World Austria Tirol Kitzbühel

Europe 2009

To Kitzbuhel, Over the Hochalpenstrasse Sep 17, 2009

A very early start this morning, with a 6am wakeup call, and everyone on the bus by 8. Today we went over the Hochalpenstrasse (high mountain road) to Kitzbuhel, which is a famous ski resort in the Tyrol, put on the map by Edward and Mrs Simpson back in the 1930s.

The Hochalpenstrasse is an engineering marvel. It took six summers to build, from 1930-35, of course there is too much snow for much of the year to do any construction work, even now the road is usually closed from November to about March, and was closed by snow just two days before we went through. Bit concerned by what passes for road barriers on most of the road though - squared-off blocks of stone! And this is a road that climbs to about 2500m, with wonderful views over the valleys below.

We took a side trip near the top of the Hochalpenstrasse, to visit the Franz Josefs-Hohe, which borders on the Hohe Tauern National Park. We were going for a little walk up to the Swarovski observatory (natch), and I was a bit concerned because we stopped and picked up some guides on the way, and they handed out rucksacks to everyone, containing some juice and some food items. Started to wonder just how far we were walking, because we went for a two-hour walk a few days ago, and did not require any supplies!

As it turned out, the walk was quite short, and although there is an easier way to and from the observatory, we would have missed out on feeding the marmots some apple on the way! Marmots live wild up here, but they know where to come to when there are tourists around, and will take the food right out of your hand, and let you pat them. Our guides also pointed out some alpine plants, such as German Violets (Deutsche Gentian), and also another plant which would stop your breathing if you crushed the leaves in your hand, it is so poisonous, alongside the path. We were high enough up in the mountains by now for there to be snow beside the paths.

The Swarovski observatory is the largest crystal Swarovski have ever built (ha ha), and is a three-storey high observation point overlooking the Pasterze glacier. Couldn't quite see all the way to the top of the Grossglockner mountain (the highest point in Austria and the southern Alps at 3798m), but we could see most of it. From the observatory, I got a good look at some edelweiss, and also, away in the distance and hard to spot, an ibex.

We had lunch at the cafe at Franz Josefs-Hohe, and a highlight was roast pork with sauerkraut. Pickled cabbage sounds terrible, but it was actually quite good.

After lunch, we made our way on down 17 switchbacks into the valley, and on to our hotel in Kitzbuhel, where we had dinner in the hotel and met up with the group who have joined us for Crystal Weekend - the visit to Kristallwellten and crystal workshop tomorrow, and Gala dinner on Saturday evening.