We normally go to Austria in December but this year we broke with tradition and headed out on November 17th. There was a significant milestone to celebrate as it was exactly 20 years to the day since we bought our little place in Austria. We arrived too late for an anniversary dinner but we made up for that by having a nice lunch the following day at the Annen Cafe. A great walk up and an even better walk down with a friendly welcome and good meal in between. Blutwurst Gröstl with Sauerkraut is my favourite and TW has a liking for their Bauernsalat.
TW heading for lunch
A walkers lunch - Blutwurst Gröstl with Sauerkraut
Journeys end - the Annen Cafe
Every journey, that includes the walk down, should have a goal and we scored at Cafe Zeit where we indulged in a Nussschnecke. It literally translates as Nut snail. It is a gastropod shaped cinnamon bun. We shared one with our coffee. It's a really delicious treat but extremely large, it's best to split it, trust me.
With the lift not opening until the 28th November there was plenty of time for walking in the Gastein valley. We were blessed by good weather and, fortunately, none of the days where fog hangs around all day in the valley. Many of the Cafes and Restaurants do not open until skiing gets well under way so our choices were limited. However the establishments that were open made us welcome. Cafe Zeit was our regular coffee stop and the walk up to Annen Cafe became our routine exercise.
With the opening of the ski lifts on the 28th November we are able to buy our lift tickets and take a ride up the hill and check out a new restaurant, Hirsch und Maus, that was being fitted out ready for it's 19th December opening.
Skiing operation commenced on the 29th and I was able to enjoy some good runs with TBIL on H3 and H4. We had reasonably good snow but without any crowds.
First sighting of the new restaurant - Hirsch und Maus
TW and TBIL
A look back at Anger....
One of our regular treats is to jump on the bus up to Angertal and take a walk in snow up the Anger Valley. It is a lovely tree lined route up to an old hut. On our return we walk around the training slope and up to Herzweiss for lunch. TW highly rates the Goulash soup and if we are lucky we might get a season opening schnapps? Danke!😋
