrapped up against the cold Hamburger Skihut...

Back to snow business - 7th December 2012 The Schlossalm has its winter coat on St Nick and his helpers Krampus - doesn't frighten me Krampus is a bit of a hoot, he is one of St. Nicholas helpers. He wears a fearsome mask and where St Nick is the good guy, on which our Santa Claus is based, Krampus doesn't give presents! His purpose seems to be to frighten the living daylights out of naughty children and a few adults as well! So, if you are in Austria during the first week of December and you are chased down the road by a fearsome monster wielding a stick, it's probably not the wife. Krampus is a really big thing in the village with a number of groups wandering the streets. They do get very boisterous and noisy particularly when fuelled up with schnapps. On their waists they wear circular bells so you can hear them coming before you get hit by the birch twigs. Having survived Krampus it was time to take to the ski's for the first time this Winter. Op...

Over the Purbeck Hills Its been a wet Winter  Swanage is a bit of an old fashioned seaside resort. It is a regular biking destination which normally means a ride over the Heath from the Sandbanks Ferry to Corfe and then a trip down Sandy Hill Lane to Swanage. Today the Sandbanks Ferry was closed for maintenance so I opted for the Number 50 bus from Bournemouth to Swanage, free with my bus pass, and then a walk to Corfe. The hilltop walk over the Purbeck Ridge is pretty special, wild, windswept and empty. To get there it is simply a matter of walking east along the beach until the steps near the end of the bay. From there you hug the coast to Ballard Point and then cut back North and follow the markers. On your right is Studland Bay and Poole Harbour, on your left Swanage Bay. Ahead is wonderful Dorset countryside and, even on a dull day, you can see for miles. A bit strange being back in UK after our recent travels, still feel bit of a tourist. Had lunch in my favourite bak...

Life at the top - 19th November 2012 Sky High -View from the Peak Going up the slope to the peak Safely to the top! After a good sleep we jumped back into 'The Flying Pan', for eggs, bacon and beans before walking to the Peak Tram Station, about half an hour away.  The Peak Tram, like the Star Ferry, is a bit of an institution in Hong Kong. The tram cars take you up to the Peak via a ridiculously steep track in under 10 minutes. It costs about £5.50 return including the Sky Terrace. All sense of perspective is lost on the way up and buildings look to have been built at ridiculous angles.  Could have done without the long queue, but it gave us time to read about the history and it was a really good ride up. In early colonial days the Tram had three classes. Third class was for non-resident civilians and animals - that would be us then! Tourists - Peak performance Nice View on the Peak Nice humble abode on the Peak The route to the panorami...