stephengmarshall

Sun Aug 29, 2010 16:10:06
Thursday morning in Vienna – just one of those days that you felt like you should have stayed in bed after a big night. The evening before we had caught the UBahn (train) into the city for dinner and then the orchestra and opera with some ballet thrown in – great food, drink and company so all was good. Breakfast was amazing but as we got up to the leave the restaurant we found Steve’s new man bag was gone, unbelievable we were sitting at the table, they must have walked behind us and scoped it off the seat while we were talking. After speaking to the Manager we were able to check the hotels security camera system. Alas no cameras in the restaurant apparently against the privacy act, we watched everyone come out of the breakfast room mostly our tour group – no one left with it through the front door, there was two blokes that we are pretty sure were the one’s as one had a bag that hung over their shoulder about to the right length and shape of Steve’s. They left by the lift with no trace. Our day turned upside down was spent calling NZ to cancel credit cards, cell phone etc. They took his glasses, sunglasses, money, credit cards, licences and his Mont Blanc pens. Next stop the Police Station to file the report, not much that they could do and that was an experience and a half. Next stop to find some glasses so he could see again. Our day of sightseeing put aside, however lucky we had two nights in Vienna as we do not know how we would have resolved anything if we were back on the bus traveling to a new destination. That evening it was time to go again, we headed out to the to the Vienna woods to a lookout point over the Danube river and Vienna city. We into a little village to a restaurant for dinner, the restaurant commenced serving people in the year 803, over 1200 years ago. We had another great meal and had a lovely evening to finish a not so good day. Saturday morning a 4 hour drive to Salzburg where Mozart was born, the Sound of Music was filmed, and a walk around the village, had fantastic German sausage for lunch here, there was a great little market atmosphere. We then headed into Germany up to the Eagle’s Nest 6017ft (2000 metres) up in the clouds. We arrived at the base camp and were bussed near to the top. Here we entered the stone lined tunnel that Hitler used to drive up to the lift; the tunnel is 124 metres long. For some reason we met our first queue of the tour – very eerie in the tunnel with water dripping from the roof. You could feel the atmosphere even though Hitler had only visited there 14 times along with his henchmen. The elevator to the top was an elegant brass-lined affair and took 41 seconds to take us the 124 metres up through the heart of the mountain into the building; it still had the old fashioned telephone for communication. We entered the lodge on top of the mountain which was built in 1936 as a gift from the National Socialist party to him for his 50th birthday. This all sits on top of the Kehlstein mountain and remained unscathed through allied bombing in WW2 and is viewed in its’ original form. A walk through the lodge firstly into the lounge room where he sat in front of the fire place then on to Eva Brauns’ day room. These people used to be here!!! Then out to the lookout – dare devil Steve hanging over the edge as usual – barriers don’t work for him. We enjoyed a fabulous panoramic view over the Berchtesgadener land with views up to 200 km’s. Pity the camera cannot capture the view. Then back to Salzburg for dinner and to the hotel. Saturday we left Salzburg for Innsbruck – a tour around the Swarovski factory. Morning tea was a fantastic piece of apple strudel the best yet. It was not your usual apple pie; this was very light with very thin pastry and the filling just gorgeous. On to a ski jump facility from the winter Olympics in 1976, still used today. We went to the top, fantastic, view, very high and lucky for us someone was jumping today – great. Austria is very beautiful, the mountain ranges fantastic. We then a caught a train heading to Munich, through the mountains and we got off in a small Alpine village called Seefeld, an absolutely gorgeous little place. Here we then had the traditional schnapps and a horse & sleigh ride, the horse managed to keep everyone entertained as it had an upset stomach. Then onto Munich for the night. Sunday was a visit to the largest Haufbrauhaus (beer hall) in the world. This is the actual Haufbrauhaus that Hitler launched his coup from. Being a beer hall Steve managed to carve his name into a table. He did not vandalise it as thousands of others had done the same thing. A city tour and a look at the Glockenspiel which wasn’t working, we were about ½ hour too early for it. Onto Lucerne in Switzerland. The grass is green and the mountains awesome. We stopped off on the way to Lichtenstein, the wealthiest country in the world, average income $US108,000 and the prices their confirmed this. We were able to get our passports stamped their, 2 Euros – money making or what. Today we have been in 4 countries, Austria, Germany, Lichtenstein & Switzerland not bad for a day’s journey. Dinner was a traditional Swiss meal with cheese fondue, yodeling, flag-tossing, Alpine horn blowing along with involvement from the crowd. Steve was one of those pulled from the audience and had great fun in the yodeling and skulling beer competitions, a great laugh was had by all. He was the best yodeler and did NZ proud in the skulling comp. Nobody can understand how a beer can disappear so fast and not spill a drop. Monday we walked 5 minutes to the wharf for a scenic lake cruise around Lake Lucerne (its’ real name is too hard to spell). Another great sunny day, although cooler temperatures were felt, views were spectacular. We departed the boat at Stans and caught a vintage cable car which has been chugging up the mountain since 1893. Approximately ½ way up Stanserhorn we transferred to a modern aerial cable car to complete the journey to the summit. Another very high mountain, 6300 ft with spectacular views. We then headed to the lookout even higher - past Heidi’s’ house, the air was getting very thin, there Steve hung off the mountain once again – picture attached, this is real and no joke. People on our tour were having fits because the fall was to the bottom, 2000m. I was saying keep quiet, ignore him otherwise you will just egg him on, they still kept screaming. Back to the Summit for a great cup of hot chocolate. Switzerland is expensive their currency is Swiss Francs, but you can use the Euro - notes only. Free afternoon to catch-up on the lost property – licenses. Dinner in the restaurant that night very nice. First stop Tuesday was Freiburg for morning tea, a great fresh food market in the square where we had some more of those great German sausages and then on to Heidelberg. We had a sandwich there for lunch and a little look around and then onto a stop 8 km’s from Boppard for a river cruise down the Rhine. What a great little cruise and we stopped right outside our hotel.