The Life of Reilly

The Website

2012-12-02T07:56:00.000Z

Remember to check out the Sidney Reilly website for ALL the info you will need on St.Anton - there you will find great deals on holidays & apartments as well as much more - to get there just click here or on the link for "St.Anton Info Site" to the right. Also if you are looking for great ski apartments to rent in the village then click here.

2nd Off Piste Day

2012-01-25T06:07:00.000Z

A great day today. Lots of fresh powder still around as yesterday many lifts did not open. We started off with a little run down Zwischen to the Osthangbang, the snow was great, lovely to ski. Second run was also down Zwischen but carrying on down the left gully and onto Kandahar then down all the way to the village. After taking the gondola back up we off the back of the Galzig toward the St Christoph run and aain found some brilliant snow. From here we skied across to Meinplatt, right to the far side by the pylons and down through the trees - very deep untracked snow - heaven. At this point the kapalbahn was running despite there having been a massive (and I do mean massive slide - like a 3 metre deep cut) slide set off by the avalanche commission in Mattun. So we went up and skied down the ridge into Schaffsleiger and down into Schoengraben. Not many people had reached Schoengraben yet as they all went to Mattun! Georg found us a great untoched and very long run in the powder most of the way down - my legs ran out before the powder did! Back up to Kapal and this time down the ski route along the ridge on the left hand edge of Mattun. Lots of untracked but Phil lost a ski in a tumble which delayed us for only a few minutes.... Now we noticed that the Arlenmahderbahn was running but when we reached Galzig found that the piste to it was still closed as Tanzboden drag was not yet able to run. SO we skied off piste down to lift, a very bumpy start but when we arrived at Arlenmahder it was deserted as all the pistes leading to it were closed - so why did they open the lift?! Who cares, what it meant was that the huge amount of podwe snow around this area was not being skied by anyone - this wuld now change - we were going to have it all :) For the next two hours we skied off the top of the Arlenmahderbahn finding untracked powder every run, oh how happy we were. The final run was down to the road under Pfanne, here the Lens had a tumble after skiing across a very large crack that had been covered with snow - he was lucky as it was big enough to have swallowed him whole!! Looking back up from Arlenmahder towards Schindler there is just so much snow, the hangs and gullys are so covered, never seen it like this before - the piste bashers were still struggling to pist the run down from Schindler to Ulmer Hutte - check out the last pic!

Closed again

2012-01-21T06:06:00.002Z

As predicted the snow came down and is still falling. I had to get to Landeck this morning and get some keys cut amongst other things and I was worried that I would get stranded there if they closed the roads back in because of avalanche risk. As I approached the ST Anton exit everything stopped for 20 minutes and I thought I was done for..... but thankfully it started moving again and I made it home with 20 minutes to spare before the road and railway in was clsoed. This always seems to happen on a Saturday! All that was running from 1pm was a shuttle train from & to Bludenz which makes it a nightmare for guests arriving - especially if they are coming from the Innsbruck direction!

More snow

2012-01-20T06:06:00.002Z

The snow is coming down again, a metre is forecast and this spells trouble for the road and rail connection into St Anton as there will be a liklihood of it all closing again if we do get this much snow!

Out with Wolfie

2012-01-19T06:05:00.002Z

A good day today skiing with Wolfie and my friends - Ed the C, Just-in, Louise, Adam & Rockie. The weather was not great but Wolfie found us some good snow and we had a good time - always great to ski with these guys. Not so good to apres ski with them!! We started at 2 in the afternoon with lunch in the posh restaurant on Galzig - far too much wine..... I had left my skis in the Jennewein shop which was closed when we finished our long lunch so had to take the gondola down, get another pair of skis and take a bus to Taps! A few in taps, more in the KK, then a ski down and into Piccadilly in the village, Hannes playing some great music and then onto Jacky's and finally finishing off in the Grieswirt for some food! The next day I fely like crap and was missing my skis, my airbag, my helmut and gloves!! The skis I knew the whereabouts of but the rest - no idea. I had to retrace my steps to recover it all..... as I say, great to ski with but not to apres with!!

Langen

2012-01-17T16:27:00.000Z

Met up with Mr Chicken Wings this morning and decided to head across to Albona and trek out towards the Kaltenberg Hutte and ski down to Langen in the hopw of finding some powder. It was quite a long trek but we were rewarded with quite a few turns in some fluffy powder but then th eprice was a crap totally skied out track back down to Langen. Then it was a nice soup in the hotel Post in Stuben before heading back over to St.Anton for a couple of runs down Osthang (really great snow) and then skiing to the bottom via Ameiseneck..... It was a great day, not so much for the skiing but just for being out high up in the mountains, nobody else around and some fantastic scenery - all the reasons why we live here :)

Happy Valley Avalanche

2012-01-16T16:22:00.001Z

The avalanche that came down into Happy valley last week has still not bee cleared up. As you will see from the pics it is very big, probably 15 - 20 feet deep. The top of the valley remains closed but still people have been coming round the closed off netting and skiing it. I reached the point above it from Larche.

Sunday Roast

2012-01-15T16:17:00.001Z

A beautiful sunny day so perfect for a ski, the slopes were not busy either which was nice and the snow was just great. We cruised around Kapal, skiing besdie the T bar where it was empty and then skied all the way down to Nasserein. Back up and then across to Galzig for a few runs on Osthang before taking a hot chocolate stop in Annie's. As it was Sunday it seemed a good idea to ski to the Rodlhutte for a spit roast chicken and chips, this not only tastes great but is very good value too! As you can see from the pic we were not the only ones sitting there in the sun :)

Good & bad

2012-01-12T16:41:00.000Z

Today the sun was out so it was hopefully time to find some nice snow. The Schindlergratbahn and Arlenmahderbahn were closed first thing as the piste bashers were still trying to get the slopes prepared. So what was the plan? decided to try a run in Larch but this was closed due to avalanche risk in the valley. So plan B was to head to Stuben as everything there was open, the only trick was how to get across there with the lifts that I needed being closed?! Simple, ski to St Christophe and take a taxi... Going up on the Albona I lift it was amazing to see just how much snow there is on the barriers below - see the pic. So then it was up and into the area above Langen woods, the snow was a little crispy on top but not bad, in fact I would say quite nice - even nicer when you reached the trees! Then it was back over to the Valfagherbahn as it was getting close to lunch time and I fancied checking out Pfanne. Well I should not have bothered the snow was not good as the wind and sun had been at it but worse was the large cracks where it had started to slide - best to keep well away from there. So much of the off piste areas are very dangerous at the moment that great care is needed!!

Cut off again!!

2012-01-08T18:46:00.003Z

Snow throughout the night and during the day has lead to the road past the Tirlerhof again being closed due to the risk of another avalanche. Up on the mountain the New Year crowds have left and the slopes are quiet and covered in knee deep fresh powder. The forecast is for more snow until Wednesday when we expect some long overdue sunshine. Hopefully there will be some great powder days coming up.

Exodus

2012-01-07T18:41:00.000Z

As predicted the second avalanche came down in the night across the railway and road in front of the Tirolerhof Hotel so there was expectation that the road out would be cleared sometime around 9.30 So the mad exodus started as those with flights both booked and also missed tried to escape! I pity the poor guy in the photo trying to find his car!! The railway was only running towards Bludenz and a shuttle trains were running to and from Bludenz, the railway station was manic but even worse was the road out towards the Arlberg road tunnel, I sat in the traffic jam for 30 minutes, getting just 300 metres before realising that the top road through St Jakob was also likely to be open, the problem was going to be getting there! In the end it was simple, just drive on the wrong side of the road past all the stationary traffic and then turn left up into Nasserein. The road was not only open, it was traffic free – 5 minutes later I was joining the road by the tunnel and on the way to Landeck to drop some guests at the station there. Getting back was harder, the queue for the tunnel was long but eventually I was back in St Anton and soon heading for the slopes to meet up with my friend Mike who is over from Australia. The slopes were not crowded and the snow was very nice – a shame that the same could not be said for the visibility!

How much snow?!

2012-01-07T09:38:00.001Z

Well it has been snowing pretty much non stop for the last few days and even the very organised snow clearing systems of St Anton are struggling to cope with it. So much has come down that the snow ploughs shift it from the roads but it then ends up covering the footpaths! Lorry loads of it are being dumped daily into the river but still when you drive along the side roads it is like driving through a tunnel, snow banks on both sides of the road sometimes up to twelve feet high! Cars parked outside are covered and all you can see are big lumps in the snow. Where I live the snow ploughs have not been through for some days and the snow outside is approaching first floor level in some places, my kitchen window has snow half way up it and outside the front door it is at least six feet deep! Looking out from my balcony at the apartment block opposite there is a massive overhang of snow from the roof. I have been here for 10 years and have not seen anything like it, sometimes Alte Arlbergstrasse down to the village is almost completely blocked and often reduced to a single lane – great fun when you drive down and have people skiing down in front of you!!

Houston we have a problem

2012-01-06T21:13:00.003Z

So 6 weeks ago everyone was panicing that the snow would not come.... and now..... well we have too much. It has snowed so much this season it is crazy. It has snowed for the last two days almost non stop and now the village is cut off. A big avalanche has come down near the Tirolerhof between St Jakob & Gand blocking the road and railway track, another huge amount of snow just along form this is also about to avalanche so nobody is coming in and nobody is going out. It is thought that this snow will avalanche tonight as it is still snowing hard. Not much is likely to change before lunch tomorrow. All morning today Galzig, Rendl, Kapal & Gampen were close with just the lower lifts above the village running. In the afternoon the Gampen did open. I did not go up but reports are that the snow was waste deep on the piste in places!! Crazy.

Some nice Powder

2012-01-03T15:11:00.000Z

A sunny day which sems to be a rare thing so far this season so skis on and up the galzigbahn. As it is the busiest week of the season it semed like a good plan to try and avoid the piste! Started off with a little trip into Meinplatt which was a bit of a mistake as the snow was not good, the rain had been at it:( So back up to the galzig and across to the Tanzboden draglift as the Schindlergratbahn was now open. OMG, skiing down black 10 was awful, bumpy as hell and full of people.... then the queue at the lift..... massive. At the top they were just closing Schindlerkar as they were about to blast somewhere so we went to the Valluga hangs via one of the chutes, bit lumpy but nice snow an NO people! The traverse across the hang to find a clear untracked run down, these were going fast. Then we cut across the piste and into the middle of Pfanne. Some nice snow in here, a little crispy in places but lots of untracked. Then it was a traverse to Valfagher. Off the lift and into the very top of Pfanne, lovely soft powder for a long way and then the crispy stuff as we reached the middle again. Traverse, up the lift, into Pfanne again - well it was sooooo good at the top and nobody else had gone in here since our last run! This time as we reached the half way point we cut much further left and found some wonderful snow, it was so good that we did not cut to the traverse and therefore had a 15 minute walk to the Arlberghohe for lunch. That snow was well worth the walk! After lunch we then had the prospect of how to return to the village?! Well going via the piste and Kandahar was not a thought that enthralled us. So a better plan was Wald Schneise, at first I thought we were the first to go in as there were not any tracks across the snow covered lake but then I saw some cutting in from higher up, but not many. There was still plenty of nice untracked powder so we were happy. Even lower down it was ok. Then it was back along the track out and off home. A good day!

All about the music

2012-01-02T20:38:00.002Z

Tonight saw the long awaited debut of Gunar at the Kandahar, it should have been earlier but a broken arm had delayed things from the intended December debut! Over the summer a new stage and a new lighting / sound system have been installed and I have to say that it all looked and sounded great tonight. Gunar put on an amazing show and showed that he is still one of the best if not the best live act in St.Anton. Also making his debut tonight is ex Level 42 keyboard player Lyndon Connah who will play a set throughtout January from about 21.30 onwards...... If you like live music then the Kandahar is def the place to go.

New Years Eve

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000Z

A busy day with guests arriving throughout the day and then it was off to the Antonerhof to see in the New Year! Most places in town put on something for the NY and prices are of course high! The Antonerhof whilst expensive also offers the best value for what you actually get for your buck! Free pink champagne, trays of oysters, truffels, speck and many other lovely finger food for the first hour and then it was time for the food proper. The menu ran to many courses and as usual here the food was just amazing. Throughout the evening there was live music from Drei Rad, they were really good and I will def head back there when they return later in the season. At midnight everyone headed outside for the firework display and then it was back inside for more drinking and dancing.... :) 2012 here we come!

Malfon

2011-12-28T14:45:00.000Z

We have hd so much snow lately that pretty much every time I have skied it has been a powder day! After a few days of sunshine the off piste that is easily accessible has been skied out - so time for a little bit of touring! So out came the touring skis and skins and I headed up onto Rendl and the top of Riffel II and over the ridge into Hinter Rendl again. After taking the high traverse it was a short skin up for about 40 minutes and we were at the top of the Riffelscharte and looking down into the Malfontal. The first 200 metres were over some crappy avalanche debris but then it was untracked powder pretty much all the way down to the track out of the valley. If you want to see just how nice it was click here for the helmet cam movie clip!

Hinter Rendl & a Wedding

2011-12-26T21:30:00.001Z

A late start and a hangover! Headed up to Rendl and to the top of the Riffel II lift and into Hinter Rendl. Whilst it was quite skied there were still a few bits that had not been touched and offered some nice powder. There was more untracked the lower down you went :) The get out back down to the path was as usual pretty bumpy but you just have to live with that! Then we headed up to Gabi's hut above Gampen as our mates Ralph & Charne' were getting married, ok it would be totally official as the "Vicar" was Ed the C, the real ceremony will be taking place in the UK soon! JFK stood in as father of the bride and the Lens was best man. We had gone to quite a bit of effort to prepare everything, an arch made up of skis, a high alter, holy water (schnapps) and pews for the 16 guests! Even Simon whose broken leg from last season has still not mended made it slowly down the slopes to attend.

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T22:22:00.000Z

Yesterday was the day that the Austrians celebrate Christmas so it was a bit of a late one for me! Hence this morning was a slow start followed by a few runs on the mountain before heading to the Arlberghohe for our traditional Christmas lunch. This year we topped 30 people! Christoph welcomed us with a nice gluwein or two..... The lunch was great as usual, plenty of turkey, mince pies and Christmas cake and lots of wine!

Skiing with Phil again

2011-12-21T06:39:00.000Z

It has been quite a while since I have skied with Phil due to his long running back problems but thankfully this season he is now able to ski again. Lots of friends are now arriving - Johnny K, Ralf, Ed the C, Kevin & Jane and the Lens to name just a few. We all met up for breakfast in the Haferl which turned out to be a long one as the lifts did not open until 10am. The problem was too much snow! We have gone from famine to feast as it has been dumping it don pretty much non stop for the last two days. We started off on Rendl and found plenty of great snow in the two runs that we did before crossing over the the Galzig side. I had a couple of runs in Mienplatt and the snow was just soooo deep, it was almost impossible to get going in some places. Another great powder day!!

Stormy & Cold

2011-12-19T06:23:00.000Z

Bit of a late start today, Leila & I hit the slopes mid morning and did not really miss much. The visability was not great and the wind was blowing hard again so we just cruised around Kapal and Gampen, stopping for a hot chocolate in the igloo. We had a late lunch in Taps before heading down as Leila is heading home this afternoon and had to pack!

Schongraben Wald

2011-12-18T06:17:00.000Z

Today the Kapalbahn finally opened as the wind has now subside which gave us the oportunity to ski one of my favourite offpiste runs - Schongraben Wald. The snow is normally amazing in there. We had already had a couple of runs in Mienplatt before the kapalbahn opened but headed straight up there when it started running! Joining the fun today were Jack & Robbie, a couple of guests over fom Dublin for a week. The snow was just amazing, untracked and deep - up around my thighs :) It was just awsome skiing....

Another Powder Day

2011-12-17T06:06:00.002Z

The nice thing about the start of the season is that the resort is not so busy and the powder does not get skied out too quickly. The visability is still not great but it was a perfect day to head into Mienplatt as the bushes and trees would give some definition. The top lifts are still not open as the wind is still blowing to hard. The snow was very good and we put in some great turns. I had to stop by lunchtime as I had guests arriving.

Some powder

2011-12-16T05:53:00.002Z

Back in St.Anton with perfect timing as the snow has been coming down yesterday and today. Leila came back over with me for a few days and Airtime Steven & the guys are also out for a few days. Started the day off with a few runs on Osthang before moving to Kandahar - nice snow. Then on the last run before lunch had a little run down Larch where I found lots of untracked areas! After lunch Airtime and Tom joined Leila and myself and we skied Larch another couple of times, finding clear runs each time!

Back in the UK

2011-12-14T05:45:00.002Z

Taken the oportunity for a quick trip to the UK before the ski season really gets underway, time to see my family as I won't be back until well into next year. As well as popping into the 606 in London for a night of great music. The final call was at Duxford where I checked out a great old machine with a view to taking a flight after the ski season :)

Old habbits die hard

2011-12-09T16:27:00.002Z

I lost track of how many times last season Mike & I were on the first lift and the first skiers to make it to the bottom of blue Osthang and today we did it again. As most of the resort is not yet open we decided an early start would be a good plan and made it into the first gondola, always worth doing as that run down a totally clear Osthang is great :) We followed it up with a Kandahar and then a St.Christoph before taking a long break in Annies at the top of Galzig. Then we did another Osthang which was by this time very busy, then down an equally busy and much more bumpy Kandahar and then on to the bottom. Between the Zammermoosbahn and the bottom there was some lovely snow. Hopefully more of the resort is opening this weekend. After a hectic couple of hours skiing we realxed for another hou in the Basecamp :)

Off but with a stutter

2011-12-08T16:11:00.005Z

So today the lifts opened at 08.45....... well nearly, we were all there in the big queue but due to the high winds the Galzigbahn did not actually kick into life until 09.30 - at this point a big cheer went up and the crowd pushed to the gates,...... I was with Mike Rees and we met up with Heinz, Heinz and I made it into the first gondola but Mike had the doors close on his face! So at the top the first person out of the first gondola was me :) We had checked out black Osthang on the way uo and decided this was the way to go, so I had called Mike and said we would see him at the entry to it..... Heinz and I were the first onto the slopes and went straight into the powder in Zwischen which was of course untracked. A little heavy but we had expected this and then it was across to the far right and the top of Black Osthang. Mike was there a minute later and in we went. Wow, deep or what, well deep and heavy..... you did not want to go to slow or you bogged down up to your thighs - I was already think I should be on my K2's as the Sabine came flying past on hers! Still it was great snow and our lack of fitness was showing up already as Heinz was way ahead (being a young fit bas****) so he made the obvious decision and headed off on his own whilst the old slow guys made our way down. Zammermoos was not open so we skiied to the bottom and took the gondola back up and did another run down Kandahar to the bottom again. I wanted some more off piste so we headed into Mienvarsen which was still pretty untracked. Again it was deep and heavy but such fun, that is until we were nearly at the bottom were it was pretty wet. I was up for another off piste run but Mike prefered the piste. We found some nice light powder off to the side of Tanzboden but a quick look into Larch did not look so nice. Then we did a couple of St.Christoph runs before going to the Hospiz Alm for lunch. Not a bad day and tomorrow for sure I will have the K2's out and be heading for...... actually I am not going to tell everyone as it was still pretty untracked when I looked in the afternoon. Will tell you the details tomorrow!

We are on for it

2011-12-07T07:53:00.002Z

More snow overnight, still snowing so it looks like all systems go for tomorrow when the lifts should open. Off to buy my lift pass this morning and meet a few friends for coffee. Tomorrow morning we will be on the first lift up the mountain :) Red Bull staff party in Kandahar tonight......

Murrmel

2011-12-06T07:28:00.003Z

Last night after the Krampular show I went for a drink in the new Murrmel Bar. It was pretty busy with a mixture of locals and tourists. There are four areas, a modern, bright bar area, a cozy seating area, a smoking room with seats and tables and downstairs there is another bar with dance floor. I think that it wil be one of the popular hangouts this season but not one of the cheapest! Update on the weather - Still snowing :)

Krampular

2011-12-05T22:16:00.004Z

5th December is Krampular night and the village is always busy. The Christmas market is still open and all afternoon the Krampular (devil like creatures of legend) chase the local kids around the village. Then at 7pm they parade through the village down to the Gries where there is then a show culminating in a big firework display. The snow was really coming down which really made the night. It was also really cold which is good news as snow is forecast every day for the the next week.

Gift Shop

2011-12-05T14:48:00.003Z

As previously reported here the old internet cafe is no more! It has been replaced by a smart new gift shop selling some pretty cool stuff. So next time you are in town and want a little something to take home for those who could not make it skiing you know where to go....

Pizza Amore & Steak House

2011-12-05T14:36:00.004Z

On the site of the old Funky Chicken is the new Anthony's Hotel and underneath this is Pizza Amore and the "Happy Valley" Steak & Shake...... The pizza restaurant is already open but the finishing touches are still being applied to the Steak House in the cellar. It looks all very nice, bright & breezy so I will just have to check out how good the food and the shakes are! Maybe even tonight as the krampular are out in the village!

At Last

2011-12-05T12:36:00.002Z

At the last snow has arrived, it has been snowing all morning and looks set to continue throughout the week. It is not dumping it down but a few inches in the village is normally a fair bit more on the mountain. The snow cannons are going and hopefully the lifts and a few runs will open on Thursday :)

Murrmel Bar

2011-11-29T12:00:00.002Z

One of the nicest refurbishments in the village is the new Murrmel Bar next tothe spa shop. The wooden facing has now gone on and it looks really nice, I hear that there will be three different areas / styles in the bar...... update will follow when they open up

Anthony's Update

2011-11-29T11:56:00.002Z

Everywhere you look in the Dorfstrasse there seems to be frantic activity and this is certainly the case at the Anthony's complex where they are rushing to get everything finished for the opening next week - they are hosting the Red Bull Hutten Ralley after party so I guess they have to be ready!! The sports hop is already open and next door the BIPA shop also looks about ready to go.

Shops

2011-11-29T11:49:00.003Z

The sports shops all had their big openings on Saturday, this season the Pangraz and Alber shops have a new look following refurbishment over the lst few months. The town is really starting to come alive and is busy with ski bums looking for work, returning workers and also the first of the tourists who are arriving for the opening weekend festivities. Although the lifts will not open until Thursday 8th there is still plenty happening this weekend. On Friday night we have the Kandahar opening party, Saturday is the SWR3 German radio station apres ski (?) party at the Mooserwirt from 4pm and then on Sunday it is the Krampular race and parade between 5 & 7pm. There is also the Christmas market here all weekend. A walk along the Dorfstrase this morning gave me a look at the new Hervis Sports shop that is now open for business. Next door to Hervis is the new 3M hotel that is opening very soon, the frontage is now looking good whilst inside there it is a hive of activity!

Snow is coming

2011-11-28T11:39:00.000Z

I returned from a few days in the UK this week, looking forward to the prospect of snow on Friday, Sunday, Monday & Tuesday - the three forecasting sites that use all agreed on this. So it was something of a surprise to find out this morning that the Bergbahn have now decided not to open the lifts until Thursday?! Surely a better plan would have been to adopt a wait and see approach and open the lifts when the snow is here and has ben pisted?!!

Anothony's

2011-11-22T07:21:00.003Z

A couple of pics from Anthony's as it really starts to come together. The sports shop is being filled with all the new season stock ready for the opening this Saturday but whilst the facia is taking shape there still seems a great deal still to be done in the new restaurant & bars. The sports shop as far as I am aware is now all on one level as the basement is now going to be part of the steak house.

Snowmakers

2011-11-19T07:12:00.002Z

Last night on my way back down from the Taps party I noticed that the snowmakers were all going full blast all the way down from Galzig to the village. This is a sure sign that the weather will now stay cold and that hopefully some snow is on the way. The next morning I took this pic and already some kids were having a little fun!

Back to the 70's

2011-11-18T07:17:00.002Z

Last night there was a great party at Taps, organised by Andy, Gabriela and Andrea - it was a 1970 / 1980's theme as so many of the locals hit 50 last year and wanted to get back to their youth!! Nearly everyone made the effort to get into costume and the music was great - took me back quite a few years! Egon did his bit putting the prices back at 1980's levels so we all had a great time.

New Sports shop

2011-11-13T20:38:00.002Z

This season there will be a new sports shop in the village. Hervis - the Eastern European sports chain is opening an outlet in the Dorfstrasse, right next to the Testa Rossa cafe - it is currently being fitted out. Hervis sell competitively priced sports clothing and equipment so it will be interesting to see how the prices are in St.Anton and whether they will give the established local shops a run for their money.

Party Time

2011-11-12T07:07:00.000Z

Last night was the opening night for the Piccadilly niteclub which I guess signals the start of the ski season. The place was packed as locals and ski bums partied late into the night. There was also a private party for Roberta's 30th birthday which was a fancy dress affair with a private area set aside at the far end of the bar.....

Covers come off

2011-11-11T11:11:00.004Z

A walk through the Dorfstrasse this morning revealed the facia of the two new hotels that have been built there - The Anthony's Hotel & the 3M Hotel. Work seems to have stepped up a pace over the last week and you can clearly see the hive of activety in the Anthony's ground floor level where the Pangraz Sports shop is being stocked and the new bar & restaurants are being kitted out. Elsewhere in the centre the Alber Sports shop is also having a new look inside and all will be revealed on the 25th..... Watch this space.

Driving Heaven

2011-11-02T20:29:00.002Z

A couple of bank holidays this week so took the oportunity to leave St.Anton and drive to Bergamo in Italy. The drive through the mountains to Italy via St Moritz is just amazing, driving heaven. The old town of Bergamo is amazing, lots of old buildings, lovely restaurants and little bars and shops everywhere. Also spent onr day looking around Milan, the Cathedrak is very impressive but Bergamo was better - a great place to a weekend break if you are looking for ideas :)

No more Mailbox

2011-10-27T07:10:00.003Z

Main news for this week is that the "Mailbox" internet cafe will not reopen this season. These days with hi speed internet and so many ways to get online where ever you are for free has really taken away the need for an internet cafe. The unit is being refurbished and will open up as a gift shop before Christmas. I don't think that the internet access itself will be missed very much but what is a shame is that "Mailbox" offered a great advertising board where you could find jobs, accommodation and sell ski equipment. I also hear that the new 3M Hotel above the Testa Rossa will open on 15th December.....

Murrmel Bar Update

2011-10-26T07:16:00.003Z

Whilst in the Dorfstrasse I had a look at the work going on at the new Murrmel bar, the ground works to secure and waterproof the cellar have been completed. Now some of the covers are down I could see that it is going to be bigger than I thought at first - it will extend all the way to the Spa on the ground floor, not sure how big the cellar will be but I will try and find out some more info about exactly what the palce is going to be like.

Anthony's Update

2011-10-25T07:31:00.003Z

The outside of the new Anthony's hotel has been covered from the elements as the outer insulation and cladding will now be going on. Activity inside the building is gathering pace as the rush to be open for the season takes hold. I can't see much from the outside but I can see that th ewhole side of the building is to be glass.....

2011-10-22T14:26:00.003Z

Today it is beautiful, a clear blue ski and perfect for a little walk in the mountains above St.Anton. I walked across the sonne weg above the village and under Gampen before heading back on the higher track and down to the Heustadl. From up there you can really see the snow in Hinter Rendl and Saum, lots of it from the recent snowfalls. On the south facing slopes of course it has melted but on the north facing there will be lots so I guess that Bachseite wil have a fair bit in it now. I passed some snow makers, out and ready to start doing their job in a few weeks, also I saw work being done to build a huge jump over one of the mountain huts for the Red Bull Hutte Rallye on the 9th / 10th December! I noticed at the Heustadl that Rudi has bulit a covered area on the terrace next to the band stand - I am pretty sure that it was not there last winter?!

A little more snow

2011-10-20T09:57:00.002Z

Last night the snow came again but no where near as much as a couple of weeks ago. Temperatures are much lower now although it is supposed to get a little warmer over the weekend. More snow is forecast for the end of next week.....

The 3M Hotel

2011-10-20T09:52:00.004Z

Work is progressing nicely in the Dorfstrasse on the new 3M hotel, this is the one above the Testa Rossa Cafe. The wooden frontage is going on and at the back the insulation is being fitted to the walls. I took a quick look inside and there is plenty of work still to be done and I think like the other projects this summer that it will be a struggle to complete the work and be open for business much before Christmas. Here is the link to their website.

Georg & Sandra

2011-10-19T07:44:00.002Z

A couple of friends are in the village this week, top instructor Georg and his girlfriend Sandra. We met up at the Hafferl bar & cafe to catch up on all that we have been up to over the summer. Whilst there I also took a look at the new Pangraz Hotel complex opposite, there are now three storey's to the hotel with the bar / restaurant complex below. With 6 weeks until the start of the ski season it is hard to see how the new bar and restaurants will be up and running much before Christmas - it will be fun to watch all th efrantic activity that is bound to start inside soon!

Valuga Hotel

2011-10-19T07:37:00.002Z

This is a view from the rear of the Hotel Valuga and you will see jst how much modernisation has been undertaken. The new owners aim has been to bring it back into the 21st century whilst retaining the tradtional Austrian look and feel.

Red Bull Hutten Rallye

2011-10-18T08:43:00.002Z

Just found out that once again St.Anton will host the Red Bull Hutten Rallye on December 9th & 10th 2011 - this is a crazy race where competitors go 4 at a time down the mountain whilst jumping over huts and man made jumps all the way to the finish area at the bottom of the slopes by the Galzigbahn. Last year this was won by Daron Rahlves the 2001 mens downhil world champion. So if you want to come here at the start of the season this is an event to see!!

Murrmel Bar

2011-10-18T07:29:00.004Z

As you will see from th ephotos work is continuing a speed on the new Murrmel Bar at the bottom of the Dorfstrasse. It will be an underground bar and this week they seem to be pouring plenty of concrete into it to bring the old cellar up to spec! The season starts in six weeks and I guess they will not make get it open much before Christmas!

RIP Dan

2011-10-17T05:38:00.006Z

Sad news this morning when I logged on and found that Danny Wheldon was killed in the Indycar finale in Las Vegas yesterday. Dan had become a big star in the USA winning the Indianapolis 500 twice and the championship in 2005, he had just signed (literally just before the race) to drive for Andretti Autosport and replace Danica Patrick. A talent such as Dan's should have seen him racing in F1 where he would have been much safer, instead he had to take another route to show just how good he was. These days F1 is relatively safe but in Las Vegas there were 34 cars doing 225 mph on a short oval circuit - that is stupid and crazy. It does not seem so long ago that I was watching him race kadet karts at Kimbolton. My thoughts go out to his wife Susie and two young sons. Sadly motorsport can be this way but it is never easy to accept. RIP Dan.

Hotel & Snow

2011-10-16T14:37:00.003Z

The snow of last week has now all melted in the village but higher up on the mountains it still remains, the start of a good base for the coming season - you can see this snow of th ephoto Itook this morning driving back into the village. It is much colder here now and you can really feel the approach of winter. On my way back from Pettnau I also stopped off to take a photo of the Valuga Hotel, work continues and as with all the projects still going on I do wonder how they are going to get them all completed on time!

On the slopes

2011-10-09T08:54:00.004Z

Following the snow of the last few days some intrepid folks have as usual walked up the mountain to get some turns in! I heard that there were several boarders enjoying Osthang where there must be in the region of a couple of feet of snow! Just look at the little car parked outside my house and this was down in the village....

So strange

2011-10-07T08:37:00.005Z

The last week, 10 days has been wonderful here in St.Anton with clear blue skies and hot sunshine. Most afternoons I have been on my balcony in 30 degrees plus, yesterday was just the same - very pleasant. Now the strange thing about living in the mountains is just how quickly the weather can change and nothing is stranger than the switch from Summer to winter, today is one of those days - it is snowing and the mountains have a white coating as Ilook out from my very cold balcony - no sunbathing today!! The pic on the left is from my bike ride into the Ferwall earlier this week and the one on the right is from my balcony 15 minutes ago.....

Planned lifts for the next few years

2011-10-04T15:42:00.004Z

Here is an idea of what is planned for the Albona area and the propsed link to Zurs. The new 8 man gondola that will take skiers from Alpe Rauz up to the top of Albona has been officially confirmed for construction in the summer of 2013. At the same time the Trittkopfbahn is to be replaced with a two stage 8 man gondola. You will see on the picture (click on it and it will open up) that a link is planned to then join Rauz with Lech - this is NOT confirmed and if it is ever to go ahead then lots of work to pacify the green factions as well as all the Lech / Zurs lift companies lies ahead. I spoke with a contact in the Bergbahn here in St.Anton and was told that for the foreseeable future everyone in the various lift company's were happy with the bus connection. On a cost basis alone improving the bus option is far cheaper! Who knows? but I do not think that we will see such a link for many years - just look at how long the connection to Kappl is taking - this is still unconfirmed as regards a construction date as more and more reports are required. Once the new gondola to the top of Albona is up and running a new 6 man covered chair lift will be built in 2014 to replace the old Albona I lift.

The Mooser

2011-10-03T15:35:00.000Z

Over the last two summers the Mooser Hotel has been under construction ready for opening this season. It is the hotel attached to the Mooserwirt apres ski venue but for those of you who know just how loud the Mooserwirt can be fear not - the hotel is so well sound proofed that you will not hear a thing from the raucous apres! It is a bouteque hotel and the quality will be right up there with the best of them in St.Anton with the advatange of staying right on the slopes and not having far to stagger when you are all apres skied out. Not cheap but then quality never is.

Anthony's

2011-10-02T08:50:00.004Z

As the new Anthony's Hotel continues to rise above the Dorfstrasse on the old Funky site I thought that I should report what will await you all when you arrive here for your ski trip. The hotel will not be open this season but the two new restaurants and a bar will be. It seems like the Pangraz family have decide to run these operations themselves as they are now advertising for staff. I am not really surprised about this if the figures that I had heard mentioned for a lease were true! There will be a bar / restaurant called "Happy Valley Steak & Shake" which will sell burgers, ribs, baked potatoes and other finger food. The Happy Valley bar will have an American theme (yippee) with live music, dj's, video walls and a huge selection of cocktails! They also promise a large selection of international beer as well as there own brew, to be made on site.... Next door to "Happy Valley" you will find "Pizza A More" which as well as selling pizza will also offer sandwiches, bagels & paninis along with flavoured coffees, cookies and brownies. Whilst this does all sound a bit like Starbucks meets Pizza Hut it does continue their American theme. As far as I can see they are opting for a safe route and trying to offer pretty much the same food and drink that was to be found at the old Pomodoro and Funky Chicken - although I suspect that the new Pomodoro will remain as popular as ever with the faithful, mind you if the UK is a good guide then you can never have enough pizza restaurants! I have to say whilst I believe there is still a big need for more top class restaurants in St.Anton that a pizza restaurant is a very safe bet. The pics here are artist impressions of the new site, restaurants and bar.

Stuiben Waterfall

2011-10-01T08:28:00.005Z

Another hot and sunny day here in the Alps so lets enjoy. Set off in the car (back roads again) down through Landeck, through Schoenweis and into Imst..... out the other side and heading into the Otztal on our way to Umhausen. It is here that the biggest waterfall in the Tirol is to be found - the Stuiben Wasserfall. It falls 159 metres to the river below and you have two choices to reach the top of the fall, you can walk up the steep mountain path or take the climbing route that literally takes you over the waterfall as it tumbles down. Now I am not good with heights / shear drops so it was the path for me! It takes so long to get fit and yet just four weeks after returning from the bike trip my fitness has just gone, The walk up was bloody hard work, ok it was quite steep and thinner air because of the height but really it killed me! Roll on the skiing so I can get really fit in a matter of weeks! However all the hard trek was worth it for the view at the top, there are seceral platforms that allow you to look literally straight down the waterfall as it plumets down those 159 metres. I had also humped a heavy pack of food and wine up the mountain (another reason for the struggle) and we had a great picnic sat right at the head of the fall. Another great day in the mountains, all the more so because you just can not believe as you sit in the hot sun that in a few weeks it will all be covered in snow!

Why do I live in Austria

2011-09-30T08:20:00.003Z

If I ever have any doubts as to just why I live in St.Anton today was one of those days that puts it all into perspective. It was Friday and each Friday in Landeck there is a farmers market, I like to go there and buy fresh fruit and veg along with locally produced meat and smoked fish. The sun was high above the mountains and the clear blue skies made the view from my balcony just heavenly. I set off in the car, top down and on the back roads (the old mountain pass road), not the new dual carriageway. This took me through the beautiful villages of Pettnau, Flirsch and Strengen with flowers decorating almost every house, along some wonderful long winding roads with the mountains rising high on each side - it does not get much better than this, wind in my hair, great scenery and some cool driving music blasting out.....

A drive to Ober Lech

2011-09-28T19:00:00.002Z

It was a lovely sunny day so decided to take the car out for a drive into the mountains and the best place to do this is to go through Zurs and on to Lech. From Lech you can then drive all the way up to Oberlech from where you will get some lovely views. As I stood outside the Mohnenfluh (my favourite place for lunch in Lech) it was strange to think that in just 9 weeks we will be skiing up there! It was so green and warm that it was impossible to imagine it all covered in snow.

New Bar

2011-09-28T08:07:00.004Z

There will be a new bar openning in the village for this ski season. It will be at the end of the Dorfstrasse on the corner next to the Spa, very close to Pub 37. Somewhat late as the season starts in 9 weeks but the site of the old perfume shop is now being refurbished. It will not a large bar but I am sure that it will be popular and a good stopping off point for those on their way back to Nasserein. The bar will be called the "Murrmel" with a clear reference to the owner - Johannes Murr!

Building update

2011-09-27T07:57:00.002Z

Building works continue in the Dorfstrasse, the third storey of the Pangraz Hotel is now underway where the Funky Chicken used to be and further down the street the Hotel above the Hazienda now has its windows fitted. It does not seem too big from the front but if you make the effort to walk around the back you can see that it is actually going to be a fair size. The ski season will get underway in just over 9 weeks and it seems that it is going to be all hands to the pump in order to have these two buildings ready in time - the usual story in St.Anton!

A Wedding in the Village

2011-09-24T07:35:00.001Z

I arrived back in St.Anton just in time for a big wedding celebration - Michael Gfall & Franziska Alber were having their big day. The church was full, the bride looked amazing and every one was entertained by a great gospel trio. After the service everyone spilled out onto the street outside the little church and the party started to get underway, the gospel continued, the champagne flowed and the sun beamed down on the happy couple as hundreds of red balloons were released to the skies above. There were many people at the wedding that I know from skiing but do not see so much in the summer so it was good to catch up with them. Lots of people were wearing the traditional Austrian costume so all in all it was a very colourful occasion. Eventually everyone made there way down the Dorfstrasse to the Hotel Post where the celebrations would continue until well into Sunday morning. The Dorfstrasse was crowded with both locals and tourists and everyone was cheering as the bridge and groom drove slowly through, the horns on the cars sounding out and everyone following behind. The food at the Post was great of course and after the speeches Hannes keep the music going without break as everyone danced until the early hours.

Donnington

2011-09-17T07:03:00.003Z

I have been in the UK since returning from Monza, catching up with family and friends whilst also having some work done on the car. Today was a day for pleasure though which included a visit to the Tom Wheatcroft F1 museum at Donnington Park race track. If you have any kind of interest in formula 1 then you really have to visit this place - it just has to be one of the very best collections of F1 cars, both old and modern. After spending an hour or so looking around the museum with Lucie we headed down to the track as I could hear the sound of cars on the track and was curious to see what was going on. Turned out it was an RS Owners track day. I asked one of the marshalls if any one could go onto the track and was delighted to be told yes - if you can get some helmets! Well I soon managed to borrow a couple of helmets so that we could go and have a play on the circuit!! Now the old car that I had borrowed was not exactly fast, dead slow when compared to the cosworth powered fords in fact. But soon enough I was really getting up to speed and whilst the fords left me standing down the straights I could catch them a bit through the corners - especially the Craner Curves, always my favourite corner in the UK. Another surprise was bumping into my old mate from the racing days - Don Hardman!

Monza Time

2011-09-11T06:49:00.003Z

It is early September and time for a trip to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, the weather is great, very hot with clear blue skies. I love this trip each year as I get to chill out on Lake Como, one of the most beautiful places in Europe - lots of great places to eat too:) The weekend has been very good although I would have preferred a Mclaren victory but Seb was unstoppable in the Red Bull.

One for Willem

2011-09-06T17:43:00.005Z

So Willem are your feet getting itchy for the snow down below sea level? Well you don't have to worry much as I read this week that there is a plan to build a £270bn man made mountain in that Orange country of yours?!! Click here for the story. OK, so what news is there from here, little has changed since I left on my trip but today I did have a look at the progress being made with the two new hotels in the centre. Pangraz has now risen above street level and is up to the ground floor level. Further down the Dorfstrasse the new frontage above the Haziend is in place so we get an idea of how this will look in the winter - I saw Bobo in the week and he is hoping that this is now the last development close to him and next summer will be peaceful in the Dorf! Since coming back to St.Anton the weather has been quite mixed but today was nice and sunny so I put down the top on the car and drove to Landeck on the old scenic road for some shopping - it was a lovely drive and I have to say after travelling around Europe I still think being here in the alps is best!

Day 38 Heading Home

2011-08-31T13:32:00.004Z

So after travelling for nearly 6 weeks across six countries we arrive at the final day. We had the whole day in Venice so started off by just walking around the city, window shopping and chilling. Venice is a lovely city and one I will return to for sure. Eventually we wound up at St.Marks square, yesterday it was dry but today the tide was high and the square was partially flooded! In order to enter St.Marks Basillica we had to queue on a raised walkway. The Basillica was the same as the other churchs that I had looked inside whilst walking around - very dark! Also I am amazed that the place is still standing - there are plenty of cracks and the floor is all over the place, dipping and rising everywhere - I assume that this is caused by the regular flooding and the ground sinking, not sure I would feel too safe spending a lot of time inside this church! After leaving the church we paddled (literally) across the square to have coffee / hot chocolate at the Florian Caffe. This cafe has been here for nearly 300 years and they have a quintet playing music outside - I guess this is why my hot chocolate cost 16 Euro! Actually I was pleasantly surprise by just how cheap Venice was (away from St.Marks Square) as I had been told it was very expensive. That evening we ate at a lovely little restaurant recommended by the owner of our hotel - it was great, fresh home made pasta. Then we collected the bikes from the hotel and trekked across Venice (and all the bridges) to get to the station. When we went to get on the train guess what - a problem with the bikes! The German conductor explained that you had to book them in on line in advance and he was sorry but there was not any room! I explained that when buying the tickets we had been told we just had to buy the bike ticket at the train - typical Italians was his response! Eventually he agreed that we could try and get the bikes on and with the help of those who had booked their bikes on we managed it so problems over. The train arrived in Innsbruck at 04.30 and the next train to St.Anton was 20 minutes later, having tried to book the bikes on to this train via the internet and failing I suspected that it would be a problem again. Yep, bike storage area was full but after some pleading the conductor openned an empty cabin..... :) Arrived back in St.Anton at 6am

Day 37 Venice

2011-08-30T13:09:00.004Z

Took the 08.30 fast ferry across to Venice, arriving there at 11am. First job was to get to the railway station and book a ticket to get home to St.Anton. To my delight I found out that there was a sleeper train each evening to Innsbruck leaving at 22.50 and it would take bikes. I bought my ticket but was told that I had to pay for the bike when getting on the train. Then it was off to the centre of Venice and to the hotel. Now a word of advice, if you go to Venice don't take a bike, if you have to take a bike don't have 30kg of baggage on it. Venice of course has lots of canals, therefore it has lots of bridges.... all the bridges are stepped and not flat - so getting a bike over a bridge is bloody hard work! Eventually made it to the hotel which was a few minutes from St.Marks Square. After settling into the hotel we started to explore Venice, it was heaving with tourists of course but really is a beautiful city. At 16.30 we had booked a boat to take us around the waterways which is def the best way to see Venice. The one thing that did surprise me with the city is that they must get fortunes in tourist revenue but seem to spend little on renovating and cleaning the buildings. I have seen many cities on this trip (and last year Havana springs to mind) where lots of the tourist income is obviosely spent on renovating and maintaining the city - Hvar and Dubrovnik are great examples of this, shame as Venice would be beyond amazing if they looked after it! That evening we ate at a lovely restaurant right by the grand canal, the water laping by the table and St.Marks square in the background, watching the sun set - a fitting way to spend the last evening of the holiday.

Day 36 Pula

2011-08-29T21:08:00.002Z

Had a look around Pula this morning, it has alot of Roman buildings still in the old town, in fact it has buildings from many ages - it is a good mix of history! The Franciscan Monastery was very impressive as was the 3rd century cathedral that was very Roman in appearance. There was also an old Roman gate and Theatre. As was the case with Zadar the town is full of pizza restaurants, in fact the further north we have come the harder it has been to find really nice restaurants. In the afternoon we cycled to a local kart track as I fancied a play! The track was 1km long and they had some 17hp karts that were really quite fast so I really enjoyed myself in those. Tomorrow it is the early morning ferry across to Venice where we will stay for a day, maybe two before catching the train back to Austria and St.Anton.

Day 35 Off to Pula

2011-08-28T23:40:00.002Z

Went into Zadar this morning and bought the ferry tickets to Pula, had been slightly worried that we would not get the bikes on as it was a catermaran fast ferry but all was fine. Then watched the F1 race from Spa which was pretty good. The ferry was quite bumpy and you could only sit inside where they had the air con on full pelt - I was wearing shorts and a T shirt and freezing to death! We arrived in Pula at 9pm and checked in at the hotel where I had also booked us in for dinner in there restaurant which is supposed to be very good. They had accepted the dinner reservation and confirmed it when I spoke to them in the phone so it was quite a surprise to find that it was closed?! Oh well getting used to this sort of thing! There is quite an impressive amphitheatre here, not quite on the scale of Rome but still pretty big - will check that out tomorrow. I see that there has been snow in St.Anton on the Gampen - it will be quite a shock to go from nearly 40 degrees of heat to snow but I am now very much looking forward to getting home to St.Anton and not getting bitten by mosquito's each day!

Day 34 Back to Zadar

2011-08-27T16:32:00.003Z

Up this morning and an early breakfast as today we left Dugi Otok and returned to Zadar. Instead of cycling all the way back to Bribinj in the hot sun which would have been very hard work we found a ferry that would take us and the bikes directly from Sali to Zadar. In the afternoon we had a look around Zadar, it has a nice well preserved old town, much like the ones we have already seen in Croatia but this one seems to be full of pizza restaurants and shop selling junk tourist gifts! We did check out the sea organ which was pretty cool, a series of pipes have been put into the sea wall and as the water comes in it forces air into the pipes and plays the organ - the sound coming up through the holes in the pavement! That evening we found a nice fish restaurant on a small harbour and had a pleasant meal.

Day 33 Diving the Kornati

2011-08-26T16:53:00.002Z

Today was the scuba diving day and we were eventually underway by 10am, taking pretty much the same route as we did yesterday out into the Kornati. The first dive was not too spectacular – lots of rocks and a few fish but having been spoiled in the Bahamas last summer I guess it was never going to match up! After a quick stop for a light lunch a drink it was onto the second dive site. This was better, longer and deeper and actually more to see. We went down a wall to about 33m and at that depth I can tell you it was quite chilly. I def enjoyed the second dive more but have made a note to only go where there are lots of fish in future! Tomorrow morning we will head off to Zadar for one day and nightas we head into the final week of our trip. I have to say much as I am enjoying all these amazing places I am really looking forward to getting back to the mountains and St.Anton.

Day 32 Kornati

2011-08-25T21:50:00.000Z

Met Capitano Sebastian at 9am and off we went on his boat to explore the islands. It was of course a very hot day so lots of stops at little beaches were in the plan along with lunch at “his mothers” house – mother will grill the fish I have caught! The islands really are beautiful but would be much better viewed from the air as from the sea one island pretty much looks like another! The waters were crystal clear and great to swim in. We arrived at one cute little beach (along with about 4 other boats) and there was a small group of nudists enjoying some privacy – I bet they were pleased to have all these tourists descend on them! The fish lunch at “mothers” was very good and some local wine was also provided. We arrived back in the village at 18.30 - along day in the sun but very enjoyable.

Day 31 Dugi Otok Island

2011-08-24T16:26:00.003Z

Took the 10am ferry from Zadar across to Dugi Otok island, we will base ourselves here for three nights and explore the Kornati Nat Park – 81 separate islands and amazingly beautiful (look up Kornati on google). Bit if a cock up here though, had booked in with a diving school and they had also sorted the accommodation. I had copied the directions to the dive school from their website and after a 25km bike ride with quite a lot of uphill stretches in the midday sun we arrived at the dive school. But something just did not seem right, they were not really expecting us, it looked a bit of a run down operation and the apartment that they came up with was not too great either. When I finally got onto the internet to check out the diving confirmation email we turned out to be the wrong dive centre – When I rang the guy he told me the one we wanted was in the next village! So why where the directions wrong?! “well we moved and didn’t upate our website” bloody idiots! Any way all was ok in the end the village of Sali is nice and tomorrow we will take a boat trip around the Kornati.

Day 30 Splitting Split

2011-08-23T22:20:00.002Z

Took the 11.30 ferry from Hvar to Split, could easily have spent a few more days there as it was just so lovely. We arrived in Split which looked ugly from the sea and just about the same from close up! Found the apartments that we had booked and they were kind of weird, like somebody was still living there, also was an old granny living in the next room….. All a bit too much Alfred Hitchcock for me so we high tailed it out of there and went down to the sea for a drink and to make a new plan! Choice was simple really, either find another place to stay or try and get a train / bus to Zadar immediately. Split did not really appeal at all so checked the trains – nothing til the morning and not sure about the bikes?! (same old story there then). The buses ran pretty much on the hour and might take the bikes….. first two declined the bikes but the third one was fine so off we went to Zadar. It was three hours on the bus so we arrived at about 8pm – Zadar is so much nicer than Split. We looked around for a place to stay and eventually found some apartments down a little bit of a back street, checked them out and they were really good so all was sorted. Found an Italian restaurant almost next door and that was that for the night!

Day 29 Hvar

2011-08-22T21:19:00.003Z

Woke to another very hot day, the apartment here in Hvar has a great balcony with stunning views across the water. Breakfast was on the balcony with local jam, honey and bread – just about a perfect start to the day. Then it was straight down for a swim, the water is crystal clear and not very busy where we are. The first few hours of the day were spent just sunbathing, then cooling off in the water. Early afternoon we went to check out Hvar, it is I think the best place that we have been to so far on this trip, in fact I would say that it is one of the nicest places that I have ever been to. It is not a case of wanting to come back and spend some more time here one day, it is wanting to come back asap. The town has been almost totally restored and has not been spoilt in any way by modern buildings and high rise hotels – it is just as it should be. There are no tacky shops or McDonalds, just small shops and restaurants. Of course there are tourists but in a way that gives the place a buzz, not like Budva where you just want to escape. There is an old fort high above looking down on the town and I bet the views from up there are great – too hot to find out though! This evening we found another great little restaurant for some more fresh fish before sitting in the harbour watching the world go around.

Day 28 Ferry to Hvar

2011-08-21T21:57:00.003Z

Left Dunbrovnik bright and early on the 08.30 ferry which took us to Hvar by 5pm in the afternoon. The decision to take this ferry all the way up the coast was a great one, it is so scenic, lots of lovely islands and wonderful coastline. The island of Korcula in particular was beautiful and lots of people disembarked here. There were also lots of people and what seemed like hundreds of cars trying to get on here too….. watching from above it seemed like there would be no way they would all fit in…… but somehow they did! The boat was pretty full with lots of back packers as well as normal travellers and it was scorching hot so everyone was sunbathing on the decks or sheltering in the shadows. The view to the town of Hvar (the island is also called Hvar) from the ship was great, we could actually see the apartments where we would stay. Once off the ferry we made our way to the apartments, they are right on the water so the first thing we did was dump all the bags and dive straight into the sea – wonderful after being in the hot sun all day. That evening we took the bikes into the old part of the town and after a great meal at a fish restaurant had a look around. First impression was that it is a lot like Dubrovnik but smaller and less tourists! There is a big harbour with a great deal of large yachts which reminds me somewhat of Porto Banus although not as tacky! Be nice to see it in the daylight tomorrow!

Day 27 Back to Dubrovnik

2011-08-20T22:03:00.002Z

Today, sadly we have to leave the villa and spend most of the day on a bus. This place above the lake was really great, it was a shame that we could not spend more time there as Ben also does jeep tours, walking tours and rents out bikes too. If you would like to see more of it and maybe go there yourself (highly recommended) just click here for their website. We caught a taxi down to Petrovac and jumped straight onto a bus back to the lovely Budva. All seemed to be going well until about 5km from Budva we hit the traffic. In my opinion people should be flocking out of the place, not into it…… but there you go. After about 45 minutes just crawling to the outskirts the bus driver obviously had had enough, did a u turn and stopped, he then informed everyone that another bus from his company would be along in 2 minutes – yeah right! So we flagged down a taxi and took that the final couple of kilometres. Once at the bus station we had (or so we thought) an hour and a half wait for the bus to Dubrovnik – it was an hour late – traffic of course but at least it was modern and had aircon. The driver must be in training for Express Coaches – overtaking cars and really getting his foot down so we arrived in Dubrovnik in plenty of time to get the ferry ticket for tomorrow. Dubrovnik is so beautiful and as the sun was going down we wandered into town and found a nice little restaurant for dinner……

Day 26 Kayaking

2011-08-19T22:00:00.002Z

Today the plan was 5 – 6 hours kayaking around the lake, Ben will be the guide and there will be a small group of us from his guests. He picked us up in the landrover, kayaks on the roof and we headed to the lake shore where we unloaded the kayaks, stashed the water and picnic lunch in them and then paddled out on the lake. It was again a very hot day and the scenery was fabulous – Budva was fading from my memory! After three hours over kayaking with the occasional stop for a swim we arrived at the place where we would have our picnic. This was the only downside of the whole day – mosquitos….. I think just about everyone got bitten! Then it was back to the lake for another 2 – 3 hours, by now my arms were aching and I was quite pleased when Ben suggested that we did not head back to Virpazar because the wind had got up and the paddling was becoming much harder….. No problem with stopping earlier at a restaurant on the lake and awaiting Emma (Ben’s wife) in the Landrover to pick us up. My arms were aching, my back was aching…… early night!

Day 25 Lake Skadar

2011-08-18T21:51:00.006Z

Today it was time to leave Budva and head to Lake Skadar for a couple of days. As we had left the bikes in Dubrovnik we took a taxi to the bus station and caught on of the death trap little buses along the coast to Petrovac and waited for Ben to come and collect us as arranged. Ben & his wife Emma own the lovely Villa above Lake Skadar were we will stay for the next couple of nights. It looked very nice when I found it on the internet but in real life it was even better. In the grounds they have figs, cherries, plums, walnuts and more – just waiting to be plucked off the branches. I do not as a rule buy figs or cherries from supermarkets but these were something else – delicious is an understatement. I should also add that the water comes from the fresh spring in the garden. Each day for breakfast you could just pluck the fruit from the trees, add it to some local yoghurt and mmmmnnn…. I could get used to this. After settling in we decided to walk over the mountain and to the village the other side where Ben suggested we should try the local wine, I mean it was only 2pm and 39 degrees…. Perfect for a walk!! It was hot, humid and great fun with amazing views down to the lake. Ok the path was not marked as well as you find in Austria and we went wrong a couple of times but so what. After a couple of hours we reached the village of Godinje which is apparently one of the oldest and most original villages in Montenegro. We found the little place Ben had suggested, literally just a little eatery on the terrace of a small house with a tiny wine cellar underneath. I was hot and thirsty despite having drunk 3 litres of water during the trek so an ice cold coke went down very well and very quickly. After tasting the red wine and deciding to buy a bottle for dinner we thought we would get something to eat from the menu, not expecting too much to be honest! Philip who made the wine suggested a specialty of his which I thought sounded like Smokey Duck Liver Pasta but he said it was a fish from the lake – ok I will try that. Good decision, it came mixed with olive oil, garlic and chopped onion – my mouth is watering now when I think of it, delicious. After that for pudding he produced fresh figs stuffed with yoghurt, cream and something “secret” which was also very nice indeed. After showing us around the small village Philip even gave us a lift back down to the main village of Virpazar so that we could buy some supplies for dinner on the terrace that evening. It was then a 20 minute walk back up to the villa.

Day 24 Dubrovnik

2011-08-17T21:40:00.006Z

Having had enough of Budva we hired a car for the day to visit Dubrovnik. It was about a two hour drive across into Croatia so we had the usual border checks which thankfully did not take too long. The view as you approach Dubrovnik is amazing, you see the old town lying below, jutting out of the coastline surrounded by the ancient city walls – it is quite a sight and by far the best looking city with have found. Coming down into the city we passed the docks where there were a couple of cruise ships – they were so big, 9 storeys of accommodation above everything else – they make hotels look small! After leaving our bikes where we will stay when we return to Dubrovnik on Saturday we parked the car and headed into the old town. This was absolutely packed with tourists, can’t complain too much as that is what we are too! We walked around the old town for an hour and then purchased a ticket to walk around the wall. The wall that protects the old town is complete and I guess something like 2km long. This was fun on very hot day but the views were spectacular. After the wall walk we left the old town and headed for a little restaurant that we had spotted on the shore just outside the walls hoping, it was quieter and I hoped better food than everything that was on offer in the old town itself. This proved to be the case and it was a great spot to eat fresh fish and watch the world go by. After lunch we drove back across the border and headed for Kotor which is also supposed to be a pretty little town. Here the Mediterranean forms what appears to be a lake as you drive around it but is of course the sea. It reminded me very much of Lake Coma with the surrounding mountains and little villages on the shore. Kotor was indeed very nice so we were of course not the only tourists there. We watched a couple of very big, extremely luxurious yachts moor up – I hate to think how much they cost! After looking around Kotor we drove back to Budva, returning to the restaurant that we ate at yesterday because it was by the water and quite good for food….. Just watching everyone walk past I have to say that Budva really is the Russian Costa del Sol and I suspect it may be a while before I return!

Day 23 Chilling

2011-08-16T19:12:00.002Z

A pretty lazy day today, wandered down to the beach and had a look all along it checking out restaurants for dinner. The place is so crowded, wall to wall people on the beachs but actually as a holiday resort there is a lot to do here, water skiing, jet skis, parascending, diving and much more so I think 20 years ago I would have loved it! Decided to take a boat trip along the coast for an hour and see the area from the sea. Also we would get a close up look at St Stefan Island, this is a small village on an island linked to the mainland by a short causeway that has been a private hotel resort for the last 20 years. In recent years it has all been renovated to a very high standard - a really lovely place if you can afford the minimum of 700 Euro per night.....

Day 22 Budvar

2011-08-15T18:22:00.004Z

Fell asleep last night to the sound of the music from the niteclubs! This morning it was very hot so after a breakfast of fruit we headed to the beach. Well, what can I say, this place is def the Marbella / Fuengirola of the Dalmation coast - the beaches are packed, the music blares out and there are so many young people around! So what to do - escape, we took a water taxi across to St.Nicholas Island as it is quieter there and we could find some space to lie in the sun. It is a beautiful area but just like Spain it is being ruined by over development and awful buildings that are destroying the character and charm of the place. This was very clear when after 4 hours of lying in the sun we took a look around the old town of Budva - it is totally the opposite of the New.... absolutely beautiful, lots of little narrow streets and nice shops, bars & restaurants. It has been very well preserved and is a total contrast to the new part of the town. Afterwalking around for an hour we managed to find a nice little fish restaurant before heading in for the evening. No partying for me just catching up on emails and listening to music!

Day 21 Ostrag Monastry

2011-08-14T22:27:00.005Z

So we come to the end of our third week af travelling and are on the move again to another country - today we headed for Budvar in Montenegro. As always when enquiring about bus times the people in charge were very vague so headed tothe bus station early, I had been told that the bus was at 10.50 but the internet said there was also one at 10am so arrived there at 9.15 and sure enough there was one at 10am! But, I coul dnot buy a ticket at the counter, this had to come from the driver.....ok. When the bus arrive dit was quite full and getting the bikes on was a bit of a struggle as there was not much room in the luggage lockers - but in the end we managed it. There was the usual mess around for ages at the border crossing and then I was back in the EU in Montenegro complete with a stamp in my passport?! Once in Montenegro we were driving through the Tara Canyon and the views were fantastic - better than the jeep safari! There was a very lage lake, clear blue waters spread down a lot of the gorge - tried to get a photo out of the back window but it really does not do it justice. The plan called for us to depart the bus at Ostrag about 40km before the bus reached it's destination of Podgorica. There is a monastry set high into the cliff face above Ostrag and we were going to take a look at it. From where the bus dropped us off it was just a white spec high above and we were going to cycle up there?! It had been a long hot ride on the bus and the sun was out in force so we decided to get some lunch in the village of Ostrag and head up after when it would hopefully be cooler. The cycle up was ok at first but then it became much steeper, there is no way I could have done this three weeks ago so I must be getting fitter! Finally we reached the top - it was 13km ride with a vertical rise of 600 metres..... bloody hell I was sweating! The monastry is impressive close up but why any one would chosse to build something like that so high up is beyond me. The ride back down was much easier. Then we decided that we would cycle to Podgorica where we had to catch a bus to Budvar. This was another 40km so I reckon today is the most cycling that we have done at around 80km. Podgorica was interesting - no signs for the bus / train station and nobody spoke English. After about half an hour we finally found it, bus was leaving in ten minutes so was a bit of a rush to get the bikes on and luggage in. By the time we arrived in Budvar and got to the apartment here we had been travelling for 13 hours and looked like it! First impression of Budvar is that it is the Marbella of Montenegro, lots of people on the streets in bikinis at 10pm, niteclubs booming music out and very hot & humid! Nite clubbing..... nope straight to bed!!

Day 20 Jeep Safari

2011-08-13T17:15:00.002Z

Today the plan was to go on a jeep safari organised by the same people who do the rafting, we would be heading into the Tara Canyon. Had a lazy morning as the jeep did not collect us until midday and then we had a long drive up into the mountains in the canyon. The first stop was on a ridge where we could walk and view the valley far below and look at an 81 metre high waterfall - problem was the waterfall was quite a few kilometres away - would have preferred to see it up closer! The second (and final as it turned out) was to stop in a valley high up in the mountains and admire the view. This was so like being in St.Anton and we could easily have been in the Austrian alps! I was quite disappointed with the safari to be honest as I think there was so much more that they could have done in what is an amazing and spectacular part of the world.

Day 19 Rafting

2011-08-12T18:49:00.000Z

Today we cycled 15km up hill and down dale as they say to get to the Drina River rafting centre because we had booked a day’s rafting in the Tara Canyon which is supposed to be the second deepest in the world! The morning started off very cloudy and I thought that my bad luck with the weather had returned but no sooner were we on the bikes and the sun came out. After waiting around for about an hour we finally boarded the vehicles for the drive to where we would get onto the river in Montenegro. I have rafted in Zimbabwe and also on the River Inn at Imst – Zimbabwe was grade 5 rapids with a guarantee of going in the water and the Inn was pretty low grade so I was not sure what to expect here! In the event of it being a bit tricky I elected not to take the camera onto the raft – need not have worried as it was not at all rough (sadly) so I could easily have taken some photos without the risk of the camera ending up at the bottom of the river. The lack of scary rapids was made up for by the amazing scenery, the gorge was certainly very deep and so pretty to raft through. It was a long afternoon too as we had quite a distance to get travel in order to get back to the camp. Once back at the camp there was some very welcome food to eat before we had to make the cycle trip back to the hotel…..

Day 18 Going to Foca

2011-08-11T17:50:00.000Z

Today it was an early start to get to the bus terminal were we would catch the bus to Foca – there are two terminals in Sarajevo and of course the one we wanted was 15 km from the hotel! Research had suggested that several buses ran each day on about the hour…. Experience has told me that what you find out on the net and from other people is often wrong in this neck of the woods! So we arrived at the bus terminal by 10am and discovered that the next bus was 11.30 and that we could get the bikes on it… all good then. The tickets were just 5 Euro for the trip – deal! Much to my surprise the bus arrived on time and was not too old – a taxi driver had said they were ancient! The bus driver seemed a little dubious about the bikes going on but when he opened up the luggage compartments there was loads of space…… The journey was just under two hours, Foca is a little town on the border of Bosnia and Montenegro and close by is the second deepest gorge in the world?! So the plan is to have a few days here on jeep safari and also go white water rafting before moving on to the Montenegro coast…….

Day 17 Sarajevo

2011-08-10T21:41:00.007Z

Sarajevo, a city with so much history that I have been looking forward to seeing from as soon as this trip was being planned. It does not disappoint either. It was an early start today to meet Neno who was to guide us around the city, he really knew his stuff and we found out so much about the history of this city - get a local to show you around is always the best plan! The city is extremely long, stretching for about 15kn down the valley and is home to 400,000 people now. It still shows so many signs of the siege from 92 - 95, Neno was a young kid at this point and he has lots of stories of how life was for the people of Sarajevo living for three years without electricty, phones, regular water suppy and food. He also had lots of photographs of the city durin this time - it is beyond my belief how one could go through such a thing. The old part of the city reminds me a little of Marrakesh and it's souks. Whilst much more modern the souk here was laid out by the Turks 500 years ago and whilst the original burnt down the modern one is still to the original pattern. The city is now starting to rebuild itself although the unemployment rate is still at 40% and average monthly income just 400 Euro. The people seem to be very friendly and food is so cheap – the cheapest place on the trip so far! Tonight we ate at a fantastic restaurant high above Sarajevo with wonderful views out across the city – it was so spectacular as night fell and all the lights came on. The food was great, again like the place in Zagreb they suggested we have lots of smaller dishes of their local specialities so we could try lots of things. The food was so good and the lamb which we finished with was some of the nicest I have ever tasted….. So for a three course meal with wine and drinks the cost was 30 Euro a head including tip! .

Day 16 Long train to Sarajevo

2011-08-09T21:11:00.005Z

Took the hire car back in the morning, loaded up the bikes and headed off to the station to take a train to Sarajevo. No problems getting the tickets but despite the fact that the internet once again says that bikes can go on the train I am told that the train does not have a carriage for bikes so we will have to ask the guard! I was expecting something like this so have arrived at the station nice and early. Once we find the guard he is happy to have the bikes stores at the end of the last carriage..... as long as we take the front wheels off?!! Ok, well can do that. Check out the seating on the train and it would be a compliment to say that it is grubby! So we take the best of the compartments that we can find close to the bikes and settle in, expecting to get thrown out as it could be the first class one - it is less dirty than the rest! Any way the train gets underway, the porter checks the tickets and is happy and does not even ask for more money for the bikes. The journey to Sarajevo is 10 hours and this train does not have a power connection for my laptop so I can only use it for three hours but I also have the ipod so hopefully the journey will pass ok. Once we leave Croatia it is noticeable that Bosnia is much poorer and once again there are lots of war damaged buildings. The tickets are checked many times en route and it is only at the last check that we are asked to pay for the bikes.... a whole three euro per bike! Once unloaded from the train in Sarajevo it is a 2 - 3 km cycle to the old town to find the hotel an settle in for the night.....

Day 15 Zagreb & Plitvicka Jezera Nat Park

2011-08-08T22:35:00.000Z

Today the plan was to go on a little sight-seeing trip to the Plitvicka Jezera lake & waterfall national park. This is about 2 hour’s drive from Zagreb so we have hired a car for the day. The drive was not so bad once I remember to change the sat nav back to car and fastest route – I had it set for bike and shortest distance and could not work out why it was telling me to drive in strange directions! The national park was amazing, heavenly in fact and somewhere you should definitely make an effort to visit if you are ever in Croatia. There are a series of lakes on different levels that step down the hills creating many waterfalls as they go and there are a series of walks laid out around these lakes that take between 1 & 8 hours. We opted for the 4 – 6 hour walk with a boat ride included. It would be an understatement to say that the views and scenery are breath taking, it was absolutely amazing and the pictures can’t really convey just how good it was. The walk rose steadily as it progressed but it was actually very easy compared to walking up to the Galzig in St.Anton so we completed it in just over 3 hours – pretty good going and it also meant that we could get back to Zagreb in time to have a look around the old town. On the way back we stopped of in a town called Turanj just outside Karlovac which underwent heavy fighting and siege during the ”home war” of 1991 – 1995. Even today there are many buildings that still show all the bullet holes from this war and there is also an area that is gradually being turned into a museum / monument to the soldiers who held this border area. There is a collection of tanks, guns and planes on display all surrounded by some very badly damaged buildings that have not been repaired since the war. It was very moving to see the damage sustained to normal houses, especially if you imagine that it was you who was living there! Once back in Zagreb there was time for a quick shower before driving into the old town. The old town is very nice with loads of outdoor bars, cafes and restaurants – very pleasant to walk around. The restaurant that we had booked for dinner was good but understaffed with just a couple of people looking after all the tables – at first I was getting pissed off when the wine took so long to arrive, if it arrived at all but then it actually became funny in a faulty towers like way! The meal was very good and rather than choose from a menu the waiter suggested that they bring a selection of meat & fish dishes and we would share them between us – that worked very well and the prawns with sweet chilli sauce and coconut were very good indeed! Just as we got back to the car after dinner it absolutely chucked it down with rain – glad we were not on the bikes tonight!

Day 14 into Croatia

2011-08-07T21:18:00.006Z

Another hot sunny day so after breakfast took the oportunity to have a quick look around Badacsony before heading off to cycle 35km to catch a train to Zagreb. The cycle path today was one of the best so far and took us right around the shore of the lake, there are so many nice bathing areas although most you have to pay to get in but once you do there does seem lots to do, especially if you have kids. Stopped off in Keszthely for a lunch and a drink - it was so hot and the wind was blowing hard against me as I cycled so it was very hard work today! After the break it was on around the lake to Balatonszentgyorgy where we were to get the train - this is when the problems started! Despite having checked it on the internet and asked several people about getting bikes onto the train (no problem!) the girl at the ticket office happily told me no bikes on this train! Tomorrow at 10am is ok - well not for me it wasn't, the schedule is tight and does not allow missing a conection. Were there any buses? Nope! How much is a ticket to Zagreb? not sure? strange answer..... Any way having got nowhere for 45 minutes I decided that the best bet was just to blag it, buy a normal ticket and try and get the bikes onto the train. Sorry we don't sell international tickets here, you have to go back to Keszthely..... F*** this for a game of soldiers. So another blagging it plan..... just try and get on the bloody train and buy a ticket for cash if successful. This meant a trip to the cash point as we had run all the Hungarian money out as we did not need it any more - or so we thought! So cycle 1km to a bank..... machine not working, f***ing ell.... Well at least it isn't raining! So bold as brass we head for the platform lugging the bikes.... lots of official looking people, even a few with guns, however the good news is that we can see a couple of guys who have already got their bikes on..... the bad news is there is almost no room left to put the bikes on. One of the officials waves me over... here we go ..... but actually he points to the first wagon and helps me heave my bike on! Eventually we are all on the train WITH the bikes but there are no free seats and to be honest nobody really cares! After 30 minutes seats become available so everyone finds one. We don't even get asked to buy any tickets as there is a total lack of officialdom! This lasts until we get to the Croation border when I guess every official within 20 miles is here - 3 passport checks whilst we sit on a crowded train with closed windows on a schorching day for well over an hour! But still nobody asks for a ticket:) However once we are underway again the ticket inspector does appear - hope he takes cards! nope, but is happy to collect the money in Zagreb where there is a bancomat - hopefully a working one! It did and my fears of getting ripped for not having a ticket but having a bike is unfounded as it cost a mere 17 Euro. All is well that ends well..... So Croatia here we are!

Day 13 Cycle to Badacsony

2011-08-06T19:31:00.000Z

Another hot and sunny day here in Hungary, up early for a nice breakfast and then it was loading up the bikes ready for the 45km ride along the lake to Badacsony. When you have been ridin the bikes unloaded for a couple of days it is amazing just how much harder it is when they are fully loaded - it is like cycling with the back brake on! Today there was a cycle path for pretty much the whole route and for the most part it was quite well signposted - there has not always been the case that is for sure! On the way there was a big recreation park and at th efront it had a large collection of old Soviet war machines - quite impressive! Arrived at Badacsony about 12.30 and the first thing I did was get straight into the shower to cool down! We are staying at a lovely little b&b above the lake, surrounded by vinyards and great views. The afternoon was spent relaxing on a sun lounger in the garden :) In the evening the owner of theis little guest house cooks over a bar b q so fould a table on the patio with a great view of the lake below and had a lovely meal with a couple of glasses of Hungarian wine. It is now nearly two weeks since we left St.Anton and we have travelled 1000 km of which about 200 km has been by bike, 300 km by boat and the rest by train. The next few days will see us travel a lot further south and hopefully to lots of sunny days! We will see.....

Day 12 Enjoying Tihany

2011-08-05T16:46:00.004Z

It think that Tihany has to be the nicest place that we have found in Hungary, it is really pretty and set up on a hill above Lake Balaton. There are two inner lakes just outside the town and we cycled around one of these today - lots of people were fishing in the lake. The town has a large Abbey and all around this there are many shops in beautifully restored old houses that once must have belonged to the Abbey. There was one very interesting shop covered almost entirely in dried paprika - amazing! I don't think the photo really does it justice but you get the idea anyway. The place was absolutely crowded with tourists, Tihany seems to be the Bellagio of Balaton! The weather has finally come good, it is really very hot and as the hotel has a swimming pool it seemed a very good idea to spend the afternoon lying beside it!

Day 11 Tihany

2011-08-04T14:30:00.004Z

The schedule called for a 30km ride along the lake and then a ten minute ferry trip across to the delightful town of Tihany. However it was raining first thing in the morning which is just typical! After breakfast the rain had eased off so we got the bikes ready pretty quick and headed off but within the hour the rain was coming down again, not hard but enough. We pressed on but then it really started to tip it down and the shelter of some big trees was found. After 30 minutes of standing getting bored under the trees it did not look like stopping so we had a choice - stay under a tree all day or get wet! I went for the latter, put on my beach / water shoes and a rain coat and set off. Actually the rain was not so much of a problen as the puddles..... the beach shoes were a great idea as it was just like riding the bike in the shower - soaking! Surprisingly quickly we arrived at the ferry and took refuge inside for the trip across the lake. Then it was 5 minutes up hill to the hotel that has a swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi..... that'l be the jacuzzi for me then :)

Day 10 Lake Balaton

2011-08-03T18:20:00.004Z

Took the bike out for a bit of a trek around the area, exploring what is here. To one side of the complex there are some really nice houses and the other side a couple of hotels. Today it was very hot so spent the afternoon sunbathing beside the lake. It really is a bit of a cross between a Mark Warner holiday resort and Butlins here and there are loads of families here but there is enough area to get away from them and find some peace and quiet. One thing that has really surprised me is the food at the on site restaurant as I was thinking it may not be up to much but actually it is really, really good and ridiculously cheap!

Day 9 Lake Balaton

2011-08-02T17:51:00.004Z

Left the hotel by 9am, sun was out and it looked like a hot day was in store for the ride to Lake Balaton. Today the 50 plus kilometres seemed much harder, there were more hills, in fact it seemed like every 5 minutes there was a hill to get up – not easy when you are carrying over 25kg in baggage on the back of the bike and already tired from the previous day! By mid-morning the sun was getting very hot but this was only noticeable when we stopped for a rest and drink, once stationary it was very hot! The route was prettier today and the villages en route much nicer. It must be the water melon season as there are so many for sale at the side of the road. 50km was definitely my limit today and I was very glad to see the signs to Balatonvilagos. The place that we are staying at for the next couple of days is an old Communist Party holiday resort built after the war by the Russians and used by leaders such as Castro & Breznev to name but a two. Now it is a commercial operation and very 1980’s and compared to Austria very run down – but having said all that it is kind of cool and the whole place is massive. There are acres of grounds and several kilometres of lake frontage. Walking around the grounds today I came across lots of old apartments and villas where nature is really starting to reclaim the buildings! The plus side compared to Austria and the UK is of course the cost, my dinner tonight with a few drinks was all of 13 Euro!