Familienhotel Sonngastein Bad Gastein

Stayed at a beautiful spot in Austria (Saalbach) with Hilly, Stu's old friend and new Father..actually felt sorry for him, the poor sod was knee deep in relatives, in laws, newly purchased crib and nappies, etc.....we stayed for afew days and it was neatly timed with the arrival home of new born Frankie. Hilly's place is 3 feet from a field of horses so Lauren was easily kept busy with feeding duties.

Stu tried ...

Abfahrt von Poettelsdorf dann endlich gegen 1/2 7 abends. War ja nicht so einfach - alles einladen - dann noch diverse Besuche - zwecks Wohnmobilbesichtigung ;-)
Kurze Pause in Ilz - abendessen und gegen 1/2 12 dann Ankunft in Steinfeld - Frau Graf ist sogar noch wach ...

Yes, as you can tell by my last few entries, I'm not in a writing mood at the moment. However, it's neccessary so that you all know that I am alive. Just briefly, Zell Am See was great. I stayed in a hotel because the town doesn't have hostels. It was nice to have my own bathroom and a private room. It wasn't much more than a hostel would have cost me. They had ...

Natalie had noticed in the Lonely Planet that the worlds largest ice caves 'Eisriesenwelt' near the village of Werfen. As it was on our way to Salzburg we thought why not tick another 'Worlds biggest/largest/first' off the list (Chevy Chase eat your heart out!)

Well what an experience... the day starts with a 15 min minibus ride up the mountain to a stopping point 200m from the ticket office. The walk to the ticket office takes another 10 minutes as it is fairly ...

... yesterday have become a white ball of healing light. I fully expect to achieve enlightenment tomorrow when I lay eyes on the St Marco Square in Venice. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it. I have also managed to work out the kinks in moving in a straight line. Which means the narrow sections no longer vex me so. Furthermore, the trees no longer scare the bejebus out of me. I've also discovered that the ungroomed ...

And now for a brief recap of my second day trying this madcap sport involving strapping a board to your feet and pointing yourself down a steep, snow-covered hill. Times fallen: Less than the number of my fingers and toes that are not frostbitten (that's 20) Times gotten back up: Everytime Times cartwheeled: Twice Body parts that hurt: I'm currently having some ...

Status update for my first day of snowboarding: Times fallen over: Infinity Times gotten back up: Infinity plus one Time spent having fun: 99.9999999% of the time Body parts that hurt: - Both big toes - Both knees - Left butt cheek - Lower left abdominals - Left wrist My smecksy pants work a treat.... At least until I crash and I end up with snow in your underwear... There's a good chance I'm going to get hooked on this sport. There is quite possibly nothing cooler than the ...

... place - and I would happily recommend the cities to anyone. Except maybe Reykjavik. Don't go there unless you have a lot of money to burn, or a strong currency to pay for everything you'll want to do. I think that's going to do me for now, I need to try to keep these things a bit shorter.. Or update more regularly (I've said that before though...). Stay tuned for updates into all the fun and painful injuries I sustain in the process of learning to snowboard. Huzzah!

... has regular water stops, originally for the older cars of the time to refill their radiators, as they would overheat with the steepness of the ascent. Not our trusted van, she took all four of us, packs, and fully laden, all in her stride, even up the last part of the road which is more designed for bikes and standard cars, not vans or buses. On the way up, we stopped in the snow to make an Aussie Snowman, complete with thongs, bush hat and Aussie flag ...

... tried it and it was not too bad. Odd consistency.. Again I asked him what it was and he said that the best English way to describe it would be speck tartare.. Now speck means bacon., not sure about this one! Well, the USDA might not approve of this tasty morsel, but we survived it (and the schnapps!) The Schnitzel on the other hand was fabulous!! I want to try to cook this stuff at home some day. I highly recommend it.. Well, on the road again soon! Off to Prague..