We’re driving to Hallstatt today, well almost. We are staying at a little place not far away called Gosau. As we left Innsbruck, it felt like we had a guard of honour of our own, the high peaks of the tall mountains standing proudly along each side of us. But why couldn’t we have had this weather yesterday.
About midday we came to a small lake to have a short walk and stretch. When we first got out of the car we started having a conversation with a local woman. In the middle of us waxing lyrical about the country and what a great place Austria was, she looked at us blankly and said “But you’re in Germany.” Doh! She didn’t seem amused. We had crossed the border and we didn’t even know it. We knew that we would be crossing into Germany and out again very briefly during our journey, and well this was it. So after extracting our feet from our mouths, we decided to use our feet for walking instead, and went for a walk around the lake. There were quite a few people about as this seems to be quite a popular spot for sunbathing and the occasional dip. What we did learn was, despite our complete lack of understanding of the German language, the involuntary sounds that ones body makes whilst entering icy cold water, are a universal language. From the Ohhhs, Ahhhs, and yelps that we were hearing, it was very cold.
Driving on we saw some of the machinery that they use for cutting hay on the slopes. These things have serious wheels. They look like stainless steel drums with spikes like golf shoes (only much longer) all the way around. Another thing that we have seen in this area, is the freshly cut grass is draped over what looks like a single strand wire fence to dry. It looks odd to see row upon row of these.
Once we arrived in Gosau (not far from Hallstatt) we had to find our place to stay which was Nr 554. As it transpired there are no streets only numbers and common drives that lead off the main road. Well it should be fairly easy to find the number … or so we thought. The numbers appear to be completely random. Nr 172 and Nr 643 are right next door to each other, and yet Nr 201 is at the other end of town. It makes you wonder how they allocate the numbers. Is it a secret ballot, a lucky dip, first in first served, or it much more complicated than that? We stumbled upon Nr 554 completely by chance, more by good luck than by good management.
Nr 554 is one of the typical chalets that we have been passing every day, which has had several of the rooms modified for guests. We have a good sized room with a balcony (with a window box of course), private facilities and common kitchen and living room. Very cool, and a great place to call home for the next three nights. We can look out the window at the mountains, the chalets, the green fields and they remind us that we are in Austria and at an altitude of 750 meters. How cool is that. We are in ‘The Sound of Music’ country. It almost makes you want to break out into song … “The hills are alive …” Hmmmm … not quite.
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