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2016 - Germany, Switzerland, Austria
The Alpine Coaster above Imst. (below left) is a photo of the long chairlift that transports you up the mountain to the start of the run. You can see the run snaking downhill. After your ride/s you can take a scenic footpath back to Imst through the woods (photo right)
After a two night stop at Imst West we moved on eastwards along the Inn valley and up the Zillertal valley to the beautiful village of ZELL AM ZILLER [10]. At Camping Hofer we had arranged a Gathering of UK Carthago owners. We needed to arrive a couple of days early to prepare for the arrival of another 34 motorhomes. We have visited Zell am Ziller several times before but those Carthago owners who were visiting for the first time were absolutely charmed by Austria and the Zillertal valley. We had arranged our meeting to co-incide with the Almabtreib festival in Zell am Ziller. This is when the local farmers bring their cattle down from the high alpine pastures into the villages for the winter. Look up Almabtreib on the Internet and you will find some lovely videos to watch.
It is amazing how docile the cattle are. They do not seem the least peturbed by the crowds of people and they are often herded by young children. British Health and Safety officers would be apopletic at herds of cattle mingling with festival goers - not to mention the slippery road surfaces! We also arranged a coach tour. Firstly to the beautiful Krimml waterfall and then high up in the mountains to a restaurant for lunch. The road to the restaurant was steep, winding and steep drops off the side down into the valley far below. It was dramatic enough to be in a car but on a coach………well, it kept everyone quiet!!
(left) The Krimml waterfall. There are three stages to this beautiful waterfall. The photo is the lower fall. It can take you an hour to climb up to the top of the top falls. (below left) Happy Carthago owners enjoying the mountain sunshine and a jolly good lunch at Hirchbichalm. The restaurant did a wonderful job at catering a 3 course meal for 70 people. The food was delicious and afterwards the owner and his family entertained us with some local music (below right). Note the young girl on the double bass who had to stand on a chair to be able to play!
Fortunately, we had a beautiful sunny day and the views from the restaurant terrace just took your breath away! If you have been ski-ing then you will have seen these panoramas but some of the group had never seen such views before.
All agreed that they had had a wonderful time and many saying that they planned to return another time.
All too soon the meeting was over and everyone headed off in various directions, either to continue their holiday or head for home. We had an appointment with Munich and to meet up with our son Brian and his wife Alexa who had flown across from USA to pay a visit to the Munich Oktoberfest. We stayed in a campsite at PILSENSEE [11] which is a 40 minute train ride into the centre of Munich.
This is a lovely campsite location right on the Pilsensee. The site is busy at the weekends with body boarders, kayaks and wind surfers. When we arrived, on a Sunday, the grass area between us and the lake was densely packed with watersports people and families all enjoying the late summer sunshine. However, by Monday all was peaceful. The nearby town of Seefeld, Germany was not particularly interesting but the train station is only about 2km away from the campsite and a direct link into Munich.
(left) the Hofbrauhaus, Munich. Whatever time of year that you visit Munich ,this is one location you must visit. It is a huge beer hall and very traditional. Do not expect to be served anything less than one litre of Hofbrau when you visit. Click on the logo (below) for a short video, in English, which tells of the history of Hofbrauhaus.
(left) Brian and Alexa bought themselves some traditional costume to get in to fashion for the Oktoberfest. We were taught the following rules about the way you should tie your apron bow. - hanging to your right side shows you are married - hanging to your left side shows you are single - hanging front centre shows you are a virgin - hanging behind you are a widow We did not see many centre hanging!! (below) Alexa gets into the swing of Oktoberfest at the Hofbrauhaus.