Ski season has started in Dorfgastein December 2009

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 fresh, there is a real sense of winter advancing and the snowline creeping down the mountainside.
Avoiding the commercial Christmas at home
Christmas Markets and Advent events to go to.

On the downside:-
Not all the ski buses are running yet.
Not all the ski lifts are running.
Snow coverage is a bit thin in places and not all the runs are open.

Miss some pre-Xmas lunches

Salzburg – Christmas Market

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 quick circuit of window shopping, or the equivalent for market stalls.

We can get to Salzburg for about 12 Euro. on the train. Its not a vast city but is quite a contrast from our small alpine village of Bad Hofgastein.

Where we hang our hats in Bad Hofgastein

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.

For whom the bell rings

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 socks.
It’s probably true to say that a sixteen year old is a far better judge of who is under age than anyone, when I was at school anyone two years older was definitely antiquated, perhaps almost senile.
I suppose the problem is they might let their mates buy booze.
Anyway, so not only do I have to remember what to buy, to take shopping bags, my debit card and its dreaded PIN number I also have to remember to go to a checkout staffed by an oldie. Pretty tricky for a retired person! Doing all those things might just get me out of the shop without the guilty feeling.
It got me to thinking that maybe we should be chipped like dogs. If the chip carried our ages it would automatically register me as a legal drinker, when I get to 60 I won’t need a bus pass.
Probably women would not like it but then they shouldn’t drink anyway as they need to drive.
By the way the Marlow ladies in their bling and Chelsea tractors don’t much like sharing their shop with a scruffy cyclist, maybe I should invest in some bicycle clips!

England - The joys of low cost travel - 2009

Ryanair gets a lot of bad press but has a lot of positives, particularly low prices and good punctuality. Unfortunately, low flight prices can mean awkward timings, a small baggage allowance and operators of car parks don’t share Mr O’Leary’s business strategy.
On this trip, which cost £12 return, we had an early flight time of 06:30 so getting to Stansted by public transport was not an option.
Parking in long term for a month was too expensive at around £200. Taxi to Stansted and back is around £170 so not good either.
What about a Hotel? TW found a hotel with overnight stay for £115 and only 10 mins. from the terminal. Transfer was included, secure parking, wouldn’t have to give up the car keys. Get in there! - Whitehall Hotel here we come.
Now, the trusty VW has SAT NAV so we did not bother with getting directions – big mistake! Unfortunately the German designers of the Satellite Navigation system forsook the normal Teutonic principles of over-detail and over-engineering and decided that abbreviating the Post Code is good enough for the UK. So, we put in what we could of the Post Code and found Church End. We headed off, wrong Church End! Several phone calls to the hotel, asking people walking their dogs, a change of drivers – an ‘if you think you can find it you bloomin drive’ moment and we were there. I was beginning to think the place didn’t exist or was like the Scottish village in Brigadoon that appears one day every 100 years. It took 60 mins from Stansted to find the Hotel. An hour of Essex country roads, quite pretty actually - if you are in the right humour. Our 500 year old Hotel was deemed to be off-road by the SAT NAV and the village of Broxted didn’t exist even though it had a 12th century church.
Anyway, the hotel wasn’t bad and we decided we deserved dinner which was fine. Next morning, up bright and early for the short (included) Taxi transfer at 10 minutes to 5.
One of the Ryanair restriction is on baggage. To avoid paying extra we take only 10Kg of hand luggage each. So it’s a case of wear it or pocket it. So Michelin man and wife in thermal insulation and walking boots, our pockets stuffed with mobile phones and anything heavy, hit the taxi.
Phew, its a bit warm isn’t it!
Now there are two extremes of Taxi drivers. At one extreme you get the friendly chap who keeps turning round all the time, doesn’t watch the road much, wants to talk about last night’s match, about his family, politics - anything really. At the other extreme is the Flying Fin! Eyes are fixed firmly on the road, driving gloves are on. You guessed it we got the rally driver.
Phew its very warm isn’t! Take the jackets off, aargh the windows won’t open! I am going to die. What’s Polish for slow up and turn the heating down? It took just 6 mins to get from the Hotel to the Stansted Terminal. It really was hell on wheels.
Thank God he didn’t have a German Sat Nav!

Taking the Kur

Twice every 5 years Austrian workers can take the Kur (Cure). Taking the Kur means spending 3 highly subsidised weeks in a spa resort where punters get various treatments, massage, swimming, radon baths etc. as well as time to go walking in the mountains. Sounds tough doesn't it, there must be a catch somewhere? Bad Hofgastein is one of the Kur resorts so, at this time of year, when there are not too many tourists we keep bumping into the 'Kurists'. There does not seem to be a great deal wrong with the ones we have met.
There are special Kur Hotels that meet the Kurists needs which of course includes copius quantities of the amber nectar but doors are closed and lights out at 22:30.

Walking in November

Even though its very much the off-season there are still plenty of walking paths available on the sunny side of the valley.
The Gastein Hohenweg is a level path from Bad Hofgastein to Bad Gastein. Its a walking path built in the 30's to generate work at the time of the Great Depression. It takes a couple of hours, that's of course if you manage to pass by all of the cafe/restaurants en route. There are about six to choose from, Annen Cafe, Jausenstation Grubhof, Sonnberg, Gamskar, Cafe Hubertus, Gamskar. This walkers lunch consisted of a fresh trout with potatoes and a salad.

The more adventurous can take routes further up the mountain to the summits, Poserhohe and Gamskarkogel. That's a job for next summer.

The Gamskarkogel is claimed to be the highest grass topped mountain in Europe at 2467m and, of course, it has a hut on top for overnight stays or a beer, (closes in September).

If you are getting the impression that there are huts, alms and restaurants everywhere ready to serve beers and strudel, you are quite right! A point to watch is that most are cafes closed for a rest day (ruhetag) once a week.