2008.
Alright, it wasn't my idea of a great holiday (walking around
the Alps for someone who suffers from vertigo is not the first choice)
but I was more than pleasantly surprised. Edna LOVES the mountains and
this was 100% her choice so.....
Filzmoos is a lovely, quiet village in Austria. About 3500 feet above
sea level near Saltzburg ("The Sound of Music" comes to mind).
We stayed at the Hammerhof Hotel, 5 minutes from the village centre
and excellent. Family run with friendly but unobtrusive staff, the Hammerhof
is a small farm (of the petting variety). Haflinger ponies (a foal,
Nicoletta, was born the day before we arrived - enough to send the female
guests into ectasy), a few cattle, goats, rabbits etc. Don't get me
wrong, I loved it. Giving the goats a few apple cores, watching the
rabbits burrow out of their run into the paddock and then seeing them
being chased and rounded up by the lady of the house and others, magic.
The Hammerhof is also a sponsor of a great travel feature. The WanderBus.
A bus which transports walkers to and from recognised footpaths. Free
to the clients of sponsors, approx. £3 per trip for others. A
brilliant idea which we made full use of. The guests at the Hotel were
all friendly and we met some really nice Brits, especially Linda and
Roland who hail from near Colchester. Inghams are (apparently) the only
top range Travel Company who go to Filzmoos and they were top draw,
the Rep (Patsy) being the best we have encountered in forty years of
foreign travel (and we don't say that lightly). Her knowledge was exceptional
(having lived in Filzmoos for several years and loving the place) and
she had the right mature, breezy, non-PC attitude for the customers
she represented.
The sights are really stunning. All footpaths are colour coded, blue
for the casual walkers (that's us), red for the more serious (we did
go on a couple of the easier red ones) and black for the experts. Now
and again we turned back because we felt it was a bit iffy and, occasionally,
we turned back because of snow but generally no problems. The weather
started as if it were GB in Autumn but it perked up and the sun got
very hot. (Tip: the sun's rays are stronger because of the altitude
so use the sun tan lotion!).
Only went on a couple of trips. Saltzburg (now we really are talking
"Sound of Music"), not bad. Worth a visit but if your idea
of City sightseeing is Paris, Vienna etc. then a bit ordinary. Also
went on a panoramic tour of the Dachstein range. Keep your eyes shut
when going around the hairpins and the rest was fabulous. I was converted!
See
the photos
|
