Sunday July 17
We got up and packed up and drove to Kitzbuhel about 2 hours away. It was a totally clear sunny day with high temp in the mid-20’s. We arrived at our hotel, A-Rosa, around mid-day to find we could not check-in until 3pm but hopefully earlier. So we walked to the old town, about 20 minutes away, for a light lunch and a wander around which was very quiet as all shops are closed on Sunday.
We finally got into our suite just before 3pm and it was well worth the wait - an amazing 2 room suite with a large covered terrace. We decided to go the bar for a “welcome” drink which was so enjoyable we took another drink back to our room.
After unpacking and showering etc we went for dinner - we were on a half-board package and to our surprise the dinner was a buffet, not what we were expecting; however, it was excellent.
Monday July 18
I got up before 7am to have a Nespresso but alas the coffee machine was some other brand and the supplied capsules did not seem to work - later when someone came to investigate the complaint I found out that the machine is just very touchy so all was well. We had brekkie at 7:30am when the buffet opened and to our extreme dismay there were no berries in spite of it being the height of the berry season. Big fail!! In other respects the breakfast was fine.
We had a bit of a rest day as Dieter had organised to meet up with his old friends of some 60+ years (Manfred, his wife, Katarina and Gerd) at a hotel swimming area by a local lake. This went on all afternoon - fortunately I had my Kindle so I could spend some of the time reading instead of practicing my German. Below is a photo of painting of an early (circa 1962) photo of Dieter (right), Checkie (middle, another friend) and Gerd (left) hamming it up at a company party - they all worked for Alliance at the start of their careers (Manfred went on to make his fame and fortune there).
Of course we had dinner again at the hotel - buffet with different selections.
Tuesday July 19
Up early for a couple of Nespresso's on our wonderful terrace - it was another totally sunny day with a high of 30℃ forecast. After brekkie we walked to one of the gondolas (Hahnenkamm) and when to the top where there are many walking trails and even more mountain restaurants. We walked for a couple of hours on an easy-moderate trail - fortunately it was much cooler up top - we had lunch at one of the mountain restaurants then went back down the gondola. We noticed that each gondola was named after one of the winners of the most famous downhill ski race (the Strief) which starts at the top of this gondola. More that half the winners were Austrians with a good mix of Italians, French, Swiss and Scandinavians - even 3 Canadians and 9 Americans.
The walk back from the bottom gondola to our hotel (about 20 minutes, uphill part of the way) in 30℃ heat left us exhausted so a rest was in order before heading to the hotel pool for a refreshing dip - naturally it was pretty busy with lots of kids.
It was another “rinse and repeat” for dinner.
Wednesday July 20
Up around 7am for coffees on the terrace and brekkie - it was another 30C day which started out sunny 😎
We drive up one of the mountains (Kitzbuhelerhorn aka The Horn) - good old Google Maps led us up the ‘alternate’ route (which we had planned to take on the way down) - the road was a series of steep hairpin turns and very narrow - in spite of this there were houses and farms dotted along ther way. Just when we thought we were close the the summit the road was closed with a sign inndicting bikes only so we did a very hairy U-turn and drove all the way back down (30 minutes each way). We then took the correct road up to the highest point you can reach by road then hiked to the top - a gruelling hike of about 1 hour. Of course there was a pub at the top but we choose not to stop there as there weren’t any outside tables in the shade and in spite of the high altitude it was still hot. So we hiked back down to where we started and had a light lunch there (2 small salads and a pretzel).
Back at the hotel we went for a swim before heading to dinner.
Thursday July 21
It was quite a bit cooler and overcast - high in the mid-20’s - so we drove to the Krimmler waterfall about an hour away. It is the highest waterfall in all of Europe at 380m over 3 levels. There is a long steep hiking trail to the top - some 450m in altitude - the trail is well groomed which is good as this popular waterfall attracks 1000’s of visitors - the hike up was propably one of the toughest so far but we made it as did many other people. It is always surprising how you see all manner of people on these popular walks - from extrememly fit, to fat old ladies, babies and even dogs in prams and backpacks, many dressed quite inappropriately (e.g. more for a Sunday lunch than a strenuous hike). We expected to find a pub at the top but alas the next one was a 2 hour walk away so we hiked back down and had a late light lunch at the bottom.
We drove home quite exhausted, rested and showered for dinner and early to bed.
Friday July 22
It was back to sunny and hot conditions so we decided to go up the glacier. About one hour drive away - several gondolas and a “peak-to-peak” like gondola as well. At over 3000m it was cold but sunny with amazing vistas all around. We had a light lunch at a lower altitude then drove home.
Saturday July 23
We got up early and packed up and left for the 4+ hour drive to Stuttgart.