April 25, 2010
I was awakened this morning out of a dead sleep by the loud and intermittent ringing of musical church bells through our open window starting at 7 a.m. And I was totally okay with it.
The view from our balcony is absolutely stunning. The kids have requested that we eat all of our meals there. There is a clock and bell tower, snow-capped mountains, house rooftops, hotels, green trees and hills. There are birds singing in the trees and we can hear the rush of a waterfall in the near distance.
After a breakfast of hot oatmeal and juice on the balcony, we got ready to venture out and explore our surroundings. The kids went right for the outdoor playground, complete with in-ground trampoline, while I finished the check-in process at the front desk. For the twentieth time in two days, I was grateful to have rented a car for the week instead of relying on public transportation. We drove around Bad Gastein (it’s small, so it didn’t take long), took a few pictures, and then with windows down and radio up, we hit the open road.
We listened to the Austrian announcer deliver the news in German, praise the radio station for providing its listeners with Austria’s best music mix… and then proceed to air a playlist filled with almost all American or British music: a little Guns and Roses, some Phil Collins, Richard Marx, Lionel Richie, Europe, and Pink, to name but a few. Behind the wheel, driving on the right side of the road, American music on the radio, passing a McDonalds with a drive-through, I could almost believe we were back in the States driving to Tahoe or through Aspen… almost…
After a quick stop and tour of the “oldest building in the Gastein region,” Burg Klammstein, which was originally a castle built in the 1100’s, we drove on to our lakeside destination 30 kilometers away.
As we entered a long tunnel en route to the charming town of Zell am See, I was blasting the music and singing along with The Proclaimers, “I would walk 500 hundred miles and I would walk 500 more….. Undela undela undela la la la…” I was just thinking life couldn’t get much better, when suddenly, a VW whizzed by me in the passing lane. Seriously? Oh, Fahrfvergnuegen!!
The hotel is full of older vacationers (which makes sense since most kids are in school), and the swimming pool looked like a senior center therapy facility, with lots of earnest lap paddlers and rows of hooks on the wall with all different colors of robes. Terry cloth. I find myself marveling that people actually pack terry cloth in vacation luggage. They are clearly not packing for three months! The bobbing heads in the water acknowledged our arrival with curious but less than welcoming stares, as the kids headed to carve out some water space. I avoided direct eye contact with the grumpy-looking ones and was all smiles and encouragement to the children and within 10 minutes, the pool was cleared of all but the most-hardy of the grown-ups and the kids had the place virtually to themselves. It was probably just a coincidence. J
I would eat all my meals on that balcony too. What a beautiful place. As a serious question - do people in Austria still wear that type of stuff everyday? It must be inspired by all those mountains, and their desire to spin...those hills are alive indeed. As for the pool - looks more like it was meant for kids with fountains like that. ( :
ReplyDeleteLove the sunglasses. Your kids look like movie stars in training. Only cuter. I thought, "Ohhhhh! if only..." when I saw the picture on the balcony. It looked heavenly. You should see what our family can do to a pool! It's like throwing a turd into the middle and watching everyone scatter.
ReplyDeleteHave to say that the picture with the umbrella fountain thing was in the "whirlpool" (which was shallow and filled with tepid water, rather than hot water like we're used to) rather than the regular pool that had lap lanes. So that as a bit misleading. :-) Yes, people still wear the traditional clothing -- particularly in the small towns -- and EVERYONE wears them at festivals, so they all have them. A lot of shop owners and our hotel front desk workers wore them every day. I would have liked to get a dirndl, actually, but they are expensive!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, the dirndl's are charming. You should treat yourself to one...regardless of the price. It's not like you have that opportunity everyday.
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