Hotel Europaischer Hof Bad Gastein

... hand at an ariel assault course....he came back a shell of his former self after 3 hours in the trees hanging from bits of wire and trying to keep up with 9 year old girls who were more agile than him..for my penance I had to play pitch and putt with Lauren using carved putters and wooden balls..no danger i'll be joining a golf tour anytime soon. 

Definitely worth a visit in winter for you keen boarders out there.

... br> Der Hahn des Nachbarn hat dann ab 5 ca. zu nerven begonnen - aber ansonsten sehr gut geschlafen in der ersten nacht im Mobil.
Und um 1/2 9 dann eine 1. Klass Fruehstueck im Graf' schen Garten. Die Kollegen der Raiba vollzaehlig vesammelt !! Lg nochmals an alle !!!

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 ...

... but nothing had us prepared for what was to come after that.

Firstly, you buy your tickets, which include the cable car up the mountain. The cable car travels 700m at a 65 degree angle, and with Natalie not the best person to be with when heights are involved, it was an entertaining ride for the kids!!

Then after we made it to the top of the cable car we were delighted to find out that we had another 250m climb up to the actual ice cave itself. The ...

... between the marked trails are far more fun - epic powder is awesome. I freely admit that I'm still not the fastest person on the slopes, but that's not really the issue - having fun is. And have fun is what I have done. I didn't go to the thermal baths last night, so maybe I'll go tonight. Or maybe not. Though after snowboarding through a white-out (lots of snow, and icicles forming on my face) it might be nice... We shall see.

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 ...

... in Europe, that would be the Astronomical clock in Prague - which I also saw. In Prague I walked away in bemusement after 2 minutes though (it takes 20) shaking my head at the tourists watching in rapt awe.... Munich's history isn't quite as nasty as Berlin's but there are still some very entertaining facts about the city... For example there have been not one, but 2 Beer-related revolts in Munich. The first in 1400 and whatever, when the King raised the ...

... top pass in the road. The weather was perfect and the view spectacular. We took a diversion to the Franz-Hohn Glacier for an amazing view of Austrians highest mountain and the Glacier...and marmots!!! From the top of the highest point you could see over 30 mountains plus 3000m. The decent down started fine but Hans must have been feeling the heat! 16.0km at 12% grade down the other side the brakes started to cook, but not ...

... floor under the bed, but what a laugh. We cooked a curry and cracked a couple of bottles of red. Definitely broke our record for maximum number of people in the van, sorry Tammy!!!

Next morning, we headed off to the pass. The pass was built in the 1950s as not only a picturesque pass which tourists could pay to cross, but to use labour to boost the economy. It is one of the most twisty, turny, most stunning roads in the world. Blanketed in snow ...