Apr 30, 2013 - Linz and Salzburg, Austria

On Tuesday we awoke in Linz, Austria and after an early breakfast the buses set off on an all day excursion to the beautiful city of Salzburg. We rode on the bus for most of two hours observing the very scenic Austrian countryside. Our guide was a non-stop talker with only a partial command of English - Neil and I both fell asleep after 20 minutes or so. The walking tour in Salzburg was better and then we enjoyed two and a half hours on our own exploring and having lunch. The days have been mostly overcast and a little cool, but the sun...

Sep 27, 2012 - Linz Sept 27 - Oct 1

Sept 27 - Oct 4 Linz Sept 27. In hospital (I, Snowflake, stayed with Grammar in the hospital) The hospital was very clean and quiet. It was a private, emergency-only hospital. There were no patients in the hallways waiting for beds and no miscellaneous equipment just lurking in the corridors. Grammar's room had two beds and a nice table and chairs by the big window. There was a private bathroom with a shower and there was a door leading outdoors onto a balcony that had chairs on it. The balcony overlooked a big courtyard that had trees,...

Sep 26, 2012 - Bionic Arm #2, Linz

Sept 26. Operation Bionic Arm # 2 Grammar was kept in the hospital after she broke her arm yesterday because everyone decided an operation to insert a plate was necessary. It was interesting to see that the medical insurance people did seem to know what they were doing, starting with uttering the usual sympathetic statements. The hospital would not let the insurer pay directly so a claim must be made when we get home but at least there is a file in place. She could not have any food after midnight because no-one knew when the operation...

Sep 25, 2012 - Linz - One-handed Again

Sept 25. Linz, One-handed again Today was a lovely sunny day; so Grammar and I (snowflake, in case you forgot about moi) took off on Danny, the bike, to see many of the interesting modern buildings in Linz because Grandpapa Ron would have liked them We felt as though we were going really fast because we left our panniers at the Gasthaus. Did I mention that we had venison medallions for supper last night? Absolutely scrummy, which is good in light of today's meals. Here are some of the things we saw: Hauptplatz - Main Square. Created in 1230...

Sep 24, 2012 - Linz, Austria

Sept 24. Linz We stayed in Linz for two nights. Grammar and I are at the Gasthous Rothmayr and we are really comfy. Our bike has its own shed that is locked at night. We ate here tonight and had delicious venison medalions. Grammar got brave again today. First she downloaded "itranslate", then she looked up "I would like to have my hair cut and coloured". Miraculously, the people in the shop recommended by the girl at the tourist bureau understood her (actually one of them spoke some English). Now she has new hair, eyebrows and blue-black...

Sep 23, 2012 - Inzell, Austria to Linz

Sept 23 When Grammar paid the bill for our lovely room this morning, which included a solid dinner and good breakfast, she was amazed to find it was only 40 euros - very good value. We woke up to a foggy morning but it was not raining. The day became quite sunny for a while as we travelled steadily towards Linz and by noon it was nice but quite windy. Grammar and I are really lucky because Gary and Rosie are looking out for us. They have figured out that Grammar's bike, Danny, cannot usually go faster than 22 kph because it only has seven...

Mar 20, 2012 - Linz

Steepest railway track and a magnificent panorama The Pöstlingberg is a mountain in the heart of Linz and its attractions include, apart from a basilica, restaurants and Linz Zoo, a fantastic panoramic view across the Danube, the city and its green spaces. A ride on the Pöstlingbergbahn is the best way to ascend the mountain - according to the Guinness Book of World Records the steepest railway track in the world. The train takes 20 minutes to climb the 4.14 km long track with an altitude difference of 255 metres. Pöstlingberg Not only the...

Jan 18, 2012 - Day 12 (part II) - Cooking on the Lav!!

New town, new hotel room! And we're here for 5 nights again - so a nice settled stay. Making the most of it because I think we change digs every night next week! Nice enough room - more like a travelodge than some of the places we've stayed. I, as always have to have the window open, despite the freezing temps, and unfortunately this time am opposite the train station!! It's absolutely huge - most be their equivalent of Clapham Junction. SHouldn't keep me awake though. Got in and crashed - couple of hours kip again!! Although we did hjave a...

May 12, 2008 - Austria - Linz

Monday 12th Our last day in Austria was a Public Holiday (yes,another one!) I’m not sure why – a religious holiday I believe. We spent the morning catching up on incidentals like banking, journal writing and planning our travel route for the next few weeks. In the afternoon, Uncle Martin took us to a church just outside of Linz, called ‘Kirche Wilhering.’ It was so gorgeous – the inside was full of gold. Definitely one of the most beautiful churches we’ve seen so far. (BTW – I need to find a word to replace ‘beautiful’ because I can tell...

May 10, 2008 - Austria - Linz

Friday 9th Today we went on another trip to the mountains but this time we went to the Mountains that had snow on them. Mum had mentioned to Uncle that I had never seen snow before so I was really excited when I found out about our day trip. After a 45minute (maybe longer) drive we arrived at a chair lift station. We paid for our tickets and waited for about 12 minutes for the next cable car. When the chair lift arrived mum raced to the back to get a seat away from the window and shoved me the camera. We hadn’t even left the ground and she...

May 3, 2008 - Austria - Linz

Friday 2nd May Today we left Vienna and headed to Linz via train. The trains here are reasonably priced, fast (200 km’s an hour to be exact!) and very comfortable to travel in. The trip took about 1 ½ hours. After we’d settled into our hotel, I called my Uncle to let him know that we had arrived. He got the shock of his life because he wasn’t expecting us quite so soon. He took us to a restaurant for tea, where we quickly caught up on the family ’goss’ - as you do. After tea, Uncle Martin took us for a quick tour of Linz. Because it was...

Nov 1, 2007 - Grunau...or Gru-later?

We arrived by train to the small town of Grunau on Thursday afternoon at around 5pm. It is a ski town in the centre of Austria, that is essentially in the middle of nowhere deep in the woods. Ken and I had tripped upon this place 4 years ago, and I really wanted to come back. It is a perfect spot to relax and get away from bigger cities as well as get outside. After a few drinks on the first night we were in bed by 10. Friday morning was nice out, so it was an early start as we rented bikes and headed to Lake Almsee. It was to be an hour...