The Kapuziner Hof did not miss a step when it came to the breakfast buffet. They had it all - a dozen kinds of cheese (both hard and soft), many kinds of bread, sliced meats, about ten large pots of various jams, many juices, apples, pears, fruit salad, yogurt, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, etc. etc. We thought wouldn't it be nice to make a buffet like this for the family back home one Sunday. We realized, though, it would be somewhere between futile and really expensive to try to duplicate this. The cheeses, for example, can be had - for a price, but where we live the bread is pretty much impossible. Grrr. Better eat as much of it as possible while here, assuming the belt still does up!
As soon as we crossed the bridge from Laufen to Oberndorf, for the first time in our European travels we were back in a place we had visited before. Up until now, coming from a protected life in Canada, everything we have seen has been new and exciting. How would we react now?
The bridge from Laufen (Germany) to Oberndorf (Austria)
Oberndorf the first time had been like this: Someone had told us that the place where Silent Night was written and first performed was in a village in Austria, called Oberndorf. We looked it up in Google maps - careful! there are zillions of Oberndorfs floating around. Then we cycled to and found the place (not to mention our other big goal: Fucking, Austria). Both, actually, were magical. At Oberndorf there is a chapel, built on the site of the former church, where the carol was performed. There is a gift shop, with books and CDs, and history. It was just all so darn swell! There was also a cafe, with tables set up between the shop and the chapel. There we got our first "grill teller". At time we had no idea what "teller" (plate) actually meant, but it came with herbed butter on the grilled meats. Wow!
So what about now? First there was the pleasure of remembering how we had actually found our way into the little square. Then, it was all there! We took probably the same photos in the chapel (haven't check yet), bought probably the same little history booklet, definitely bought the same sticker for my handlebar bag (old one wore off), in fact, bought two. We wrote in the guestbook, "We hope to be back again sometime soon". And then it was over, again. Darn.
The full text in English. There are more verses than we usually hear. The German version seems quite a bit different, so whoever did the English had to adjust a lot. There is a CD in the gift shop with versions in 15 languages.
We returned to the river, since as experts we knew we had only to follow it down to Salzburg. But this is where I said "Gee, last time when we left the chapel we headed "inland", wonder why". "Dunno, anyway we know our way around better now", we told ourselves. So we sailed down, past the bridge, until a sign pointed the way inland. Pshaw! We plowed on, until we hit a gate. Gotta be a way around this - said the experts. so we backtracked a bit. Still no luck. We backtracked more. We backtracked almost all the way back to the chapel - it looked like the guestbook wish was going to come true much sooner than predicted! Finally we found a dirt track under the bridge, and followed that until it became a rocky track for about 5 km, very near but not quite on the river. So in somewhere under twice the time it might have taken to "go inland" the experienced travellers were on their way to Salzburg.
The path that will go under the bridge and up the river.
Dodie points out that the GPS says the path is there,and darn it,we will find it. Note that the GPS also thinks we are presently located in the middle of the river!
Also last time we were here - when looking for that unfortunately named town - we were impressed by the immense number of bike paths going everywhere, and the "Sound of Music" style meadows they were running through. We thought how great it would be to cycle on the Mozart Radweg, or the Tauern Radweg, wherever or whatever they were. Now we know what they are, and our plan was to take a spin around a part of the Mozart, north and east of Salzburg. So we went down the Salzach until we could just see the Kapuzinerkloster, high above the town. Then we turned east and headed out into the never never.
The never never was mainly a dedicated cycle path, and mainly uphill in the 40 degree heat (again!). Before long we came out into the meadows and mountains and chalet style houses we had been looking for. It was not perfect, though. For quite a while, the autobahn lurked in the near distance, There was also some light industry and not exactly chalet style houses. But overall, it was good. Being closer to Salzburg than last time, and going through lake country, we now encountered towns full of vacationers, and three and four star hotels. We even ran in to standard less attractive things like car dealerships and shopping centres. Still we could see mountains, big mountains, and the meadows we like so much. And cows! This region bills itself as the "milk paradise".
When the time came to find camping we followed the GPS, while passing all sorts of guest houses. There had been thunder in the mountains for a couple of hours, and some were obscured by rain (this included the back side of the Dachstein massif, which is visible from here). But having already gone into a guest house last night, we were determined to camp this time. The road lead up and down, but we were enticed onward by "Camping" signs. Finally some rain drops fell, and we stopped to put on our rain gear. We had stopped right in front of a Guest House - but this time we were not temped (enough). We pressed on. The sky opened. It actually started off with a bit of hail, just to set the mood, but soongot down to the kind of downpour that bounces the drops high off the pavement. Dodie is good at this. Zoom, she swished into a bus shelter. It turned out to be quite large, and we sat in there quite happily while the rain pelted. After a time it stopped, completely, and we emerged to continue our trek to the camping. We descended, and ascended, and then entered what I characterized as a "secret valley". It was clearly no secret, because it had scads of gorgeous houses, and indeed a Camping with scads of camper vans. No matter, it was a deep valley, surrounded by meadow slopes, and smelling of silage.
We photographed this sign last time we were here. It is along the path, beside the little stream, that leads from the river to one of the campings near Salzburg. The first time we thought the wording was weird, now we know enough to consider it totally ordinary.
Ralph is from northern Germany and is taking a spin around the Mozart Radweg, while his wife has gone to a spa! He is a project manager with Miele, who make not only vacuum cleaners but, in the case of his project, ovens, for the US market. We took the chance to telll him all the faults of our GE oven.
More German lesson toilet related humour. The Europeans are really on the case of dog poop. To their credit, they (the Germans especially) have "dog toilet" plastic bag dispensers everywhere, even out in the "wilderness".
Chruch rooflines are always so interesting. Sometimes I wonder if some steeple designs are more effective in reaching God than others. But that is a scientific way of thinking. Steeples are more about art and custom. Still, I like the ones with shiny gold bulbous "antennas".
These guys are from Prague, and are in the middle of a three week run/cycle from Prague to Bolsena to Orvieto in Italy. It seems to be in honour of the 750th anniversary of something involving "Corpus Domini" and Priest Petr. Whatever they are doing, they have a backup van carrying all their stuff, so hmmm.
Now as I sit in the main building typing this, there is thunder in the mountains again. Dodie at first did not want to go to be in the tent alone, but exhaustion from the day in the sun has won out. As soon as I upload some photos, I will join her. Meanwhile this is a good time (though still before the rain hits) to share a little section of a book that Amelia and Evee enjoy, and that was sent to us for this very situation, by Sabrina:
Cloud over our tent. Lightened continually lit it up when it got darker.
