Pattis Saalbach

... 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.

... cozy and German. Because it is surrounded by mountains we went for a long hike the first day. There is a lot to see in this area. Lots of little villages off the beaten path and the highlight is the Eagle's Nest.
Hitler spent a third of his time in Berchtesgaden. He had a small compound made here and it became the second seat of government next to Berlin. It was called the Bergoh and was his home. All the buildings were up ...

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... legs began to whimper and ask whether it wasn't time to gently ride back to base for a nice, cold beer. However, they quickly came to their senses and marshalled themselves for the coming onslaught: a long, hard fire road climb up 9 long switchbacks. Bigger than anything in South East England, for sure. The reward was worth it: a long singletrack descent with lots to offer in ...

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 ...

... Sacher Torte was the perfect farewell to such a pretty city. On a separate note: Does anybody know why Aldi is called Aldi all over the world but in German-speaking Austria it is called Hofer? I suppose this is something for me to contemplate on our onward journey to London tonight. * * * Salzburg has many lures to tempt the visitor. It's scenic. It's where The Sound of Music was filmed. It is the birthplace of Mozart. It has big ass salt mines to ...

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.

... looked only big enough to hold four or five people…really! But it was at the very edge of the mountain, and I didn’t think my faith was strong enough to get that close to the edge! There were a couple of young kids (goats, that is) who had taken a liking to Paul’s camera case, which he had left with me. I had to keep shooing them away, but they were so friendly…and inquisitive.)

In the evening, the town band was scheduled ...