Notes from Pat Barnes Page numbers refer to the Austrian Untour Handbook

We four, Mom and Dorothy, both 80ish, very limited walkers, and my daughter, Carolyn and I spent two wonderful weeks in Golling, Austria. We were into scenery, some shopping, lots of eating, and just generally enjoying the Austrian culture and countryside. We had a car and 4-day rail passes. The Austrian Untour book is super, and lists train and auto directions. I love the trains, but the car worked for us this time. This was my third Untour. First to Switzerland, (Kandersteg) second to Holland. We are going back to Switzerland in 2001, Reuti in the Heartland.

Uneventful flight from SFO to Frankfurt, and then transferred to Tyrolean Air to Salzburg. The Avis folks were friendly, but they gave us a compact car instead of the “intermediate” one we had ordered. We tried to be good sports and actually managed to get all our stuff and the four of us in it, but vowed we would come back and get a bigger one, which they said “might” be available the next day. We found the Spitzer Apartments, they showed us around, and then Heinz took us on a little Golling-Kuchl tour…the Grand Canyon of the Salzach and a scenic overview from the side of a mountain. Dinner was meat and rolls and apple-apricot kuchen that Hannelore makes for all her guests.

Attended the orientation meeting in Kuchl. Idyll rep Terry Siewald is very friendly and knowledgeable and proud of her country. She mentioned that folks compared Austria to Switzerland, but explained how Austria really is generally less expensive, regardless of how the train passes in Switzerland cover boats and lifts etc. Terry was helpful calling Avis for us. We ate lunch next door, at an outside table. Most restaurants were very stuffy inside, and smoky. Eating outside was utterly charming. We had a huge plate of assorted Austrian sausages and veggies. Yum! In the afternoon, we headed for Salzburg to exchange our car for a bigger one. It was perfect. A Renault Scenic. On the way, we stopped in Hallein, took the gondola lift, hiked down to the Salt Mine entrance, and took the very interesting and fun mine tour. (Page 13) It took a couple of hours, with fairly strenuous walking. Mom and Dorothy had a good rest spot on top.

Hallstatt day (Page 22)…It was fairly rainy, so we had all the rain gear ready! Nice drive, beautiful countryside on the way. It is really important to have good maps if you are driving. The Wanderweg maps are great, and show all roads. Hallstatt is built on a rock, overlooking a gorgeous lake. There were five parking lots, one of them in a tunnel! We met the other Idyllers for lunch, walked around the shops and visited the cemetery and “bone house” (with many decorated skulls) and church and admired the scenery and had gelatos. We headed back through Bad Ishl, and then took a very high road across the mountain, the Postalm road,(Page 21) part of it private, and we expected to have to pay a toll, but it was so rainy, no one was at the toll station. Very scenic, narrow road first through a canyon, and then on top of the mountain. We learned there are many toll roads. Take them!

We headed for the Swarovski Crystal World, (Page 30) a huge place with many tour buses, and it was good to get there early. We got tickets, watched the interesting spurting fountains, and then went in to look at the many very contemporary art exhibits, many of them animated. The crystal dome room was the most fun. Lots of lights and sparkly crystals. The shopping area was crowded, but manageable. They took credit cards. (Many places in Austria do not, but there are ATM’s everywhere.)

We headed for the Achensee, (Page 29) a lake up in the mountains. (Isn’t everything in the mountains in Austria?) We found the little Achensee-bahn, bought tickets and waited for the charming open car steam train that really chugged up the mountain, (it really said “I think I can, I think I can!”) through the woods, past small villages. Then we took the boat across the lake. We were going to get off at Pertisau, but it was raining furiously, so we decided to stay on the boat as it made its way to the various stops around this beautiful lake. We saw many windsurfers, sailboats, a para-skier. And a woman with a huge square backpack pulled out her accordion and started playing. A guy accompanied her banging a couple of spoons on his knees. Very charming. The sun later came out. What a place!

The Spitzers drove us to the Bodensee, in two cars. Heinz and Hannelore showed us a ski area where Heinz had met up with Arnold Schwartzenegger! It was a beautiful drive through the countryside, up a mountain road (like a trail, as most of those mountain roads are!) and parked at the lake. Surprisingly, quite a few people were there. Many were well dressed in “Sunday clothes.” Interesting. We were in our hiking clothes, walked around the lake, looked at the fish and took pictures. Lunch at a small café with only three tables, but the others invited us to share. I had the best spaetzle ever! The Spitzers took us to some other high points of interest, but alas, it got cloudy. (We returned here a few days later). They dropped us off at the Golling Gorge, (good restaurant there…we ate there another time) where Mom and Dorothy rested and Carolyn and I hiked the trail to the roaring water. (Page 44…but it is an easier hike if you start right by the restaurant…takes under an hour)

This looked like it was going to be a clear day, so we headed for the Grossglockner. (Page 23) It was fabulous, a major highlight. The road is really at the top of the world, and just when you think you have seen it all, there is another road going even higher! We took the car-train to Badgastein on the way back. In the evening, the Spitzers guided us to a mountain hut way up past St. Koloman, where we had a fantastic dinner and watched the sunset. What a day!

This was a shopping day in the AM in Golling. Drove to Werfen in the afternoon, and three of us hiked up to the castle. We missed the falcon show, but it was terrific anyway. Some folks took a taxi up. We gleefully gloated that we were too macho for that. (It was convenient, though, and there is a number to call at the parking lot) We drove to Hallein later on, and looked for a “Silent Night” church, but got a little lost in old Hallein, had to turn around a couple of times on some dead end streets, and gave up. All fun, though!

Budapest day. It was Dorothy’s lifelong dream to go to Budapest, home of her ancestors. Terry had contacted Susan, the Idyll rep in Budapest, who arranged to meet us at the Budapest train station, take us to a vacant Idyll apartment, and include us in on the next day’s city tour with some Hapsburg Idyllers. This all happened, according to schedule. What a neat thing, thanks to Terry and Susan. It was a little tricky getting seat reservations and changing trains twice, but the Golling train agent, while practicing his English on us, was very helpful. Shopping and eating in Budapest was lots of fun. The apartment was close to the center of shopping and the river.

The four-hour Budapest tour in a van with Susan explaining things was fantastic. She is proud of her city and country, and it showed. We stopped four times, visited churches, historic squares and scenic points of interest. I was very surprised at the number of tour busses. We returned to Golling at midnight. (Due to our tiredness, we left our four-day train passes in our train compartment. They were returned to us in Golling the next day!)

Mom and Dorothy got to sleep in, while Carolyn and I tackled the Ice Cave experience. (Page 14) Great website…(www.eisriesenwalt.at) We had our gloves and jackets, as advised. It was a strenuous series of climbs, and a tram ride in between, and lots of steps in the actual cave. Very worth it, though. We were very glad we got there early….you wouldn’t believe the people on the trail in line, under umbrellas, waiting to get on the tram as we were departing. It was a rainy day, and we headed for some Salzburg shopping in the afternoon. We chose the mall, due to its ease of parking, but it was very crowded and noisy. We had a McDonald’s coke (with plenty of ice, a tough commodity to find!) and then headed back to quiet Golling. We had given some thought to going on a “Sound of Music” tour, but it was too rainy. (I had been on one before…touristy, but fun) We loved exploring the villages on and around Highway 159. Dinner was take-out pizza from around the corner. We “mapped” a while, tried to make plans for both rainy and clear days. Terry told us she had never seen so much rain in late July!

The weather looked pretty good. We really wanted to go to the fabulous Zell Am See and take the Schmittenhohe lift etc, (Page 23) but with cloudy weather it wouldn’t be worth it. One of our maps had a reference to a folk museum and local crafts store in Bramberg, past Zell Am Zee. We reasoned that if it really cleared up we would stop there but if it didn’t we would visit the museum. We took another scenic road, Bischofshofen to Saalfelden, stopped at a great farmers’ market, checked out Zell Am Zee (many clouds) and headed for Bramberg. We found the museum in the charming little town, walked around the indoor and outdoor exhibits, and were utterly surprised when a huge bus of tourists showed up! We had our usual sandwich and fruit and strudel lunch at a picnic table. On the way back, we had some great shopping in Mittersill, ice cream on the sunny square, finally, and thought we’d give Kaprun (Page 28) a try. Beautiful drive, but couldn’t go very far up and the busses weren’t running. Took 311 and the A10 home and had dinner at the Salzachklamm restaurant, by the Golling gorge.

Again, the sky looked pretty clear and we headed for Lake Wolfgang. (page 20) We found the Schafberg-bahn, bought tickets (discount with rail-pass) and headed up the very steep mountain. It was pretty spectacular, but it got cloudy at the top, and we could only see the two lakes below us. We walked along the lake promenade, browsed the shops, were in quite a downpour for a while, and took a carriage ride back to the car. We had to be home in time for dinner at the Spitzers. Great mushroom soup and her special apricot dumplings. It was fun to be in their home. Heinz brought out his US photo albums.

Today we drove to Germany and the Chiensee (Page 39) We took the boat to Herren Island, had a great lunch at the hotel. It was raining hard when we got in the horse-drawn carriage for the palace, but they put down the canvas sides. Toured the palace….very spectacular, a “little Versailles.” And the sun came out! The Farewell Dinner in Kuchl was fun, and it was great to compare notes. Good food, nice music.

I was determined to see something “Sound of Music” and we headed for Dielalm. (Page 51) It was another spectacular drive, practically through the farmers’ fields. We also went to Rossbrand, (Page 51) where when we got to the top was where the Spitzers had taken us earlier, only this time it was gorgeously clear. Carolyn and I took a little hike to a hut farther up the road. We shopped in Werfen, where we got a parking ticket because we forgot to set out our little parking clock…$15…and then had some time left, and went to Salzberg to the Hellbrunn Palace. It was a warm day and we all got dutifully wet! We had our final Austrian dinner at the Golden Ochs in Golling. Delicious, as usual.

What a great trip. I hope that whoever reads this has or has had as good a time as we did! Austrian hospitality is super, and I thank Idyll for setting it all up…the Untourist way!