A classic Kitzbuhel winter

Yesterday Garry and I spent the day with my brother Hamish and his family in Kitzbuhel. We were blessed with postcard perfect weather which simply sent me into an unrelenting photo frenzy. I'll post more details shortly. However, here are a few spectacular images to make you weep. My brother's home town is truly magic!

Without a doubt, the highlight of our day was an excursion up the Hahnenkamm. We rode the local gondola up to the summit station to admire Kitzbubel’s stunning winter landscape and enjoy a classic Austrian lunch. Garry went for the wurst while I ordered my favourite dish, Tiroler Gröstl.

The most famous slope on the Hahnenkamm is a classic downhill course called the Streif (streak, or stripe). It’s regarded as the most demanding race course on the World Cup circuit. We walked along a ridge of the snow-clad Hahnenkammrennen course before turning back. The drop on sections of this race course are honestly near vertical. If you ask me competitors don’t ski down it as much as they free fall.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our brief 24-hour stopover in Salzburg was filled with an endless stream of seasonal Christmas moments. Time and time again we found ourselves wandering through scenes we'd swear had been lifted from almost every classic Christmas card we've ever received. I'll post more details shortly, but this initial selection of images should speak for themselves. It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

UPDATE

Highlights of our time in Salzburg included a tour of Fortress Hohensalzburg, an imposing stone castle that stands watch over the old town below.  This outing was then followed by a wander through the Christmas markets after dark. 

The market fills the old town's central market square offering many of the same trinkets and seasonal snack food we saw in Vienna earlier in the week. It was here that we met my brother Hamish and my niece Steffi who then gave us a ride to Kitzbuhel where we'll be based for the next few days. 

Last night we enjoyed an eclectic evening meal in an old merchant house. As we dined we were entertained by a string quartet playing Mozart classics under the limbs of an enormous Christmas tree.

Vienna; with a knife and fork

Our second full day in Vienna was a rather lazy one. After a late start we made our way to the local food market, Naschmarkt. It runs for several city blocks along a narrow strip of land onto which two narrow laneways of simple cafes and restaurants have been crammed. We ate at a popular Vietnamese restaurant.


We then wandered past the city’s famous Secession building which is crowned by an elaborate gilded dome of laurel leaves. The building houses a collection of art from the Vienna Secession movement. This was a rebellious art form that appeared in 1897 as a protest against Europe’s increasingly conservative art community. I then had to return to our hotel to conduct the first of several conference calls I’d agreed to complete before signing off for the rest of the month.


Dinner that evening was another memorable experience. We dined at Zwolf-Apostelkeller which is located in a series of cellars several floor below street level. Despite its location, the venue is far from claustrophobic. The cellars are very spacious with bricked vaulted ceilings at least ten metres high. It seemed a fitting place to soak up more medieval atmosphere, enjoy a few beers and dine on some generous portions of smoked pork and dumplings.

We’ve done Vienna. Tomorrow we catch a train through snow-covered countryside to Salzburg where the weather forecast is promising light snow. A picture-perfect Christmas setting awaits us.

Vienna

A five minute walk along the Ringstrasse quickly reminds you that Vienna was once the capital of large and wealthy empire. The Habsburg dynasty ruled from here for an incredible 640 years; from 1278 until 1916. The empire’s wealth remains visible everywhere. Vienna is simply piled high with classic stone buildings dating back hundreds of years. Even our hotel, located on the Opernring, was contained in a grand old building just a stone’s throw away from the truly impressive State Opera House.

We spent our first full day in town making a leisurely circuit through the Innere Stadt, the city’s old town. Our walking tour started at the Burgtor, a series of triumphal arches that guard the entrance to the Hofburg, the Habsburg’s former imperial residence. The newest wing of this sprawling complex, the Neue Hofburg, was completed only few months before the outbreak of the First World War and the end of Habsburg rule.


An archway at the base of the Hofburg then takes you through into the complex’s main courtyard. A second arch leads to the Michaeltor, a stunning and dramatic grand entrance into the Imperial Apartments. Visitors were left in no doubt who was in charge as they entered this gate. We stood under its soaring dome for several minutes simply marvelling at the majesty of the entire scene. The experience was neatly rounded off by the regular passage of horse and carriage rides clattering along the cobblestones.


We then wandered through the old town’s main boulevard, the Garben, which is dominated by a towering and ornately carved monument to the Great Plague. At the foot of the monument was a stall selling the most perfect Christmas trees we’ve ever seen. We found at least one we wanted but were reluctant to fork over 365 euros. We returned here later in the day to see the Christmas lights. This year’s display was a series of grand chandeliers strung along the gently curving street.


St Stephen’s Cathedral was our next stop. Like all European cathedrals it’s an impressive building. Its roof is clad in yellow, green and black tiles laid out as a series of chevrons; and a bold double-headed eagle (the insignia of the Hapsburg empire). Its main gothic spire soars an impressive 90 metres into the sky. The interior is rather less lavishly decorated but its soaring vaulted roof is everything you’d expect it to be.


We then wandered through a series of narrow laneways where Mozart himself once strolled. In the heart of this district you can still see the lodgings where he wrote The Marriage of Figaro. Today’s the building is a museum. Nearby we stumbled across a restaurant, Zum Basilisken, housed in an old stone building. We were sufficiently taken with its medieval charm that we returned later in the evening for dinner. Garry played it safe with a classic Weiner Schnitzel while I tried the wild boar stew. My meal was simply divine.

As dusk began to fall we finished our touring with a visit to the nearby Kapuzinergruft. This crypt is the final resting place for the bodies of more than 138 members of the Habsburg family. Most bodies were placed in ornate metal coffins, many embellished with gruesome skulls and some rather sinister, shrouded mourners. Some of the coffins were rather simple while others were simply ostentatious in the extreme; none more so than the double tomb of Franz Stephan and Maria Theresa which fills an entire vault.

I'll post more photos shortly as I've saved a number of photos onto Garry's laptop which aren't accessible this evening.

Minus Eight

We're coming to the end of two relaxing days in icy cold Vienna. The current temperature outside is a nippy -8C, with the mercury on its way down to at least minus ten. Today we both broke out our thermal undergarments and went on a shopping excursion to find me a warmer hat. We eventually found a cosy rabbit fur-lined woollen cap with giant earflaps that did the trick. Despite the arctic conditions, we ejoyed two days of regular sunshine and blue skies.


On Saturday evening we joined the crushing throng swarming through Vienna's famous Rathaus Christkindlmarkt. It's clearly a popular destination as we watched one bus tour after another pull up and disgorge more eager punters. A quick number plates poll showed buses from Hungry, Poland and the Czech Republic, along with plenty of Austria vehicles.


The Rathaus was a splendid sight decked out in Christmas lights from the foundations to its tallest gothic tower. The market stalls themselves were packed with all manner of seasonal delights; glass and tinsel baubles, miniture wooden houses and crafts I've simply never seen before. We also followed my brother's counsel and raided every food stall in sight sampling the apple strudel, apple besiel, kase krainer wurst and gingerbread. I've become very fluent in German for the purpose of ordering Kase Krainer.


More on our Vienna adventures tomorrow. We have a three-hour train journey to Salzburg during which I hope to pass the time completing a couple of blog posts. Stay tuned!

Gone!

We've just arrived in Vienna after an uneventful flight from Heathrow. I'm not too proud to admit that as our plane lifted off the runway a few tears welled up. That's it. We don't live in Europe anymore.

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Location:Busstraße,,Austria

It's over! We're off!

Today's the day. Shortly after 10am this morning our flight to Vienna will depart Heathrow. This is it. On December 13, 2005 we arrived in London unsure exactly what would await us. Today, one day short of five years later, we depart with 780 blog posts capturing some of the most incredible adventures. In five years it's clear we've done more than many will ever do in a life time. Amazing! Thank you for reading. I hope our journey home proves just as memorable

For the next five weeks we'll be taking an eight-day train journey through the Austrian and Swiss Alps, then flying on to Antarctica for a six-day cruise and a tour through Chile, before finally reaching Australia via New Zealand.

Highlights include:

• three days in Vienna enjoying history, snow and christkindlmarkts
• the most famous christkindlmarkt of all in Salzburg
• the Glacier Express across the top of the Swiss Alps
• the Jungfraujoch, or Top of Europe railway, which at 3454 metres is Europe’s highest altitude railway station.
• flying from Chile to King George's Island off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
• New Year's Eve on Easter Island
• four days in the Atacama Desert and,
• three days exploring Santiago.

Phew! Watch for some stunning posts in the weeks ahead. For now, as we prepare to depart it seems appropriate to say farewell with a classic rock anthem from the aptly named band, Europe. The Final Countdown.

Royal riots

Our last full day in London has dawned with news that a car carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall was attacked by protesters last night. The heir to the British throne was en route to the annual Royal Variety Performance when a mob, protesting against higher university tuition fees, set upon his car. The rear passenger window was cracked, the doors dented by kicks, and the vehicle splattered with white paint. The couple were understandably shaken but unharmed.

All week the capital has been gripped by increasingly violent protests as the Government prepared to vote on higher fees. Parliament approved the fee hike yesterday in a vote commentators are calling the first real test of the nation's coalition Government.  Twenty one Liberal Democrat MPs eventually voted against the measure, reducing the Government's majority by 42 votes. 

The increase is yet another unpopular measure set in place as part of the Government's growing austerity program. Such protests and their depressing headlines are increasingly a sign of the times in Europe. It's hard not to feel that perhaps Garry and I have chosen a good time to return to Australia.

Clean and empty

It's official. We no longer live at Swiss Cottage. The last box was loaded on to the truck about 5pm last night. By 8pm the last of the final deep clean had been finished. What was once our home is now an empty apartment. At 2pm today we'll complete an inspection with the landlord and hand over our keys for good. Our last day as London residents has begun.



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An extra day at home

The removal guys have taken pity on us. They didn't make as much progress as planned today and thus left one bed still intact. As a result, we've decided to spend an extra night at home before finally relocating to a nearby hotel. The house looks rather worse for wear this evening. Several rooms are completely empty, while others have piles of boxes and partially-wrapped furniture scattered about. It's not feeling much like home any more.

This evening Garry gave the kitchen a professional clean while I patched picture hook holes and washed down walls. After hours of scrubbing and mopping we've decided to treat ourselves this evening. We're off for one last meal at our favourite local Chinese restaurant.

Our travel bags are packed and all the tour paperwork has been checked and double-checked. Three days from now we'll kick off our grand Alpine and Antarctic tour. I'm actually returning to Australia using the same hybrid backpack I used on the way to London five years ago. It's sat in storage ever since as it was looking rather worse for wear after two months on the road. I think it's got one final journey left in it.

The last night

Tonight is our last night in the house where we've lived for almost five years. As you'd expect, there are growing piles of clothes, household effects and other items appearing in every room ready for the removal company tomorrow. The car was collected this morning in preparation for a thorough steam clean before it's loaded into our shipping container next week.

No doubt our final three nights in London will pass iswiftly. We've based ourselves a nearby hotel. It's an oddly poignant moment. A ramble through this blog reveals just how much we've seen and done while living in the UK. A new adventure awaits us as we prepare to return to Australia.

Garry will dismantle our Internet connection and home office later today. As a result future blog posts are likely to become more erratic and less frequent. I'll do my best to update every at regular intervals on our grand tour back to Sydney. Stay tuned for images of Vienna, the Christmas market in Salzburg, the snow-clad Swiss Alps, penguins in Antarctica, Easter Island and the Atacama Desert.

The final five days

Five days from now a removal company will arrive at Swiss Cottage to pack and wrap our entire household. I cannot believe the final days in our London home can now be counted on one hand. Fortunately, the relocation should get underway under perfect skies. The Met Office predicts sunshine on the day our personal effects are being loaded into a large shipping truck. After days of snow and ice nationwide this is reassuring news. As a satellite image published today revealed, the UK has been completely blanketed by snow this week.

Winter on our doorstep

As we enter our final ten days in London the weather is giving us a truly magnificant send-off. For three days now we've woken to the sight of fresh snow dusting everything in sight. Above is the scene that greeted us this morning. It looks genuinely like Winter outside now and our street has been transformed into a scene from Mary Poppins. While I'm no fan of the cold and wind, its been the perfect way to finish our time in London. I doubt we'll ever see snow smoothering the back yard again.

London has all but ground to halt over the last 48 hours as the snow choas descending on Britain finally reached our doorstep. I'm now slightly nervous about our moving plans going awry next week. I have visons of our removal men getting stuck in traffic on the M25 as happened to motorists for 24 hours yesterday. Or worse, having them arrive at the house and refusing to load the truck because of icy pavements or because some daft health and safety law won't let them work outdoors if there's snow in the air.

A real shock!

The Coroner is currently conducting an inquest into the July 7 2005 suicide bombings that killed 52 people on three Tube trains and a bus. At the time Garry and I were in town finishing plans for our relocation to London. Since relocating, we’ve witnessed three more, fortunately unsuccessful, acts of terror; two separate attempts to blow up trans-Atlantic flights and a failed car bomb left outside a popular central London nightclub.

Every week we hear new stories of tragedy and bravery as the coroner’s inquest unfolds. The courage of people involved is a testament to the power of the human spirit. For example, today we heard about Gill Hicks who remained composed enough to shred her own scarf and tourniquet her legs after they’d been blown off at Russell Square. The coroner noted that her prompt, self-administered first aid literally saved her life.

I must admit that these events, while incredibly moving, feel somewhat remote. It’s impossible to conceive of how you’d respond if faced with the same horrific event. However, the surreal aspect of these news stories momentarily disappeared yesterday. Shortly after lunch my office was told by police that a suspicious suitcase had been left in an open plaza next to our building. They then blocked off surrounding streets and banned us from leaving the premises. We were also advised to move away from external windows and congregate at the far end of our floor.

Suddenly, the coroner’s inquest felt very real. As I sat at my window-side desk reading the police warning we'd been emailed I honestly felt a unexpected adrenaline surge. Shortly afterwards a loud explosion rattled the windows making all of us jump. We later learnt that the police had destroyed the abandoned suitcase using a controlled explosion. Trust me. Controlled explosion are just as frightening as ‘real’ ones! The shock was very, very palpable. For just a moment I tthink I truly understood how suicide bomb victims must feel.

Snow chaos; more on the way

The Big Freeze continues across Britain. The statistics and images are becoming more and more spectacular by the day. Highlights today include news of passengers trapped on a snow-bound train south of London for a night, people trapped in cars on the M25 motorway circling London for more than 12 hours and closure of the Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh for the first time in its 46 year history. 4000 schools have closed their doors, some for a third consecutive day.

Gatwick Airport closed at lunchtime today and won’t open again until 10am tomorrow. However, more heavy snow began falling on the airport a few hours ago so speculation is rife that it’ll remain closed tomorrow. Edinburgh airport is also closed. Half of Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel have been cancelled as speed restrictions slow trains travelling through the Kent countryside. In fact, at one point today about one third of all rail services nationwide were suffering delays or cancellations.


The Met Office says the current cold snap is now the country’s worst start to Winter for more than 20 years. Believe me. It’s cold here! In London today’s high reached a delightful 0⁰C before dropping back in negative territory tonight. Tomorrow’s high will be -1 °C. Here at Swiss Cottage we’ll be dusted continually by snow for the next 24 hours, accompanied by regular wind gusts. I’ll leave the final words for this blog to the Met Office. This was its snow summary at 7.00pm this evening:

Further significant snow has fallen across much of central and eastern Britain, the snow feeding well inland on the strong easterly wind. Official reports indicate more than 10 cm now in parts of southeast England, locally more, with between 20 and 30, locally 45 cm in parts of North Lincolnshire. There are fresh falls of about 20 cm in the Peak District. Elsewhere, northeast England and eastern Scotland have widespread 20 to 30 cm lying snow now, with more than 50 cm over hills.