Tag Archives: Hotel Diana

trip planning

We now have a hotel in Prague!

We got word yesterday that Noyzi is booked at the Hundepension from September 30 until October 10. That allowed me to book the last hotel for our big Czech tour after we see the dentist. This dental discovery excursion is definitely the most ambitious one we’ve done yet. Just to recap, we’re planning:

I was actually planning to book the Aria Hotel in Prague, having seen Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe episode about Prague. She made that hotel look like it would be such a fun place to stay! But, I changed my mind last night, when I did a search on Booking.com and noticed that Hotel Nerudova was listed first, and it had great reviews. I was dazzled by the photos, but what really gave me pause were the consistently glowing comments about how friendly the service was. It’s also a family run place.

I decided to check other sites and noticed that on Expedia.com, Google, and TripAdvisor, Hotel Nerudova got similarly great reviews. But they didn’t have a lot of reviews, which made me wonder if they’re new. I see now that the hotel was closed during the pandemic and had fallen into disrepair until it was bought by Jan and Sarah, the husband and wife who now own it. I did read that the hotel was fully renovated in August 2022, and they only have ten rooms/suites.

According to their story, the hotel used to be known as Hotel Santini until the pandemic. The building dates to the 1500s, although the original house was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt in the 1700s, and renovated starting in 2002. That must have been a very exciting undertaking, as they found original features such as frescoes, wooden ceilings, and an original porcelain cocklestove.

The only thing making me hesitate was the parking situation. The hotel’s website said there was off site parking available at 15 euros per day. I worried a little about that, and would prefer a secure parking garage. There was another highly rated hotel that offered a garage, and I almost booked the other hotel for that reason. However, I just couldn’t shake the desire to try Hotel Nerudova 211. It was in my head. So, I took the plunge, and I think I booked this room.

Immediately after booking, I got a welcome message from the hotel which included information about parking. That was reassuring. I wrote back to let them know we’d be driving, and they told us to send them our license plate number and they’d put us in a registry to allow us to park near the hotel on the street. I asked if they needed the information now, or closer to October. They quickly responded that we could do it at the reception. Such quick responses are a really good sign. We had a great time when we stayed at the Old Town Hilton in 2008, but I think Hotel Nerudova will definitely be more charming, memorable, and personal, which I definitely love!

Hotel Nerudova appears to be at a very good location. It’s very close to the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, and Prague Castle. As an added bonus, Bill also spotted a sex machines museum nearby. I’m sure we’ll make a point of stopping by, if it’s open while we’re in town. 😉 Or maybe we won’t, since there’s a lot to do in Prague, and it doesn’t look like that museum gets the best ratings. It looks like people think it’s overpriced for what it is. I’ll probably want to visit it anyway, though. I love weird museums.

We will probably visit one of the beer/wine spas for treatments. I haven’t had a good beer spa visit in ages, and we have never been to one in Prague. When we visited in 2008, the spas in Prague didn’t exist. We went to Chodovar Beer Wellness Land for our first beer spa experience. Actually, looking at the link I shared, it appears to be the same system used at Hotel Moorhof and Hotel Diana in Austria.

There’s another beer spa in Prague that offers a wine spa treatment. We might do that one for a change of pace. I doubt the ones in Prague can hold a candle to the beer pools of Starkenberger Brewery. Unfortunately, I think the beer pools have stopped operating in the wake of the pandemic. I’m so glad we had a chance to have that experience when they were still working. Swimming in a vat of warm beer wort is an experience I will never forget!

Anyway… even if we end up doing things that are less sinful in Prague, we’re sure to have a great time. Prague is a fabulous city on so many levels. I especially look forward to buying some new art for the house!

I think this trip is going to be so much fun! I’m really looking forward to it, probably more so than I usually look forward to travel. We always have a great time when we visit the Czech Republic, and we’re long overdue for another visit.

As for the rest of the summer, I’m not sure if or when we’ll go anywhere. I’d kind of like to go to Austria for a few days, but I don’t know if we’ll manage it. For the next three months, it looks like Bill will be doing a new temporary duty involving finance. The good news is that he won’t have to travel when he’s doing the finance job. The bad news is, he’ll probably be pretty busy. Or maybe not… He’s a multi-skilled, multi-talented man, though. Case in point, below is the breakfast he made us this morning, minus the made from scratch biscuits that were still in the oven when I took this photo.

In fairness, I did kind of teach him how to make cheese souffles. The orange juice is fresh squeezed!

Today, it’s raining a bit, so I don’t know if we’ll venture out. We’ll see. Anyway, it’s time to write a post for my main blog, so I’ll check y’all later. 😉 I’m excited about this trip, though, and I think we’re going to have a blast!

The featured photo is a screenshot from Expedia of the room I booked.

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A whirlwind trip to Austria, Italy, and probably Switzerland, part 3

We decided to have lunch after we visited Crystal World.  Although we could have gone to the restaurant on site, we thought we might have a more peaceful meal in the town of Wattens.  Sadly, it was not to be…  But we did come away from our lunch at Pronto Pasta with a fun story.

I’m not sure what the restaurant scene is like in Wattens.  I do know that it was a Sunday and Pronto Pasta had lots of signs around town, advertising their restaurant.  I don’t usually like to go to restaurants that are so heavily promoted because they are usually tourist traps.  Indeed, Pronto Pasta has signs in five or six different languages… a sure sign that they cater to the clueless who visit the little Austrian town of Wattens.  We went anyway.

Now, usually when there are lots of signs attracting tourists, you’d expect a huge restaurant with lots of tables.  As it turned out, Pasta Pronto is a very small place with a menu in English and German.  We noticed that they’d set up a couple of large tables which took up most of their tiny dining room.  We were directed to a pub table near the front door.  I eyed the large tables nervously, figuring that a big tourbus was about to arrive.  Bill tried using his rudimentary German, but our waiter immediately switched to flawless English.  Just as well.

 

Bill ordered a nice glass of red…  I had white.

Bill had penne pasta with truffles, cream sauce, and ham.  I had a salmon filet with cherry tomatoes and a side of tagliatelle.

Another shot of the food.  It was very good.

 

Just as we were about a third of the way into our meals, a large tourbus full of Chinese people showed up.  A small, nervous looking little Chinese guy who spoke English hustled into the restaurant.  He had a large plastic bag full of individual packets of spicy Hunt’s brand ketchup.  Bill overheard him explain that a number of the tourists with him were “addicted” to the stuff.  The Italian bus driver took the table next to Bill’s and mine, meaning he shared a bench seat with me.  He seemed a bit “over it”.  I couldn’t blame him for that.  The tourists all sat down at the tables that had been prepared for them.

The little tour guide approached one of the waiters and started asking about the menu.  He wanted pizza.  The restaurant doesn’t serve pizza, though they do apparently have a pizzeria in a separate location.  Then the guy was asking about sausages.  The waiter seemed to be doing a good job maintaining his cool as he explained to the tour guide that they had ordered a set menu, so they were all going to be served the same thing.  It looked like they were having some kind of soup with a dollop of cream on top (sprayed into a decorative etoile), Wiener schnitzel, and tiramisu for dessert.  From what I could see, the food looked good and everybody was reasonably happy.  The two waiters were hustling and Bill overheard one of them complaining about their boss, a plain clothesed man who dropped off a couple of plates and claimed to have been helpful in the process.

 

The waiter deals with the tourists.  Bill and I were, of course, no trouble at all…

I got up to go to the bathroom, but it was occupied.  I stood and waited, feeling more and more intrusive.  I wasn’t sure what was going on in there, but the lady ahead of me had some issues.  At one point, I figured maybe I shouldn’t try to use the toilet at that time, but then she came out…  It was a tiny girl, looked no older than fifteen and no bigger than a size zero, apologizing profusely.  It was no big deal at that point.  Poor thing.

A shot of the outside of the restaurant.

The above signs were all over Wattens.

 

Finally, after more wine, Bill paid the check.  We headed back to the car, bypassing the tiny little Christmas market going on.  As Bill paid for the parking, I noticed a ladies room.  I ducked in and waited again.  I didn’t really have to go so badly, but I remembered the arduous mountain drive and didn’t want to have to pee while Bill was stressing over the drive up the 16 degree grade.

Christmas market in Wattens.

Graffiti on the bathroom door.

We stopped by Spar for more wine, which we didn’t end up drinking.  I took a photo of the Williams pear schnapps because Bill has a funny college story about it.  He and a buddy were once held hostage in a DC bar by a mischievous bartender who wouldn’t let them leave until they could explain how the pear got in the bottle…

Beer tubs at Hotel Diana.  I didn’t have a chance to get a shot of Bill and me this time.  If you want to see us in a beer tub, I recommend checking out my Moorhof writeup.  

 

Our appointment for our beer bath was set for 5:00 pm.  I had Bill go ask at the reception if the bath would be with or without bathing suits.  When we were at the Moorhof, we did it with suits.  While that preserved our modesty somewhat, it also got hops and other debris in our suits.  I would have been fine doing the bath naked.  But the guy at the front desk either didn’t understand the question or didn’t care one way or the other.  Bill came up and told me we should wear our suits.  I had brought my “spa robe”(which I like so much that I wear it around the house, too).  Bill only brought his bathing suit.  Since I also brought a cover up, I let Bill borrow my robe (Santa will bring him a spa robe for Christmas).  I wore the cover up.

We showed up at the beer bath and the lady from the video I posted in the first of this series said we should bathe naked.  I was game, but I think Bill was a bit bashful.  The whole thing was kind of awkward because she was telling us to get undressed and we’re typical Americans who aren’t used to being nude in front of strangers.  Finally, she told us to just get in the tub.  I think the tubs at Hotel Diana are a little smaller than the one we used at the Moorhof.

Bill and I were not as cramped in the one at the Moorhof as we were at Hotel Diana.  It was ultimately okay for us, but Bill and I are short people with short legs.  If this writeup makes you want to try a beer bath at Hotel Diana with your partner and you have long legs, you may want to go for separate baths.  Also, I recommend this treatment without bathing suits.  The barley they use in the tub gets stuck in your suit, plus you have to undress for the straw bed, anyway.

So anyway, we got in the tub…  this time, unlike at the Moorhof, the beer spigot was not purely for decoration.  We were allowed to drink as much as we wanted.  The water was a little too cool for me at first, but I had access to the tap, so I was able to heat it up.  The hotel owner was kind enough to light candles and dim the overhead lights.

Later, we told her that we booked Hotel Diana because of the beer bath.  We explained that hers was the fourth beer spa experience we’ve had.  She then told us that Moorhof was the first hotel to offer the beer spa experience in Austria.  The family that owns Hotel Diana went there to check it out and decided to offer it at their hotel, too.

After the lights were turned down.

 

After about thirty minutes in the tub, we lost our bathing suits and got in the straw bed.  I mentioned in my review of Moorhof’s beer spa that the oat straw seems like it would be itchy, but it’s really not.  In fact, it’s very relaxing to lie there next to your loved one and enjoy the smell… and the softness.  But remember, I grew up in a barn with horses, so it makes sense that this experience would especially appeal to me.  Overall, it was a nice experience, though it seemed like Hotel Diana hasn’t done as many beer baths as Moorhof has, so things were a little less smoothly run.  Still, we managed to leave the beer baths very relaxed and contented.

Bill in the straw bed.  I shared it with him until I needed to use the potty.

 

After our beer bath, we went up to the room, showered, and dressed for dinner.  I was feeling a little nervous that the militant waitress would be helping us, but she was off that night.  Instead, we were waited on by the guy who had checked us in.  He told us to pick one of the first three tables, all of which had been set for two.  I liked that.

Bill enjoys the pleasantly decorated restaurant.

And orders us a nice bottle of Austrian red…

 

Our waiter apologized for the menu in German.  We said it was okay because we live in Germany and can speak menu somewhat.  We started with the same salad as we had the night before…

Then a very nice cold tuna appetizer, followed up a cup of chicken noodle soup.

I had the Cordon Bleu which came with cranberry sauce and parsleyed potatoes.

Bill had pork with a pepper cream sauce and a baked potato with sour cream.  

And for dessert, we had rice pudding…  It was very good!

 

The same two ladies who had snickered at us the previous night showed up when we were halfway through our dinner.  Fortunately, they sat two tables down from us, so we were spared having to serve as their source of entertainment.  After dinner, we went to bed and slept well until morning.

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A whirlwind trip to Austria, Italy, and probably Switzerland, part 1…

Some weeks ago, Bill told me that he had to go on a business trip to Vicenza, Italy.  Neither of us had ever been there before, but there is a chance that we could one day end up living there.  Bill’s company has a lot of jobs in Vicenza for which he is very qualified.  Because of that and because it had been awhile since our last trip, he asked me if I wanted to go with him.  I agreed.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we heard some disturbing stories about the place where we regularly boarded our dogs.  I was no longer feeling so confident about leaving Zane and Arran in their care, though we never personally had any problems with them.  I thought I was going to have to stay home. because it’s so close to Christmas and I figured we wouldn’t be able to find a place for the boys to stay.  But then, Bill and I managed to get a spot for them at Dog Holiday.  Last week was rather stressful for me, mainly because of what we had to do to get the dogs ready.  They had to have a tour and a test day with Max, owner of the facility.  I had to update their shots, which was stressful because both of my dogs tend to react to vaccines.  And then, Zane was supposed to have his allergy shot, but that had to be postponed because of the vaccine.

Anyway, we were able to put the dogs up for our nine night trip down here.  I am now sitting in Vicenza with a lot of time on my hands and plenty to write about.  It’s already been an eventful trip.

On Saturday morning, we dropped off the dogs.  Bill was irritated because one of the headlights on our SUV burned out.  We went to the Obi to buy new bulbs, not realizing that they wouldn’t work because our car is American and what they sell in German auto parts stores are for cars with European specs.  We went to Kelley, where Bill gassed up the car and unsuccessfully tried to change the bulbs.

We finally ended up having to go to Panzer, where we were annoyed by someone in a car asking for directions from someone going the opposite way.  Instead of parking and handling their business that way, they opted to hold up traffic.  Then they had the nerve to get pissy when the people being held up by them got annoyed about it.  That’s not the first time I’ve seen something like that happen on a military installation.  Folks, allow me to be the asshole who says that if you need to chat with someone while you’re both in different cars, please go park somewhere.  Parking spots are free of charge and plentiful, and the rest of us have shit to do.

Bill successfully changed out the headlight bulbs.  Then we went to Brauhaus Schoenbuch for lunch. We were waiting for our food when over my shoulder, Bill caught sight of a woman who inspired a most unpleasant memory from the summer.  She didn’t seem to recognize Bill as easily as he did her.  We were grateful when she sat on the other side of the dining room and did not come over and put her hands on either of us.  What a coincidence that we would be at the Brauhaus at the same time once again.  At least this time, my mom wasn’t with us.

Finally, after lunch, it was time to get on the road.  We headed down 8, grateful that we didn’t have to stop for lunch at the place we did on our last trip.  It was good to be fueled up and ready to go, not feeling cranky, hangry, or hearing the gaseous emissions of octogenarians.  The drive was mostly beautiful and uneventful as we headed for Seefeld in Tirol.

Just over the Austrian border…

 

Since we were just in the Tirol area in September, I had a bit of deja vu as we made our way toward the resort town near Innsbruck.  I had originally planned a stay in the city, but cancelled when I thought I was going to have to stay home.  When it became clear that I was going to get to take the trip, I went looking for another place to stay.  The rates at the hotel where I had originally booked had gone up a lot.  Suddenly, I remembered a video I saw on YouTube a few months ago.

A video about a beer spa at Hotel Diana in Seefeld.  Bill and I used an unseen third tub on the other side of the guy in this video.  

 

Having done a similar treatment at the Landhotel Moorhof in Franking, Austria, I knew we would enjoy the treatment in Seefeld.  Aside from that, it looked like a nice town and it was roughly halfway to Vicenza.  So I booked us a room at Hotel Diana, realizing that not only could we have a beer bath, but we would also be saving money.  The rates were significantly less expensive and more inclusive than they were in Innsbruck.  Our rate included breakfast and dinner, as well as parking and Internet.

We arrived at Hotel Diana at about 6:00pm.  We were warmly greeted by a bearded man who spoke excellent English.  He assigned us room 103.  It turned out to be a very impressive room, with a bedroom, sitting room, and hall, along with a large bathroom with a tub, towel rack, and shower.  There was a minibar stocked with affordable drinks, a bottle of free mineral water, two TVs, and two apples.  We also had access to a balcony.

Nice digs!

 

After checking out the room, we headed down to the dining room for dinner.  Two dirndl clad women were waiting for us and had a table set in a corner at the end of the room.  Neither spoke English and I had more difficulty than usual understanding them because I think the accent in Austria is different than it is near Stuttgart.  Nevertheless, they did present us with the set menu, which was in English.  Reading, I can generally do with not too much trouble.  It’s speaking and understanding spoken German that trips me up.  I had the opposite problem when I lived in Armenia.  There, I could speak and understand spoken Armenian, but reading and writing was a nightmare.

We both enjoyed a Gosser, which I used to drink all the time in Armenia.  It was probably my first exposure to European beer that isn’t mass distributed like Heineken.

We started with a little salad…

Then cream of rucola soup…

A Balkan pork appetizer that I can’t remember the name of offhand…  It was good.

And finally, I had the chicken leg with potatoes and vegetables…

Bill had pork medallions with hunter sauce (mushrooms, blecch!)

For dessert, there was apple strudel and vanilla sauce.

 

As we were about to enjoy the main course, two women showed up and were seated across from us.  They seemed to immediately tag us as Americans.  They whispered and giggled, while sneaking looks at us.  I was annoyed, mainly because I’d been in a car all day and just wanted to relax.  The fact that I took photos of the food seemed especially hilarious to these two as they tittered and snickered away.  I cast a dirty look at them, then we made a hasty retreat to our room.  We were both tired and ready for bed.  Bill scheduled a beer bath for five o’clock on Sunday.

Looks like the very same company that provided our beer bath in Franking.

Shots outside the hotel advertising the beer bath.  Oddly, they don’t really advertise it on their Web site.  There’s just a picture.  If you book on Booking.com, like I did, you’ll see it advertised there.

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A comparison of European beer spa experiences…

Now that Bill and I have experienced three different European beer spas, I think it’s time to compare them.  Although we’ll probably visit other beer spas while we’re living in Germany, the three we’ve done so far have been sufficiently different that it makes sense to write about them now.

I know a lot of people wonder what possible benefit one could get from soaking in beer or a beer/water mix.  Having now done it three times, I can honestly say that after each soak, I have had soft, shiny hair and smooth skin.  In fact, I have a sore on my back that was slow to heal and I have noticed that it seems to have finally scarred over after this weekend.  Was it really the beer that did it or just a coincidence?  I don’t know.  The main reason I like to go to beer spas is because I am a hedonist and I love beer.  And hell, it’s just a lot of fun!

The first beer spa we went to was Chodovar in Chodova Plana, Czech Republic.  Our visit was over Presidents Day weekend 2009, which also happened to be Valentine’s weekend.  We were very lucky to be able to book the beer baths there.  If I recall correctly, we managed to snag the last available appointment.  At that point, Chodovar had only been in the beer spa business for three years, though the brewery has been making suds for centuries.

Chodovar’s beer spa was the cheapest of the three we’ve attended and that’s probably still true today.  However, I noticed some differences between the experience in Chodovar and the experiences we had at the Landhotel Moorhof and the Starkenberg Brewery.  First off, the Chodovar experience is less private, though you’re supposed to bathe in the buff.

There are several pewter tubs in a room and sheets are drawn around them for privacy.  That makes it practical for the proprietors, who can offer beer baths to several people at the same time.  However, the mood is markedly different, since you hear people giggling and splashing in their tubs as they drink beer.  It’s more of a fun experience than a relaxing spa experience.  Also, after twenty minutes in the tub, the water cools down a bit and you’re ready to get out.  Then you go rest in a quiet room, swaddled in a thick blanket as you drink another beer.

After we had beer baths, Bill and I had massages.  I had a “complete” massage, which was about an hour’s worth of kneading and rubbing done by a young Czech man who spoke no English and actually watched me undress.  Ultimately, he did a very good job and was professional, but it was a little weird and awkward.  Bill had a partial massage on his back done by a woman who spoke a little German, but no English.  Again, a good massage, but a little awkward.

When Bill and I did this in 2009, we each had our own tub, though they were located side by side.  There is one double tub at Chodovar, but it was booked.  In a way, I think maybe I might prefer having a separate tub.  Younger, hornier folks might beg to differ.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera when we went to the Czech Republic for our spa trip, so I didn’t get any photos.  Suffice to say that I’d happily visit Chodovar again, though I think I’d rank it third in my list of beer spa experiences thus far.  I do see that they’ve expanded since our last visit, adding a pool and wellness area that looks very inviting.  Maybe it’s time to book another trip!  For a picture of the beer baths, click here.

Our second beer spa experience was at the Landhotel Moorhof near Franking, Austria.  The Moorhof’s beer spa is very different than Chodovar’s.  First off, the Moorhof’s beer spa doesn’t seem to be a focus of the hotel’s marketing.  Yes, they advertise it and even offer beer cosmetics for sale, but it doesn’t seem to be the main reason people stay there.  I was surprised by that, since the Moorhof is in a rural area that isn’t saturated with touristy activities.

The Moorhof beer spa experience is more private and seems more health focused than Chodovar’s.  There is one room with three beer baths and one that has just one bath, making it perfect for couples.  At the Moorhof, we wore bathing suits, although if we hadn’t wanted to wear them, we probably could have gone without them.  I think I would have preferred not wearing the suit, since the hops mixture used in the spa gets all over it and it’s not so easy to rinse out.  I liked that the spa tub was more like a hot tub than a regular bathtub.  The jacuzzi action was noisier, but at Chodovar, you hear cheesy pop music and giggles from other people.  At the Moorhof, you hear the motor of the spa and your sweet one’s loving words.  Or maybe you hear dirty jokes, as it was in my case.

After the beer bath, we rested in a straw bed for a half hour.  That was pretty nice, more comfortable than I expected it to be, and I preferred it to the communal experience at Chodovar, where several people were resting in the same room at the same time.

The beer spa was a little more expensive at the Moorhof and I wish we’d had our massages around the time of the beer bath rather than hours earlier.  However, I will comment that the massage therapist was a little less awkward than the one at Chodovar.  She spoke some English and was very competent.  She also seemed a little more conscious of modesty.

Our third beer spa experience was at the Starkenberger brewery in Tarrenz, Austria.  This experience was my favorite because it was pure hedonism.  Basically, it consisted of Bill and me frolicking in a big vat that was once used for fermenting beer and is now a “pool”.  There were no massages offered at this experience (at least not professional ones), but we were allowed to soak for up to five hours and drink all the beer we wanted.  In fairness to the other beer spa experiences, I can pretty much say that this was not really a health promoting activity.  However, it was a whole lot of fun!

Of the three beer spa experiences, Starkenberger’s was the most expensive.  It was also the most memorable and unique.  And, to be honest, for what you get over five hours in the beer bath, it may have even been the most cost effective, especially if there are four people (the maximum allowed) in your group.  That being said, I do want to comment that the Starkenberger experience may be the most risky.  There is a danger of drowning because you are pretty much left to yourself.  Remember, you’re drinking as much beer as you want and hanging out in hot water deep enough to swim in.  The beer is pretty potent and if you’re not careful, you could find yourself in real trouble.  Practice the buddy system!

Bill and I were actually talking about this last night… how amazing it is that you can go to a beer bath in Europe and be trusted not to either damage the property or drown yourself.  In the United States, you surely would have been asked to sign a waiver before jumping in the beer pool and/or there would have certainly been an employee there to supervise.  In Europe, it seems like people are expected to be responsible for themselves and not do stupid things.  Frankly, I find it a very refreshing attitude.

I don’t know when our next beer spa appointment will be, but I am always on the lookout for new spas to try.  And I see that since our last tour in Germany, there have been quite a few more that have popped up.  I am sure this won’t be the last time I write about bathing in beer or any other exotic substance.  For now, Starkenberger wins the prize as my favorite of the beer spas we’ve been to.

Edited to add: We have now been to four beer spas, having visited the one at Hotel Diana in Seefeld (much like the one at the Moorhof).  Starkenberger remains my favorite of all four experiences so far!

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Ten things I learned on the Beer and Fucking Tour…

If you read this blog, you may know that after a trip, I like to reflect on the things I learned.  This trip in particular was really about drinking beer and seeing places with funny names.  And yet, I did learn a few new things thanks to our trip to Austria.  So here goes.  This is some of the stuff I learned on our Beer and Fucking Tour.

1.  Austria is home to Highline 179, which is currently the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world.  It’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.  But there are also other suspension bridges located nearby that are almost as long and not as pricey to visit.  We had such a great time in the Tyrol area that Bill and I might have to go back and explore some more… and maybe cross more bridges.  The Holzgau Bridge is free, open to the public 24/7 365 days a year, and looks like it’s pretty picturesque.  On the other hand, Highline 179 is worth visiting because it has a great museum and the ruins are beautiful.

2.  If you are a beer lover and like beer spas, Austria is a great place to visit!  In fact, there is another hotel in Austria, close to the Tyrol region, that offers a beer spa.  Hotel Diana in Seefeld is a possibility for those who would rather not visit Franking, though personally I think Franking is well worth seeing.  We had so much fun there that we may have to make a repeat trip!

3.  Austrians use some words that aren’t that common in Germany.  For instance, when I was researching places to visit in Austria, I came across the word Jausenkarte (snack menu).  I asked on Facebook what it was and my German friend piped up and explained that Jausen means snacks.  I had never seen that word in Germany, though she said her family uses it sometimes.

4.  There are many places in and around Austria with names that are funny for English speakers.  We visited Fucking and Fuckersberg, but we didn’t make it to Kissing, Petting, or Wank Mountain.  Perhaps on a future visit…

5.  Swimming in a big pool full of warm beer water is super fun!

6.  I may have to get a dirndl of my very own, even though I used to wear one every day when I worked at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Though we mostly saw people wearing them while working in restaurants, I did see a couple of people wearing them out and about.  I also saw lots of cool Austrian fashions on the men, like lederhosen and beautifully made jackets and sweaters.  Maybe if I quit drinking so much beer, I can squeeze into some Austrian fashions myself.

7.  We need to take more road trips with my Mini.  We bought it on the way back to the States from Germany back in 2009 and it’s just now approaching the 23,000 mile mark on the odometer.  The car needs to be driven and it’s a lot of fun driving it in Europe!

8.  People drive like maniacs on the autobahn.  Seriously… yes, I’ve seen them near drive like maniacs where we live, but there were a few times on our road trip when Bill was doing about 80 mph and got passed as if we were standing still.

9.  Austria has snakes.

10.  I really need to get back to studying German.  And I need to learn how to not crack up when people are using public restrooms.

So pretty!

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