The alarm went off at 4.30, and we were packed and on the road by about 5am, which hurt rather a lot. We drove to the Purple Parking business car park, left the car, and got a minibus with a stack of other people, to terminal 3 at Heathrow. We had checked in already, so only had to drop our bags. After a bit of juggling of weight between the two enormous bags (they were particularly full with all our camping gear), we walked away with our hand luggage and boarding passes, and went through a rather tiresome security experience where the female security officer had to frisk everyone and no more women could go through until she had finished each one.
Once on the other side, we went into our usual breakfast haunt, Bridge cafe, and had a nice meal. We cut it fairly fine getting to the gate, but make it OK. The flight to Vienna was comfortable enough, given we had exit row seats and no one on the aisle side of us.
In Vienna, we made our way through the small airport, I took a photo of the sheet music on the wall, we collected our bags, and started the long and tortuous journey to find the hire car desks. Christian sorted everything out while I waited, and we went downstairs into the car park to find our shiny Corsa. It had only driven 9 km, and had all the bells and whistles.
We packed the car, I got my camera out, Christian set up the TomTom, and we set off in backwards seats, on the wrong side of the road. Christian dealt with it beautifully. It was motorway driving for much of this journey. We stopped for lunch in Zöbern at an Oldtimer, which is a restaurant/cafe chain in garish tones of yellow. It had a wonderful view of mountains, though, and the food was OK. I had a rich potato dumpling dish with ham and spinach, which I couldn't finish, and Christian had tasty hash brown things. Potatoes all round. We stocked up on chocolate biscuits and water, and headed off once again.
We drove some more, during which I dozed, and before long were in Graz. We drove into the city through roadworks, and past the huge Stadthalle. The traffic lights were a bit confusing, but we found ourselves a parking spot beside the river, and set off for a walking tour. The bridge we first crossed was over some white water, which seemed odd to me in a city. And then I later saw the people kayaking on it! We walked up the opposite side of the river, dodging cyclists, and walked back across the next bridge. We decided to explore the 'beach' which was some deckchairs and sand on the concrete beside the river, and some music playing, and a kiosk. We walked along that side at water level, and then we saw the climbing wall, complete with overhang section. Wow.
We got to the next bridge, which was covered in padlocks. We could see a dome structure ahead, and so decided to keep going at water level to investigate. It was a twisty metal bridge, but with a dome in the middle housing a cafe-cum-amphitheatre, a children's play area, and a restaurant. Very impressive design.
Back up at street level (I forgot to go back and investigate the padlock bridge), we made our way into the old town, and checked out the Schloss. It's amazing. Up a sheer cliff, with a clock tower on top of it. A nice man had offered us his ticket, but we had to decline because of lack of time on the parking ticket. There were tortuous steps to get to the top, or a lift (which was presumably what the ticket was for). We went to investigate the lift, because it was at the end of a dark and mysterious looking tunnel into the mountain. As we got near the tunnel, a freezing blast of air came towards us, which was very welcome on such a warm day. The tunnel itself was pretty interesting, and we had an explore in the cool darkness. We had a look at the lift, but didn't have time to go up it (the tickets were very cheap).
All we had time to do after that was to wander through the streets, have a look at the main square, and buy some exorbitantly expensive blueberries and grapes, and then run back to the car. Where we discovered that we'd actually had another 20 minutes. Oh well. We got in the car and had a quick drive through the streets, and then back onto the autobahn.
We made one more stop (or was it two?), the second of which was at Wörthersee. We bought a road map, because Christian's phone was overheating to the point of not working, and we fancied an ice cream. It was a very short drive from there to the campsite. It was immediately obvious that Faak am See was a family-oriented holiday town as there were people and cyclists everywhere.
We found the campsite easily, parked just inside the entrance gate, and went looking for the office. The place was moderate mayhem, with a bunch of running types with numbers stuck on. In the office, we spoke to a nice English-speaking man, who looked quite harassed, and he had our booking and all was fine, but he said to give him 20 minutes and he'd show us to our site. We walked down to investigate the lake. It was stunning. Lots of people were swimming, so it was a bit cloudy, but obviously normally clear. It's fairly big, with an island against one edge. An hour later, during which we watched the races, which were pretty fun, the man finally came back, and cycled away to show us the site, with us walking behind.
It was a good spot, along the fence in a quiet area. As the races were still going on, we walked back to the car and retrieved the tent and the ready bed. After putting the tent up, and trying to get the pegs in the ridiculously hard ground, I dealt with the ready bed while Christian went back for the car.
Once we were set up, with one bag inside the tent, we headed to the restaurant for dinner. It was a surprisingly professional affair. It was packed, and they asked if we had a reservation. Luckily they had a spare table. I had Weiner schnitzel, and Christian had a mixed grill. We had very nice beer, mostly because it was cheaper than soft drinks. There was a lot of food, and Christian had to help me finish it, but it was very good, and pretty cheap.
We got ready for bed, and turned in for the night. There was loud music coming from across the lake, and the kids in the campsite were still pretty noisy, but I got to sleep fairly quickly.
Once on the other side, we went into our usual breakfast haunt, Bridge cafe, and had a nice meal. We cut it fairly fine getting to the gate, but make it OK. The flight to Vienna was comfortable enough, given we had exit row seats and no one on the aisle side of us.
In Vienna, we made our way through the small airport, I took a photo of the sheet music on the wall, we collected our bags, and started the long and tortuous journey to find the hire car desks. Christian sorted everything out while I waited, and we went downstairs into the car park to find our shiny Corsa. It had only driven 9 km, and had all the bells and whistles.
We packed the car, I got my camera out, Christian set up the TomTom, and we set off in backwards seats, on the wrong side of the road. Christian dealt with it beautifully. It was motorway driving for much of this journey. We stopped for lunch in Zöbern at an Oldtimer, which is a restaurant/cafe chain in garish tones of yellow. It had a wonderful view of mountains, though, and the food was OK. I had a rich potato dumpling dish with ham and spinach, which I couldn't finish, and Christian had tasty hash brown things. Potatoes all round. We stocked up on chocolate biscuits and water, and headed off once again.
We drove some more, during which I dozed, and before long were in Graz. We drove into the city through roadworks, and past the huge Stadthalle. The traffic lights were a bit confusing, but we found ourselves a parking spot beside the river, and set off for a walking tour. The bridge we first crossed was over some white water, which seemed odd to me in a city. And then I later saw the people kayaking on it! We walked up the opposite side of the river, dodging cyclists, and walked back across the next bridge. We decided to explore the 'beach' which was some deckchairs and sand on the concrete beside the river, and some music playing, and a kiosk. We walked along that side at water level, and then we saw the climbing wall, complete with overhang section. Wow.
We got to the next bridge, which was covered in padlocks. We could see a dome structure ahead, and so decided to keep going at water level to investigate. It was a twisty metal bridge, but with a dome in the middle housing a cafe-cum-amphitheatre, a children's play area, and a restaurant. Very impressive design.
Back up at street level (I forgot to go back and investigate the padlock bridge), we made our way into the old town, and checked out the Schloss. It's amazing. Up a sheer cliff, with a clock tower on top of it. A nice man had offered us his ticket, but we had to decline because of lack of time on the parking ticket. There were tortuous steps to get to the top, or a lift (which was presumably what the ticket was for). We went to investigate the lift, because it was at the end of a dark and mysterious looking tunnel into the mountain. As we got near the tunnel, a freezing blast of air came towards us, which was very welcome on such a warm day. The tunnel itself was pretty interesting, and we had an explore in the cool darkness. We had a look at the lift, but didn't have time to go up it (the tickets were very cheap).
All we had time to do after that was to wander through the streets, have a look at the main square, and buy some exorbitantly expensive blueberries and grapes, and then run back to the car. Where we discovered that we'd actually had another 20 minutes. Oh well. We got in the car and had a quick drive through the streets, and then back onto the autobahn.
We made one more stop (or was it two?), the second of which was at Wörthersee. We bought a road map, because Christian's phone was overheating to the point of not working, and we fancied an ice cream. It was a very short drive from there to the campsite. It was immediately obvious that Faak am See was a family-oriented holiday town as there were people and cyclists everywhere.
We found the campsite easily, parked just inside the entrance gate, and went looking for the office. The place was moderate mayhem, with a bunch of running types with numbers stuck on. In the office, we spoke to a nice English-speaking man, who looked quite harassed, and he had our booking and all was fine, but he said to give him 20 minutes and he'd show us to our site. We walked down to investigate the lake. It was stunning. Lots of people were swimming, so it was a bit cloudy, but obviously normally clear. It's fairly big, with an island against one edge. An hour later, during which we watched the races, which were pretty fun, the man finally came back, and cycled away to show us the site, with us walking behind.
It was a good spot, along the fence in a quiet area. As the races were still going on, we walked back to the car and retrieved the tent and the ready bed. After putting the tent up, and trying to get the pegs in the ridiculously hard ground, I dealt with the ready bed while Christian went back for the car.
Once we were set up, with one bag inside the tent, we headed to the restaurant for dinner. It was a surprisingly professional affair. It was packed, and they asked if we had a reservation. Luckily they had a spare table. I had Weiner schnitzel, and Christian had a mixed grill. We had very nice beer, mostly because it was cheaper than soft drinks. There was a lot of food, and Christian had to help me finish it, but it was very good, and pretty cheap.
We got ready for bed, and turned in for the night. There was loud music coming from across the lake, and the kids in the campsite were still pretty noisy, but I got to sleep fairly quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment