Steigenberger Hotel Kaprun

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 ...

We took a bus from Salzburg over to Berchtesgaden, Germany which is only about 45 minutes. It's nestled in the Bavarian Alps. We stayed on the outside of the city in a little Bed and Breakfast. It is usually cheaper to stay in a B&B then in a hostel (if the town has a hostel). We thought it would be much easier to find cheap hostels here but in Austria and Germany we're finding it harder and harder. But this place was great ...

... 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 ...

... 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.

... lunch but I went back up and used the Flying Gangster trail as my post-lunch challenge. It didn't disappoint! It's a freeride trail, with some very steep, fast sections, jumps, drops and big berms, but there's nothing you can't roll over if you're a beginner-level freerider or more used to XC, like me.

On my first run, I fell off after a bit of the trail that was covered with wood ended ...

... technical singletrack which was much more of a challenge for me and I had to work on shifting my balance on the bike, keeping the weight much further back, and trying to take a more balanced approach to braking, as I was heavily favouring the back brake (to such an extent that the rear tyre showed significantly more wear at the end of the week). Mountaintop lunch was a "Strammel Max" (ham, eggs ...

... for days after all! Our tour guide freaked us out slightly by telling us he had something special to tell us, then not telling us what it was. Had we won a prize? Had our holiday been cancelled? Would we have no accommodation? We had to wait till halfway to Kitzbuehel to find out. It was that there was a triathlon going on right around our hotel so we might not be able to get to the Welcome meeting the next morning as the road was going to be closed ...

... town of Schonau, our local shopping village. I couldn't let Mandy and Mum do all the shopping. It's a bottle top opener, but no ordinary bottle top opener. It's a foot long piece of timber with the inscription in German: In heaven there's no beer, So we might as well drink it here. We have code named it "The Donger" for obvious reasons. It makes for some good donger jokes around beer o'clock most days. Next time: More records tumble as we head south for some warmth....

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.

... KitzbuhelWe woke up at 7:00 am, feeling refreshed and ready to go. There was a buffet breakfast consisting of cold meats, cheeses, fruit, fresh yogurt, bread, cereal, jams and sweet bread… a very filling meal for our first full day in Kitzbuhel. Off we went, browsing our way along through town. All the buildings and homes were beautifully decorated and neat. Flower boxes hung everywhere…from every house. Every yard, no matter how small, had ...