Hotel Kaprunerhof

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 ...

... the mountains and on his 50th birthday the Nazi gave him the Eagle's Nest as a present. It was a retreat for him and was built on the peak of one of the highest mountains. To get there we had to take a special bus up a one lane road straight up the side of the mountain. When we got to the top we walked through a tunnel that went straight into the side of the mountain for 124 meters (406 feet) then we came to a huge brass elevator ...

... Eagle’s Nest. It is a precision timing of buses in that the road is only one lane, except for 2 pullover stops. After that, we boarded the brass elevator to go up to the building. Our guide gave another little speech and then we had 40 free minutes before we had to meet back down at the bus. The view was simply incredible. Puffed up the hill a ways for some good photo opportunities. (Only float pens at ...

... all of it but enjoyed what I could.

We lunched on snack bars and fruit after another big climb then did more challenging singletrack descents. I get a bit of vertigo on some of the trails where there's a steep drop to the side.

I was now on my 6th day of riding and when Keith asked whether I was up to another big climb to sample yet more singletrack descending ...

Now for the heavy stuff! After our customary farm-fresh, home-made breakfast, a 45-minute drive took us to Leogang. €25 bought a day's lift pass and I donned my arm and leg pads.

The beginner-freeride level trail is called Hangman II and runs from the midway lift station. It's a fairly wide trail with fine-gravel surfaces and big corners, with berms that weren't as high as I was ...

... and a small Franziskaner Weissbier.

We descended to Westendorf on the other side of the range, then crossed to Brixen and took another lift up to the top. Plenty of technical riding and learning today.

Dinner was served up by Keith back at the apartment: home made vegetable soup, followed by ham and sauerkraut and banana cake for dessert. Keith taught us to play German Whist.

... views. We made it down to dinner just in time for the last servings, and celebrated by buying some local red wine recommended by the tour guides en route. Staff seemed very friendly too!

It was a bit dark to go out exploring so we took in the atmosphere from the balcony, drank our wine which they let us take upstairs and considered our plans for the next few days, the peace of the mountains slightly spoiled by the disco music from the triathlon!

August 26-Monday
We left Kitzbuhel at 8:30. There was a brief stop in Berchtesgarden, in Germany, at 10:00. Up on the side of the mountain, we could see Hitler's Eagle’s Nest. It was rather chilling to see that part of history. The bunker is now a restaurant. Our rest stop overlooked a valley filled with wonderful homes. What a view! Back on the bus and on to Salzburg. Time 10:35.

... paintings, the artwork are incredible! On our approach to the church, along one side, was a small cemetery with decorated graves (just like the one in the Sound of Music). When we turned the corner and saw more graves winding around the church and up the hills, it was absolutely awesome. Graveyards here in Europe (at least judging by this one) are very different from those in the USA. Since there is much less space to devote to the dead, each family has a ...

Drove down to Kaprun so that we could go up a mountain. We had the choice of the cable car and the funiclar railway. Managed to convince Mum to take the railway, she's scared of heights and wouldn't take the cable car, I thought it safer than being stuck in a 3300m underground tunnel! Finally emerging at about 2500m. Great view, fresh air and an escape from the heat in the valleys. It's amazing how altitude effects you and how out of breath you can get, so we did a little ...