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August - October 2016
A 61-day adventure by Michelle Read more
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  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 11

    Ups and Downs

    September 3, 2016 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    A bit of slow day today. I think I'm still affected by my visit to Dachau yeaterday and have been quite low today.

    I went to the one of the art galleries which featured a lot of Rubeun paintings. It's not my favourite style of painting and I did feel a bit of a prude by not liking all the bare breasted women, especially by the time I got to the painting titled "Christ and the penitent sinners".
    I'm thinking landscapes may be more my thing.

    I then returned to the Viktualienmarkt for another wander round and a Fischbrotchen (herring with white onion and pickle in a roll) for lunch. It was nice if a bit fishy.

    I walked around the area for a bit before returning to the hotel to do some washing. A load costs €9 ($13.50) to wash and dry!

    I thought I should try out a beer garden as it is Munich. There is one just down the street and it is the second largest in the city. It apparently seats 7000! I'm glad I won't be here during Oktoberfest although originally I would have been but I changed my itinery.
    It was very noisy from the outside and I was a bit concerned it would be full of drunk young people. It wasn't, I think the noise was purely the amount of people.
    I had a slab of roast pork and potatoes, which were cold but still nice.
    I declined a beer, I'm all for trying the food of where you are but I don't like beer and didn't see the point of wasting the money or calories. I could have had a pepsi/fanta mix but opted for cider.

    Tonight is my last night in Munich.
    I like the city, my favourite place would be the English Gardens. The area around Marienplatz would be second.
    The only place I felt a bit iffy is the entrance to the underground and suburban trains opposite the main train station, especially at night as there always seems to be a few men behaving inappropriately.
    The transport system is great; trains, trams and buses. I bought all day tickets and didn't have to show them each time I got on, presumably only if asked by an inspector not that I saw one.

    Photos:
    Painting of Mary and Martha with Jesus
    Konigsplatz
    Apollo the beagle. I could't resist a pat.
    Statue of Mary, which gives Marienplatz its name.
    Beer steins and no, I didn't buy one.
    Augustine Keller Beer garden    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 12

    Austria at last.

    September 4, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    It has been a dream of mine to come to Austria and in particular Innsbruck and Pertisau for more than 20 years and now I am finally here!
    The train trip from Munich was only two hours. There was only two of us in the compartment for four so we both had plenty of room. He spoke very little english so beyond establishing where we were travelling there was very little conversation. We were delivered newspapers and he very eargerly gave me one saying "english". It was in Italian.
    It took me a few minutes to work out how to get out of the train station, then I went back in to the toilet. I'm still surprised to have to pay for the toilet. These toilets had no seats just meta and were sooo cold.
    The hotel is less than a km from the train station so I walked. It is an old building and my room is the most basic yet I have a beautiful bed and there is a bath in the bathroom and a fridge in the room.
    I was so hot I decided to have a shower before venturing out. The shower is connected to the bath taps and I couldn't work out how to make the water come out of the shower head so I had a cold bath (or maybe chill off if I'm honest) like a good chalet girl. Then I couldn't work out how to pull the plug. I've since worked out both.
    I went looking for the hop on hop off bus, it took me 3 goes to find a stop, I must have had an old map but I had a good look around. The alps are stunning. The Inn valley is at the base of the alps.
    There is a vespa party right outside the hotel. The hotel organised it to raise money for charity. I had some dinner there, some guy tried to offer me a cigarette, pick me up or both. I'm not sure. I just smiled, shook my head and said "english" and that was the end of that.

    Photos
    Street in Innsbruck
    Scenery on train trip
    Hotel Europe
    Alps
    Inn river
    Innsbruck    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 13

    The Alps

    September 5, 2016 in Austria ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    I had my first contintental breakfast today. There was such a huge variety of cold meats, cheese, salad, breads, fruits, cereals, yoghurts and probably more I have missed. Bacon and scrambled eggs were out and you could order other eggs.

    I ventured up the mountain using the Nordekettebahn. This used a furnicular for the first stage then two cable cars. I went straight to the top as thunderstorms were forecast (not that they arrived). It was breathtaking. It is 2256m and I had a great view. There are trails to go hiking and rock climbing. It is above the tree line and must be even better in the winter.

    I then went down to Seegraube which is the next level down. From there you can clearly see trails down to Hungerburg, the next level.
    From Hungerburg I took the furnicular one stop to the Alpine Zoo. It was still quite a walk to get there.

    The zoo only has Alpine animals. It is on the side of the mountain and so had many levels. I gave up trying to read the map as I was trying to read it as if everything was on one level and it just didn't make sense.

    The book that came to mind today was Clan of the Cave Bear (set in Europe at the time of the Neanderthals if you don't know it). So many of the animals mentioned in the book were in the zoo - lynx, roe dear, bear, bison, ibex.

    The last animal I saw was the bear. It had a huge enclosure complete with stream.

    From the zoo I caught the bus back to the city and wandered through the Old Town. It is indeed old, mostly seeming to date back to the 1600s.
    I saw the Golden Roof and as I didn't have high expectations I was pleasantly surprised at how golden it was.

    Photos:
    View of Innsbruck from Hafelekar (mountain)
    Looking up to Hafelekar from Seegraube.
    Looking down to Innsbruck from Seegraube. You can see the walking paths.
    Lynx
    Bear
    Golden roof    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 14

    A Chalet girl at last.

    September 6, 2016 in Austria ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    I'm sitting in the lounge at the Hotel Post in Pertisau as I write this. A lot has gone into getting here and its all my Mum's fault. She bought me my first Chalet School book but I digress.

    I started the day at the Museum of Tirolean Regional Heritage. I had thought it was the Tirolean Folk Museum but it was still very interesting. It had a lot of examples of objects and crafts used throughout the years. It was nice to see objects I'd read about and visualised completely wrong, such as stoves that were in the corner of a room and used for heating it. Nothing like what I imagined.

    Next door is the Hofkirche (Court Church). The museum is in a former Abbey. It is a beautiful church dominated by the Cenotaph of Maximilian I.

    After returning to the hotel to check out I made my way to the train station. The next part of the journey had been stressing me a bit as it wasn't prebooked like all my other travel plans. It was simple though, I went to the OBB (Austrian railways) office and told the clerk where I wanted to go and €11 later I had my ticket. I took a Euro City train to Jenbach, bus to Maurach, then another bus to Pertisau.
    My mobile hasn't worked in Austria, I assume Telstra doesn't provide service here so I have been relying on wifi. Innsbruck has great free wifi throughout the city, Pertisau not so much. Apart from knowing the hotel was by the lake I didn't really know where it was. Google maps works enough without internet to show me where I am but didn't provide detail. Eventually I wandered around a bit, found the Information service (it was closed but had maps outside) and realised if I'd stayed on for one more stop the bus would have stopped right outside the hotel door.

    The Hotel Post is lovely. It dates back well over 100 years. I am in a new part of the building and the room is spacious with a king single bed, small dressing table, arm chair and coffee table. I have a balcony which has both lake and meadow views. This is their basic single room!

    After unpacking I went for a walk.
    I found the information service again and bought my Achensee card which will give me free access to the boats, achenseebahn and cablecars. I also saw the EBD plaque.

    A sidenote: The Chalet School series is a series of books written by Elinor Brent-Dyer (EBD) from the 1920s with the last being published in 1970. The first 12 are set in Pertisau. There are many fans worldwide and I am not the first to come here in the footsteps of the Chalet School (and I won't be the last).
    From my balcony I can see the Alpenhof, a deserted hotel thought to be the fictional site of the school. My mum bought me four books in the series (there are over 50) when I was about 10 and had given her $10 of birthday money to buy me second hand books in Getaldton. It was the start of a lifelong interest.

    Anyway...
    I missed lunch so stopped at a cafe for something to eat. The menu had no english translation and the waiter didn't speak english. iTranslate was no help either. I ordered Germknodel which from the allergy ingormation I deduced it was made of flour, milk, eggs and nuts.
    I still have no idea what it was. My best guess is a warm dumpling with apple and jam inside sitting in custard. I'll include a photo and someone maybe able to identify it.

    It was a mistake though. I've booked half-board at the hotel which means breakfast and dinner (dinner is €10!).
    For dinner I had:
    A plate of self serve salad, they even had beetroot!
    Soup: bouillion with profiteroles. I ordered it because I wanted to see the profiteroles (thinking it was a mis-translation) but it had baby profiteroles floating on the top.
    Tirolean ravioli (just one)
    Beef stroganoff, for those ex Dellahale-ites who think I was brave, it was delicious and nothing like what we endured.
    Dessert was an egg liquor cream which as far as I could tell was a mousse like cream on the bottem and a berry liquor reduction on top.
    I declined cheese to finish.

    After hot weather for my entire trip It has turned cold and wet. Pertisau is about 900m above sea level, tomorrow will also be wet but Wednesday should fine up.

    Photos:
    Hotel Post
    Bread cutter at the museum
    Cenotaph at the Hofkirche
    Plaque commemerating Elinor Brent Dyer who used Pertisau as the setting for her books.
    My germknodel
    Boat (I want to call it a steamer) that goes to the various hamlets around the lake.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 15

    Crisscrossing the lake

    September 7, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Another wet and cold day today. I timed my walk to the boat nicely, as it was just getting in. I had wanted to go in the other direction (towards Gaisalm) but that was a 45 minute wait so I got on the one heading to Bachau.
    Bachau is on the other side of the lake, we then headed back to the west side to Seespitz which is where the Achenseebahn comes in. I had planned to take the trip to Jenbach but it was too wet and cold. We headed back to Pertisau, then up to Gaisalm. I saw the dripping rock which is where one on the streams(?) coming down the mountain passes over the path. The path from the dripping rock to Gaisalm and then beyond to Scholastica does not look an easy stroll.
    From Gaisalm we went to across to Achenseehof then to Scholastica at the foot of the lake, back to Gaisalm and then Pertisau.
    By then I was thoroughly cold and decided to spend the afternoon relaxing and reading.

    The hotel really is lovely. I have my own set table with my name (Frau Creasy) on a little sign on it. I again skipped lunch but this time didn't have afternoon tea so I was nice and hungry (mind you breakfast was hearty with bircher muesli and egg and toast plus fruit and cheese so it's not like I'm starving).

    Starting with salad is nice, at least I know I am getting a large bowl of veggies. As I helped myself to pickled cauliflower one woman got really excited, called her husband back to the beginning of the table were it was and was visibly disapointed when she realised it was cauliflower. I have no idea what she thought it was!

    The meals have been dainty. My only reference point for a hotel that supplies dinner as well as breakfast is Fawlty Towers. This is nothing like that but it's what I think of everytime I sit at the table and see my little lable.

    Tonight I had melon and proscuitto followed by cream of salsify soup (so nice), duck with potato dumpling and cabbage and then what was described as a cream cheese nougat dumpling with stewed apricots. It had chocolate inside and was delicious. The main is a reasonable size but the other courses are nice and small.

    The dining staff have variable amounts of English. Some a good amount, others none. I rely on nodding and pointing to the menu a lot. I have also added "Ja gut" (yes good) to my vocabulary in response to what I assume is an enquiry as to whether I enjoyed the meal.
    Other than that I find myself watching other people, on the boat we were given a paper ticket, the instructions on which I translated as "keep the ticket until the service goal of the sailor."
    itranslate isn't infallible. So I just watched others and saw them return the tickets so I did so as well.

    Photos:
    Achenseebahn
    Did I mention it was cold?
    Dripping rock
    View from the lake
    Gaisalm
    Looking from Scholastica at the foot of the lake    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 15

    Half term expedition

    September 7, 2016 in Austria ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    This is in response to Phil's wish for me to write more. It is full of Chalet School speak and covers the same day as "up the alm on the back of a truck".

    I realised today and tomorrow are the mid point for my trip so it is obviously half-term.
    In the absence of some hefty seniors to give me a hand over the strenuous parts I opted for alpenstock.
    I had a suitable fruhstuck of porridge (well bircher muesli) and a roll.

    To Gern alm we were headed. I was on the lookout for the hay cart but instead discovered the cheery Tyrolean had a truck and trailer. Forgiving my lack of tobacco he accepted my Euro instead.
    It was a bumpy ride but we eventually made it up the alm. Like any new girl I gushed over the cows with bells on that we saw on our way up.

    It was time for elevenses, I checked my rucksack, alas it was emplty of dainty sandwiches and boiled eggs. It was also empty of water.
    Fortunately there is a gasthaus and I was able to order something to drink and eat. As I have not yet reached "types of studels" when learning my ten German words a day I had to guess at what I was eating. Possibly a cream cheese strudel with vanilla custard, it was nice if a little heavy.

    I cast a surreptitious glance around for Matey, not seeing her I shrugged of my blazer er jacket. I'd risk the chill as it really beautiful day. Taking my alpenstocks I set off on a short walk up to where the river meets the path. It was a big river bed and a small trickle of a river. I checked the season and heaved a sigh of relief but also a small amount of disappointment. Autumn means probably no flash flood but also then no opportunity for the doctor of my dreams to rescue me (although The Doctor of my dreams is number 10 so even more unlikely).
    I met the truck and this time was invited to ride in the trailer.

    On returning to the hotel I had just enough time to fetch my waterbottle and visit the er... splasheries (to tidy my hair of course! Why else would a chalet girl visit there except for a bath!) before catching the bus to Maurach for I am going to the Sonnalpe!
    I briefly contemplated scrambling up, who am I kidding? All along I planned to take the cable car.

    It is cetainly high up, all I can say is that it must have been a small San to fit up here.
    Needing the fresh air to whet my appetite I went for a ramble with Hilda and Freda, as my alpenstocks have named themselves.
    I didn't quite make 10 miles (I doubt I made 1!)
    The gasthous provided a beautiful if late mittegessen.
    I met some people who had walked from Maurach, it took 3 hours. It would have been longer and harder to visit the Sonnalpe surely. Those schoolgirls sure were tough.

    I realised I did not have any new material for my article in the Chaletian so I stopped off at the Vitalberg Museum of Tirolean Shale Oil. I won't spoil the article by giving anything away here.

    As I had missed my midday rest once I returned to the hotel I took my book (ipad) down to the garden (balcony) for some quiet time. Of course silence was required and fortunately there were no prefects around when I spoke to myself. I amused myself watching the paragliders.

    Karen did herself proud at Abendesson.
    Eigan has obviously been fishing. He only caught a few trout though, enough for two mouthfuls each.
    I gave the broth with liver dumplings a miss and had cream of garlic soup instead.
    The lamb rack was delicious.
    I was too full for dessert but it was Sacher torte. The oppurtunity to eat Sacher torte in Austria was too great to pass up so I asked for some napkins and bought it back to my room for a midnight feast.

    Photos
    Looking back at Gern alm
    The Tiern Pass?
    Track from the Sonnalpe to Maurach
    View of Tiern See from the Sonnalpe
    Karlson the 10 yr old beagle who did walk up from Maurach
    Paragliders    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 16

    Up the alm on the back of a truck.

    September 8, 2016 in Austria ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    Such a beautiful day today.
    I picked up some hiking sticks from reception and went to wait for the transport to Gern alm, basically a cafe/bnb west of Pertisau at the base of the mountains. A lot of walkers and cyclists stop there before going further.

    The transport was a litle truck pulling a trailer. All very quaint and good fun.
    It is in the Karwendal National park but national parks here aren't like those in Australia. There are people living here and grazing cattle. The cows actually have bells! I could here them as we made our way through the park.

    The gasthaus was cute. I had a strudel of indeterminate nature as the server rattled off all the cakes, I didn't understand most of what she said so I just picked the last thing she said!
    I think it was cream cheese in the strudel. It was nice if a little heavy.

    I then tried my hiking poles out. They definitely made things easier and gave the the confidence to tackle a narrow path. I didn't get far though as I had to be back to catch the truck back to Pertisau.

    I timed it quite well and after a short wait I caught the bus into Maurach and took the cable car up the Rofan mountains.
    This was certainly busier with four alm huttes (restaurants) plus the rofanair, in which you are suspended as if paragliding, sent along a cable then come back at hgh speed. The squeals of fear/excitement spoilt the atmosphere a bit but only a bit.
    I got a bit more adventurous (by my standards) with the walking and spent a pleasant hour or so walking uphill and downhill and sitting, resting and just watching.

    One thing I really struggle with is how to order food at cafes/restaurants. There does't seem to be a clear way to tell if you sit down and order or order from the till. I sat at the alm hutte for about 15 minutes before observing people going inside to order. It has stumped me quite a few times. There is obviously some big social cue I am missing.

    The menu had english translation which listed "vegetarian food with dumplings and ravioli" which sounded interesting. It turned out to be 3 spinach and cheese filled ravioli, a spinach and cheese dumpling and a potato and cheese dumpling. All very nice.

    I headed back to Pertisau and decided to visit the Shale oil museum. It was small but intetesting. One family has been mining shale rock and extracting oil from it for over 100 years. Because of the reasonably high oil content the rocks will actually burn once lit.
    The oil has all sorts of magical properties. I bought some foot cream that will leave my tired feet refreshed! It seems to have peppermint in it as well so my feet will smell nice if nothing else. I changed the blister dressing on my feet last week and it made such a difference. I hadn't realised how painful my feet were until they weren't. They seem fine now, just a bit sore at the end of the day.

    The weather must have been good for paragliding this afternoon. There were 2-3 in the air consistently for about 2 hours. I sat by the lake then on my balcony watching them.

    Photos:
    Gern alm
    The transport!
    Cows with bells!
    The rofan air
    Achensee from Rofan mountain, Pertisau is just vidable in the right of the photo.
    The shale rock is the dark rock.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 16

    The barenbald alm

    September 8, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Today I went up to the top of Zerwolferkopf in the Karwendal cable car. It is about another 900m up. The is the spot the paragliders leave from. There is a good view of the lake and surrounds, as well across to the Rofan mountains were I was yesterday. The Barendbaldalm is a 30 minute walk from the cable car. Off I went with my trusty walking poles. I was mostly going downhill as the alm is 50m below the level of the cable car. The last 150m or so was rather steep. I appreciated my walking poles.

    I had a rest and a drink at the alm hutte but to be honest I didn't enjoy it that much as I was dreading the walk back up that steep hill. The was a path down towards Maurach that looked a gentle slope and was nice and wide but it had bee marked difficult so I turned back to the easy route.
    Getting up that hill was easier than expected and having the poles definitely made things easier.
    I was up on the mountain much longer than I exoected. I had taken some morning tea with me and ate it at 1pm before boarding the cable car for the journey back.

    Back to the hotel for a cold shower, change of clothes and a quick 10 minute lie down before heading to the lake for the boat to Seespitz.
    From there I caught the Achenseebahn down to Jenbach.
    Apart from the truck ride yesterday all these excursions are covered by my Achensee guest card. We get a basic card from the hotel which gives free bus rides and (I think discounts on the various activities) but by buying the sticker to go on the card for €63 the cable cars, boats, achenseebahn, oil museum have not cost me any extra.

    Anyway, the train is a steam train. Coal smoke stinks. The train was interesting for the first five minutes and then I got to thinking I'm glad train travel has improved as it was very jerky.
    We were in Jenbach for 45 minutes before coming back up. The engine pushed us up the steep part to Eben then moved to the front and pulled as the rest of the way.
    The scenery was interesting, I got to see into people's backyards along some of the way. Other parts were pure forrest.
    We got back to Seespitz in time to catch tne boat back to Pertisau.

    Dinner was a bit of a let down tonight. Both the service and food had been great up until now. I have a new waiter, he doesn't speak a lot of english (but more than my german).
    We get the menu at breakfast and have to choose our main meal from a choice of three then.
    Today my menu was in german. I translated the three mains as: rust roast; calf goulash; and potato and zucchini bake. I opted for the veggie bake.
    The service wasn't great.

    There won't be a CS version tonight. I am really tired. When I planned to do this blog I thought I'd be sitting in my room all by myself and it would give me something to do.
    Most nights I've written it in the lounge/bar of where I been staying, if I write it in my room it has been in bed because I am so tired (like tonight!)

    Photos:
    Paraglider
    Looking down on Pertisau
    The dreaded hill, it was a lot worse that it looks!
    Looking towards the Rofan mountains, where I was yesterday
    Achensee bahn
    Drawing if Hotel Post circa 1930    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 18

    Half term expedition part 2

    September 10, 2016 in Austria ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    This is the second half of my Chalet journal, it covers Thursday and Friday.

    Thursday, it was one of the Chalet Girls' favourite walks, so easy even the young girls can manage easily - to Barebald alm.
    It was a warm day so Matey decreed no blazers were necessary.
    Hilda, Freda* and I set off to the base of the alp. Going up was easy, Joey was right! Although she may not have been referring to the Karwendal cable car.
    At the top I paused to watch men jumping off the mountain - paragliders. I took some snaps with my kodak.

    Consulting the map I determined the route, noting that the routes back down to Pertisau seemed to be marked difficult.
    Hilda, Freda and I set off at a slow trot, covering the ground reasonably easily.
    Then we came in sight of the alm! I quaked at the path leading down. Hilda and Freda quietly encouraged me all the way down.
    We eventually made it and stopped to appreciate the view. I could see across to the Sonnalpe.
    We weren't due for elevenses until we were back at the cable car so we begged a drink from the alm hutte.
    Their "alm dudler" (apple juice) went down a treat. After a short rest we went along the nice wide path that leads back to Pertisau. I was tempted to try it but my guides reminded me that many a Chalet girl has gotten into trouble choosing the easy looking path (a metaphor for life?) so I reluctantly turned back to that uphill slope. With H and F's help and ecouragement I made it up the slope with far less difficulty than I had expected.
    We made our way back to the cable car and I discovered that my watch had stopped (ie I hadn't checked the time on my phone) and it was 1pm! A stop for late elevenses was in order. Today I had it with me, a pastry left over from breakfast. H and F were maintaining there stick thin figures and went without.

    Back down the mountain we went.
    The aftetnoon's expedition was the steam railway - the Achenseebahn. I had come up to the lake via the coach road and so had not experienced this important part of Chalet life.
    H and F, having done the trip many times remained behind.

    First I caught the boat to Seespitz.
    A thought occurred to me - did the CS girls have season tickets for the boats? Maybe it was included in the fees? They seem to use them a lot, and not always planned.

    Anyway... The train was waiting at Seespitz. I hope the carriages have changed since the 1930s, or it had a luggage compartment as I can't imagine fitting all the luggage in.

    The ride down was quite jerky in places.
    The coal smoke smelt terrible. It was brown so soft coal?
    The view was good though, through towns, forrest and open country. The next trip back to Seespitz was the last trip up so I had some plum kuchen at the railway station then we made our way back up. If I thought the trip down was jerky, the trip up was more so.
    The boat was waiting as we reached Seespitz so it was an easy transfer back to the hotel.

    Yesterday it was time to tackle the Dripping rock and Gsisalm, an easy stroll apparently. H and F agreed to accompany me and I'm glad they did. It started out as any easy stroll but soon the wide flat path gave way to a narrower path of loose rock or dirt. It went up and down a fair bit. I had agreed with H and F I would turn back if it was too difficult.
    Turning the corner to see the dripping rock was amazing. I'd seen one of the iconic sights in the CS books. The narrow path doesn't encourage stopping for long although one rambler, on observing me stopping to take pictures stopped as well.

    Now, to go forward or turn around? I'm no spineless jellyfish (not suggesting anyone who did turn around is 😀) so I kept ongoing. The track got tougher but H and F kept encouraging me to lean on them, (Freda may well have a dislocated shoulder after some of those big step downs).
    But we made it! We made it to Gaisalm which has a gasthaus and nothing else.
    Just enough time to purchase a drink and then we caught the boat back.

    Time for lunch. I had not yet called in to see Herr Braun at the Kron Prinz Karl (Furstenhaus) so this was a great opportunity.
    Herr Braun has done well for himself. The hotel has been extended and is beautiful inside.
    I decided to eat in the beer garden. H and F were horrified and lay on the ground in protest.
    I didn't have the energy to translate the menu so chose frankfurters and pommes fries assuming I would get a nice sausage, no I got exactly what it said, hot dogs (without the red skin) and chips. Never the less it was fine.

    I had a dilemma. I heard a rumour at breakfast of a night cruise on the lake. But would it be suitable entertainment for a gracious lady such as myself. I was tempted to sneak out but
    a) that is not honourable
    b) I did't want Joey to have to rescue me and
    c) I didn't want bronchitis or pneumonia

    Fortunately Herr Braun advised that the entertainment would be suitable and that the rocks by Gaisalm would be lit up and it was a spectacular sight.

    Back to the hotel then for a rest. There was a strudel buffet in the restaurant but not having yet learnt the german strudel words, plus I'd need an early abendssen I gave it a miss.

    H and F declined to accompany me on the night cruise (sticks in the mud they are!)

    The cruise was lovely. I must work on my german as I couldn't understand what the musicians were saying.
    The views were lovely. I took my blazer so was able to spend a good portion of the cruise on the deck.
    Well worth it.

    Time to bid the Tiernsee goodbye.

    *Hilda and Freda were my walking poles.

    Photos:
    Another view of the Dripping Rock
    Alpenhof
    There are many of these shrines(?) all throughout the Achensee. This one is at the Barenbald alm.
    Look at the shadow of the steamtrain.
    Pertisau by night
    Rocks by Gaisalm    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope
    Day 18

    The Dripping Rock and Gaisalm

    September 10, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Today I set out to see if I could walk to the Dripping Rock and beyond to Gaisalm.
    My walk to the Barenbald alm gave me the confidence to try.
    It was a lovely morning, cool but not cold, overcast.
    The walk starts out very easy, a stroll along the path at the lake's edge. It was really pleasant. The water in the lake is so clear.
    The path started to rise and fall. In the worst parts a metal rope has been attached to the rock wall.
    The dripping rock is a spot where water comes down the mountain and crosses the path. A corrugated iron roof has been erected.
    I had a taste of the water coming off the roof - it tasted like the rusty water we would drink from the tops of rusty 44 gallon drums afte rain when we were kids.

    At the dripping rock I had to decide whether turn back to Pertisau or continue to Gaisalm. I decided to keep going as I knew I was more than half way.
    The going did get tougher but still manageable with my walking poles.

    Not far from Gaisalm is a section of loose rock that I had to walk across. I was looking for the path on the other side and saw a metal rope pegged into the wall on the other side. I nearly cried as there was no way I could pull my self up that! Fortunately there was a pathway and crisis averted. I made it to Gaisalm more than 2 hours after I left Pertisau (I'm not sure exactly when I left).
    I just had enough time for a drink before catching the boat back to Pertisau.

    Photos
    Dripping rock
    Footpath from Pertisau
    How clear the lake water is
    Part of the path
    The dreaded rope
    Gaisalm    Read more

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