Hotel San Gabriele Rosenheim

... about the autobahn. Unless you're away from cities, there's a comfortable speed limit. 72 mph, I think I can handle that. The right lane is the place to be. Rest stops are everywhere, and they beat the pants off a Flying J. Yes, you have to pay 0.50 euro to use the bathroom, but it's clean and you get a 0.50 euro voucher for food in return. Pretty cool to check out the license plates too, we saw trucks from Russia ...

... out. Main train hub to connect to other regional trains.

Met up with Stef and we drove to Kufstein in Austria. First time on an autobahn!!! Woohoo!!!
Checked out the Kufstein Festung (fortress) which was completed in 1522 with some parts dating back to the 1100's.
Overlooks the Inn river and nice views of Kufstein and the the surrounding area.

Ate Kaiserschmarrn and spatzle for the first time which are both ...

... that the tough bikers had done hardly any miles and taken refuge in a cozy hotel and were tucking into the cold beers! We did a few more miles on the road towards Munich and did exactly the same.

I'm now scrubbed and changed and Baz and myself are off to the bar!

Cheers, Rick

ps Found my first Burger King this afternoon and Baz and myself pigged-out! Civilization!!

... down by the ankles to two vertical poles, then sawn in half down the middle. Right down the cleft. Thinking of all the roadside shrines and crosses I had seen in the Tirol, my mind strayed to wonder how the religious imagery of Christian Europe might be rather different had the Romans favoured this method of execution instead of crucifixion!

Behind the tower is a ...

... of challenge and reward, leading ultimately right back to the farmhouse and that long-desired beer. There was a smell of burning coming from my rear brakes!

We packed ready for departure. Keith and Manu joined us for dinner, serving up a lovely home-made quiche followed by goulash made from one of the farm's own cows, and a home-baked apple-strudel. All great stuff.

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 ...

... the hotel wouldn't be able to give us a lift into town. Okay, we thought, but would we be able to book the glacier trip? I resolved there and then to find our own way into town. How hard could it be?

Anyway, they taxied us out to our hotel after dropping the Kitzbuehel contingent as our hotel was out by the lake. First impressions - very beautiful setting and they gave us a room with an enormous balcony - even though we hadn't paid extra for ...

... train to Munich. A short break for coffee, then on a local train to Lenggries. There waiting to meet us was Anna (grandma) and Andrea (one of the four children -- who had a good grasp of English and acted as interpreter all night). From there it got rather confusing. We met George, George junior, his wife Anna Lisa, their son George junior junior who had a hot date, Andrea Junior and Franziska. We didn't meet Anna Lisa the daughter, or Martin (thank God for a unique name ...

Went to the deutches museum today. Was definitely not impressed. I went expecting something like the Ontario science center. The book describes it as, "a vast science and technology museum, like a combination of Disney land and the Smithsonian institute all under one huge roof that covers 13km (7-8miles)of corridor under one roof." I expected this big hands on and play kind of place. It was far from it! The most hands on ...

... give a concert in the old part of town, so we decided to take a walk over to listen. What a treat! The band came marching into the square to the applause of the town folk. These people here really enjoy themselves. It is a pleasure just to watch them. We sat by one of the many cafes in town (they are called konditorei) that features nothing but desserts, so we had some (had to…you know, when in Rome…). The people here do know how to live. The ...