Gastehaus Stelzl-Ranalter Fulpmes

... it is covered with a chocolate ganache- it was delicious, much better than the day before.

The afternoon was Greg’s choice and we went to the Bergisel Stadium which is the new ski jump facility which was opened in 2001. This was on the site of the original ski jump facility which was used for the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976. You went in a cable car, then a lift to the top ...

... hands.

We went to have lunch at what turned out to be a very smoky cafe with salty soups and a so called “Sacher Torte” which wasn’t very nice.

We spent the afternoon wandering through the shops, finding a nice chocolate shop and an amazing Christmas shop which had thousands of real egg shells that had been delicately handpainted as Christmas decorations as well as Easter and Halloween. They were so beautiful ...

Walked to the train station and did an expedition to the supermarket to spend our last Swiss Francs as we are back to Euros in Austria. Had a stopover in Zurich for a while and then caught the train to Innsbruck. Again this was a scenic trip over the mountains and it started snowing and was very deep as we got higher- just beautiful scenery. Innsbruck is surrounded by mountains, all of which had snow on them.

We checked into our hotel where we ...

... I wondered if they do tours, with a free sample?! The hotel Tyrolis was nice enough, too much wood pannelling stuff going on that made the room feel quite small, but the beds were comfy ough and we flopped and watched some tv. Did some washing...and skipping dinner (due to the very late lunch and having half a chocolate pretzel left!) we went to bed. It's either a night in Switzerland or France tomorrow..!

... been cleared and there was a wrapped set of cutlery that they left behind when clearing the table, and he got stuck with this one. The waitress refused to give him a new set. It was a bit strange as it would cost her nothing but 5 seconds to get him a new one and make him so much more comfortable eating his meal. He took the risk and hoped that the cutlery hadn't been played with by the previous occupants of our table.

It was time to move on so we piled into the car and ...

... purchases.

The museum was pretty cool and certainly a unique experience. The weather was really nice today too so once we completed the museum and the shopping, we went to the park behind the giant's head. Here they have a hedge maze shaped like the giant's hand which looked pretty cool but we didn't venture in. Instead we soaked up a little sun before moving on to the next destination.

... too.
The rest of the tour took us to Linderhof castle and Neuschwanstein castle. What magical looking places they were. Neuschwanstein is the castle Walt Disney uses the sillohette of at the start of his movies. Anyway, after the trip it was back to Munich for a day or so and then on the plane home.

... to cover my ears with my hands, then I tried to put my pillow over my head and cover my ears at the same time. No matter what you did, you could still here this guy's snoring as loud as ever. It was probably the worst snoring I have ever heard in my life because not only is it loud but its not consistent. There are bits of coughing, wheezing, and what sounded like choking, intermixed in the snoring. People in the room were making loud banging noises, throwing ...

Another work conference for my parents brought us to Oberammergau for a week. We stayed in the cutest little wooden cottage - like the whole thing ceiling to floor and including flowering window boxes was made out of wood! Totally picturesque like you've read about in Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Aromatic town bakery. Absolutely enchanting.

Sadly, I dont remember much about Austria. Too bad because I have read so much about it lately as the music and art centre of Europe in the 1700s, I'd love to check that out.
I asked my dad recently if we had been there before. He said, 'oh yes, many times, we loved it'. Hmm, what a pity. I suppose it still counts because the images of scenery must be in my mind somewhere... curse this short memory of mine!