Hotel Stadttor Schladming

... the women then the men to follow. Got to the bottom of the track just in time for the final few riders. Sam Hill won for Australia by 3 seconds with Fairclough of Great Britain in 5th. Great day. The riders partied through the night so we put our ear plugs in and got some sleep ready to move on to Salzburg the next day.

Here's some pics before the camera broke....

... room.... but it got the thumbs up as it was clean, tidy and modern. The view from the room was amazing, perfect view of the Planai mountain slope, so good we could have sat there and watched the biking from our room!! Dropped our bags and went for our first meal out since leaving home, chilli fahitas and chicken burgers went down a treat, god bless Papa Joes!!!!

... radiators, hung them in the bathroom, behind the door, in the closet, everywhere. Brian said it was like an Easter egg hunt. What was she doing in our room again and with my underwear? Best part was I couldn't find one of my socks. The next morning after breakfast I asked her where it might be (in broken German and using my hands) and she left, and came back 15 minutes later with it. Still don't know where exactly she got it from.

For breakfast I decided to ...

I woke up this morning still not feeling like being a tourist. So I stayed in my room as long as I could, but I had to check out by 10 am. My plan was to just take a quick walk around town and then catch a train to Salzburg. The town was really small, so it only took about 15 minutes to see it.

But it was really pretty, so I lingered. And I went to a church that had a bone chapel out back. There wasn't much space in the town, because of ...

So today I was really, truly sick of being a tourist. I never thought it would happen, but I guess after almost 4 weeks I finally got burned out. I didn't feel like doing anything at all. But I had to take a 4.5 hour train ride to Hallstatt in the morning.

Yesterday I stopped by an English bookstore in Vienna and bought a book, because I was already thinking about doing nothing today. So I spent a lot of the train ride reading (it was a book called "City of ...

... as when
the sunset it got instantly cold....hmm this wasnt in the emma and
kathleen brochure! Tuesday morning we got up and went for a walk - well
mini hike really. I looked totally out of place... everyone had their
hiking boots and poles etc... then here I come, shorts and cardi,
converse sneakers and long pink ...

... and then hit the road for areas less populated. Destination: Hallstatt in the salzkammergut area of Austria.

An hour and a half out of Salzburg, the little village of Hallstatt sits perched on the edge of a lake. It is built on a hill, has really only one street suitable for cars, and is in a gorgeous mountainous setting. The camping is half a kilometer out of town, and across the road from the main city park with swimming area in the lake. Wahoo ...

... took us into a cave lined with ice. The ice is formed each Spring as the winter thaw seeps into the ceiling of the caves which maintain a constant subthermal temperature. The result is stalagtites and stalagmites formed in ice, as well as ice rivers and waterfalls. It was quite beautiful and very chilly!

We said "Vislat" to our new Hungarian friends and hopped in the car heading for Hungary.

... girls!) must be crazy! We had quite a few Oz boys to cheer for, including Sam Hill (Perth lad) who needed to win the downhill to take the 2008 World Crown. Unfortunately, he was just pipped by a young kiwi lad, and so had to settle for 2nd. We caught the gondola up to the start and nervously worked our way down the mountain side to watch from different sections of the course (although not as bad as Friday night, it was still raining). As I said before, I don't know ...

... in Amsterdam, getting used to the Dutch life. Great concert On my last Saturday night I went with Hyun-Jung and Reynaud to a beautiful African Jazz concert in Carnival City Casino in Brakpan (45 minutes from Joburg), where the famous Ladysmith Black Mambaso and Hugh Masekela performed. It was great. I recognised quite a few songs, a.o. "Homeless", by LBM that I know from their Graceland CD with Paul Simon. Huigh Masekela is a trumpet player ...