Bill and I are finally back after our ten day road trip vacation, which took us from Wiesbaden to Leutasch, Austria, to Parcines, Italy, and finally, to St. Gallen (Rorschach), Switzerland. For the most part, we had a wonderful trip. Yes, there were a few minor annoyances, but on the whole, it was a fantastic journey outside of Germany for the first time (for me, at least) since February. It was great to get away, if not because we needed a change of scenery, then because it was very interesting to see how different countries are doing in this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic situation. Each country/region has a different way of operating right now and, at this point, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland have all done a great job of getting things back under control.
My digital camera can do fun tricks sometimes.
Although there are still a lot of places I would like to see before I die, and we had been to the Tyrol/Sud Tyrol areas before, it was nice to take a trip there, stay in different areas, and do different things. We even did a few things we never got the chance to do on previous trips. For instance, Bill and I used to visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen fairly regularly when we lived in Germany the first time together (2007-09), but those trips were always work related for Bill. So I never got to go to the top of the Zugspitze before last weekend, and I had never before seen the beautiful (and terribly crowded) Eibsee. Ditto for Lake Konstanz (Bodensee). We used to live somewhat close to Switzerland, so we didn’t visit there much– we would just travel through to get to Italy. Until this past weekend, I thought Switzerland was beautiful, but dull. I have since changed my opinion about Switzerland.
And yes, I know traveling right now might be seen as frivolous, tacky, cruel, risky, irresponsible, or whatever other adjective the worried and jealous can come up with. I don’t feel guilty at all for going away, though. There were many times in the past when we wanted to travel but couldn’t, mainly due to not having the time or money. Now, we have the time and the money, and there are people whose livelihoods depend on travelers. We have the good fortune to live in a place where government and public health leadership and disease transmission prevention tactics have been strong and cooperative. So we are going to embrace our good luck and enjoy traveling while we can. Because there will surely be a day when we can’t anymore.
It’s good to be home, if only because I was running out of clean underwear and I have really missed Arran. I also always enjoy writing about our trips, and it’s easier to write about them on my big desktop instead of my laptop. I hope you will enjoy reading along as I relieve our ten days of vacation bliss.
So… on with my blow by blow of our trip through the Tyrol and Sud Tyrol regions.
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.
That’s what I’m calling our next planned trip. And no, it’s not because we’re planning to do a lot of boots knocking during our travels.
Since we’ve been back in Germany, Bill and I have been determined to try to see more. The last time we lived here, we didn’t travel very much during the first year of our stay. We thought we were going to get the standard three years. We ended up with just barely two years. Since Bill is now a contractor, we have decided not to take living in Germany for granted. It’s entirely possible that we’ll have to move again a year from now.
Bill has been wanting to visit Gruyeres, Switzerland since we lived here last time. We meant to go in 2008, but circumstances did not line up for us to make it to the land of chocolate, cheese, and weird museums. On Sunday afternoon, I was trying to come up with a plan for a weekend in Switzerland next month. Once again, the cards of fate seemed stacked against me. I had a hard time figuring out exactly where we should go. Then my attention shifted to Austria.
There is a hotel in a small town about twenty miles from Salzburg that offers a beer spa. I have been wanting to go to that hotel since our last long term stay in Europe. During our five years living in the States after our first Germany tour, I thought about how we could get there so I could take another beer bath. I wondered how I’d justify visiting Franking, Austria when we’d have to travel thousands of miles to get to Europe and there were so many other, bigger, more exciting cities we hadn’t yet seen. Salzburg itself is a great town and Bill and I were only there for a day back in 2012.
Anyway, I was looking at the hotel in Franking and noticed on the map that close to Franking, there is another town called Fucking (pronounced Fooking). Naturally, that tickled me, since I have a filthy sense of humor. I looked it up and discovered that this tiny little town has become the subject of much mockery from English speakers. Town officials have had to put up theft proof signs and closed circuit television in order to discourage tourists from stealing the signs and/or having intercourse in front of them. The town has been so rattled by tourists disturbing them that they even tried to get the name changed. It was not allowed.
Well, that piqued my interest. I told Bill about it and he agreed, Fucking is a town we need to visit, if only so I can get a photo of the theft proof signs. Maybe we’ll just drive through. Maybe we’ll stop for lunch. And it’s not far from Franking, where we can take beer baths and relax in a country atmosphere.
Then I started thinking about Austria’s famed Starkenberger beer pools. They are located at the Starkenberger brewery in Tarrenz, Austria. Looking around the Web site, I see that Tarrenz is a very picturesque area. Though a dip in the beer pool will be very costly, it’s the kind of thing that is often on a beer lover’s bucket list. Having already enjoyed a weekend at Chodovar’s beer wellness land in the Czech Republic, this is just the kind of activity for people like Bill and me. And it definitely fits in with the beer baths we hope to enjoy in Franking.
I started looking for lodging in Tarrenz and found there were slim pickings there. However, the area is well saturated with lodging in other towns. I chose a hotel in Lermoos that looks pretty damn awesome. Lermoos is about ten miles from Tarrenz. Better yet, because it’s not ski season time, the hotels are reasonably priced.
We have been to the Tyrol area of Austria, but in the past, we’ve always stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the Edelweiss Lodge. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as we all know, is in Germany, and the Edelweiss Lodge is not exactly authentically European style accommodation. The only reason we went down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen was because Bill had conferences at the Edelweiss Lodge. I’d go with him and take day tours with other bored housewives. Now that Bill doesn’t go down there for work, it’s time we visited the area as tourists and checked it out more thoroughly. It will be nice to stay in Austria instead of Germany, too.
I have to admit, my first impressions of Austria back in 1997 were not all that positive. I thought it was a very pretty country with little soul. I was wrong about Austria. Every time I’ve been back, I’ve found more to like about it.
As for Switzerland, we are still planning a trip. I think maybe we’ll try to go to Gruyeres in October. Or maybe we’ll finally get to Ireland, which is another place we’ve been wanting to visit. These plans are, of course, not in line with our usual champagne bucket method of choosing places to go. The champagne bucket method should really be used in times when you can’t decide where to travel. This time, we know we want beer and Fucking, so there’s no need to involve fate.
Hopefully, this beer and Fucking tour will turn out beautifully. I look forward to blogging about it. Incidentally, I have also written about this on my main blog, but that post was composed before we made up our mind to actually visit this fabled part of Austria.
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