We wish you a merry......

Welcome to the Gasthof Hochalmspitze equivalent of the Queen's Speech! Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking and all that. I know it's not actually Christmas until Friday but we are likely to be a little busy over the next few days and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to wish all our readers/Twitter followers/Facebook Fans the very best of Christmas fun and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

We are slowing getting some organisation into our own Christmas arrangements. We have had a guest here to ski already this weekend and he reported good snow and still quite quiet slopes but everyone gearing up for the rush of the festive season. Certainly the temperatures have been helpful: -19 at the top of Tschiernock yesterday! Our guest list for Christmas itself is still quite small - which does mean that we will be able to enjoy a few hours of celebrations with the friends that wil be here at least - but from the 27th we will be welcoming guests from Britain, Holland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and, very excitingly, Japan! Still a few rooms left for New Year, but not many, so get in touch if you think you can join us!

Tomorrow is last minute shopping day (brought the mincemeat for the pies from the UK - forget the pie tin to cook them in!) before Andi & Paula arrive on Tuesday, leaving us Wednesday to show them a bit of the valley in full Christmas mode before everyone hunkers down for the great eating and drinking festival of the year, starting at noon on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile we continue to get biker bookings for next summer at an amazing rate, both those returning after meeting us last summer and those we met at the Bike Show - the first group of 12 will be here on May 15th, which means we will be able to do some riding with them we hope. Seems very strange to be planning next year's biking when you look out of the window, but it IS the shortest day tomorrow, so Spring is really only just around the corner!

Still plenty of time to contemplate the next season once this one is a bit further under our belt. I hope to be able to post some photos as we go through the next week or so, but in the meantime from me, John, Pauline, Christl and Elfriede (not to mention the cats!)
'Frohe Weihnachten und Alles Gute für 2010!'
Ros x

And the winners are.....

Just a quick post to let everyone know we are now back in Malta and starting to work through the 4 pages of our 'before Xmas To Do' list! The journey back was uneventful - although it rained continuously from Dover to just the other side of the Katschberg Tunnel. Carinthia at least had no rain - but also far less snow than we had expected - apparently it came and went again! Today is sunny and warmish!

We have been in touch with our 3 Free Draw winners and are pleased to be able to tell you that Jakki Francis from Rugby, Andy Cooke from Totton, Hants and Nick Lappage from Leicester are all hoping to take up their prizes next summer. Looking forward to meeting you all!

Also just wanted to share withyou a little Anglo/German Xmas culture - sent to us from some German biker guests we are looking forward to seeing again in 2010. They are in LA for Xmas and thought we would enjoy this!

When the snow falls wunderbar
And the children happy are,
When is Glatteis on the street,
And we all a Glühwein need,
Then you know, es ist soweit:
She is here, the Weihnachtszeit

Every Parkhaus ist besetzt,
Weil die people fahren jetzt
All to Kaufhof, Media-Markt,
Kriegen nearly Herzinfarkt.
Shopping hirnverbrannte things
And the Christmasglocke rings.

Mother in the kitchen bakes
Schoko-, Nuss- and Mandelkeks
Daddy in the Nebenraum
Schmücks a Riesen-Weihnachtsbaum
He is hanging auf the balls, (<- Christbaumkugeln!)
Then he from the Leiter falls...

Finally the Kinderlein
To the Zimmer kommen rein
And es sings the family
Schauerlich: "Oh, Chistmastree!"
And the jeder in the house
Is packing die Geschenke aus.

Mama finds unter the Tanne
Eine brandnew Teflon-Pfanne,
Papa gets a Schlips and Socken,
Everybody does frohlocken.
President speaks in TV,
All around is Harmonie.

Bis mother in the kitchen runs:
Im Ofen burns the Weihnachtsgans.
And so comes die Feuerwehr
With Tatü, tata daher,
And they bring a long, long Schlauch
An a long, long Leiter auch.

And they schrei loud - "Wasser marsch!"
,Christmas is - now im - Eimer...
Merry Christmas, merry Christmas,
Hear the music, see the lights,F
rohe Weihnacht, Frohe Weihnacht,
Merry Christmas allerseits...

Hope you enjoy it too!

12 Days at the NEC Bike Show - and still standing!

Yes, we have survived! 12 days after the opening day and what seems like several thousand visitors laterand the show is in its last few hours and slowly starting to wind down. Thought I should write something before the final whistle blows - especially as we then have until midnight to take down the stand and collect up all our goods and chattels! Not that we have much left - the interest has been tremendous and we have given away all but a few of what had seemed to us to be a rather optimistic array of brochures, cards and giveaways.

One of the highlights has been the great partnership we have bult up with our Irish Tour Organiser colleague, Michael (www.motorcycletouring.ie) Being able to offer something to suit just about every level and experience of biking is a definite plus point for us. Also being able to accommodate groups - we have been able to offer packages for a whole range of organised (and not so organised) clubs, groups and just gangs of mates. The National Park Card is a very popular extra - the women particularly are keen NOT to be on the bike 24/7 - and there is so much you can do with the card for free. But the MOST important thing has been our personal knowledge and experience of the area and being able to answer just about any question that is thrown at us. Other people here are just acting as agents for the various accommodation providers and just don't have that ability.

Any way so far we have had confirmed bookings for nearly 100 bed nights (according to the other more experienced exhibitors this is practically unheard of!) plus serious enquiries for many more. We have made contact with a whole range of organisations who are looking for large group accommodation - from the Swansea Hells Angels to the Gay & Lesbian Riders of Europe and the Civil Service Motorbike Association - diverse or what! We have also made links with a number of other tour operators who will be sending people to try us out for their 2011 tours and have, in between, found other non bikers who want to walk, ski or just bring the family out to visit us.

Over 430 people have entered our free draw to date and so we have decided to add an additional 2 prizes of 2 days free B & B, in addition to the first prize of 5 days for 2. Winners names will be announced here, on Facebook and Twitter after 6pm tonight.

All in all coming to the show has been a real success and we are looking forward to reaping the benefits over the coming months and introducing a lot more British people to our lovely area of Austria. Definitely planning on coming back next year.

Thanks to Matt, Becky and Sam and Michael for all their help.

(sorry no photos today - uploader will just not work! Will try again later).

Bike Show Day One

Press and Preview Day - a ridiculously early start (7.30a.m.!) and a very slow build up - the press being mainly interested in scantily clad young women and bikes (in that order) and we having neither of these on our stand! However we were cheered to see a friendly face quite early on - our first ever UK based biker guest from 2008 - who called in to say 'hi' and tell us about his plans to increase the touring side of his business (peakridertraining.com) and to include stays at our place in his plans. Nice start to the day!

Once the wider public were allowed in at 12.00, things got a bit busier and we had quite a few interested visitors to the stand - including a couple sent over to us from the Goldwing Owners Club who John and Matt had visited earlier in the day with greetings from our German Goldwing Rider friends Schmidti & Co. Several people have already entered our free draw, which is nice and we gave away quite a few info packs.

Because it was reasonably quiet John was able to do quite a bit of meeting and greeting with other exhibitors while Matt and I watched the Stand - with some potentially super results. A Honda dealer who is looking for an Austrian based partner to set up a Honda Hire base with and a tour company looking for a hotel to send groups of up to 50 bikers to! Early days yet but all fingers crossed! And to finish the day, a free glass of champagne and a chocolate from our neighbours with the wonderful trikes

We have been told press day is usually very quiet (ONLY 4500 visitors!) and to expect things to hot up tomorrow and especially Saturday. We will keep you posted!

Just a quick one

Just a very few minutes to say 'hi' to all our readers! We are currently in the UK on the run up to our 12 day stint at the NEC Bike Show. We have been 'squatting' in our house near Redditch with furniture on loan from friends and family and enjoying catching up with all the goings on here. It's been great being able to spend a decent amount of time with our kids and grandkids and have been very touched by the numbers of friends who have wanted to see us and have offered us meals and overnight accommodation.

Not that we have left the hotel behind completely. Thanks to modern technology we continue to access our E Mails and booking system daily and have been excited to have a number of Xmas and New Year bookings as well as the first summer bookings for 2010. We are also VERY pleased to have secured Chris Eichberger from Vienna as our musician for New Year's Eve - he is a great guitarist/singer and also a really nice guy - and as he is bringing his girlfriend with him, we are looking forward to meeting her for the first time too.

Our plans for the Bike Show Stand have been taking form - John has been busy making stand furniture and we have been able to borrow some as well, so should have more than enough space to show off the piles of photos and brochures we have brought with us. The printing company have delivered 5000 brochures and as many business cards and the posters we designed have also arrived and look really immpressive (even tho' we say so ourselves!). Today we got the sign up sheets for the free draw organised (5 nights B & B this summer for 2 people with a guided bike tour and a daY's walking) and look forward to seeing how many people sign up for that. Our nephew Matt is once again joining the Hochalmspitze team for the show and we are also getting help for John's daughter Becky and her partner Sam and my friend Jo uring the fortnight (nothing like a bit of young glamour on the stand to attract the punters!). For the second week we will be joined by colleague Michael Ganley from motorcycletours.ie who hopes to drum up some business for the 3 tours he plans to bring to us next summer. All in all we should have abusy and interesting stand. Hope to see some of you there!

Return of Autumn Sunshine

This will be our last blog before leaving for our return trip to the UK, but we could not leave here without just one more opportunity to show you the beauty of our valley in the Autumn. After a week and a bit of unseasonal coldness, the sun has returned - temps are up to high teens, low twenties again and the sky is the purest form of blue imaginable. For walkers this is the perfect time to be here - the air quality is so amazingly clear that the views are unsurpassed. The photos speak for themselves, we think.

On Saturday we set off - stopping for 2 nights with friends in Germany and arriving back at our home in GB late on Monday/early Tuesday. It will be a bit like camping, as we have very little furniture there, but the kids will have turned on the heating and put the essentials of life (wine and beer) in the fridge at least! Then we have 3 weeks in which to sort out all the jobs on the house, catch up with friends and relations and get prepared for the start of the Motorbike Show. Sounds like loads of time but I bet we end up running round like headless chickens nonetheless. We are hoping that by the time we leave on Dec 9th, Andi & Mandy and the kids will be on the verge of moving into the house, so that the building and garden do not have time to deteriorate again!

By virtue of a clever little gadget called (apparently) a dongle (!!) we will have access to the internet throughout our stay, so plan to keep up-to-date with blogs, tweets and facebook entries as much as possible, so you will still have some instalments of this little soap to keep up with. Hope to catch up with as many people, - friends, relations and all UK biking contacts, - as poss, but meanwhile watch this space for news of the Bike Show events and plans for Christmas, New Year and the winter months - skiing season has started early here and Ryanair have put on extra flights - so we would love to see you all out on the slopes! Take care - see you on the other side of the Channel! Ros & John

See us at the Bike Show

Just in case you are one of the minority of our readers and followers who I haven't managed to contact another way - John and I are really excited to be going to exhibit at the 2009 NEC Carole Nash Motorbike and Scooter Show (to give it its VERY long full name!) Hall 1, Stand 14, right on the edge of the Touring and Adventure Zone is where you will find us representing Gasthof Hochalmspitze and the Malta Valley from November 26th to Dec 6th. We have lots of information, brochures and photos, copies of our Maltahochalmstraße video plus some other videos of the delights of Carinthia, some giveaways and a chance to win 5 nights free accommodation with us next summer - we must be worth a visit! Looking forward to seeing all friends old and new and to being able to demonstrate why a trip on a motorbike to our valley will be next year's perfect holiday treat. See you there!
http://www.motorcycleshow.co.uk/mci2009/exhibitor-details.html?exhibitor_id=4503

Only 2 days later...

Look at the difference in the weather! Snow arrived in the valley just 24 hours after we had been up the trees in glorious sunshine and by Tuesday there was enough snow on the mountain for there to be much talk about an early start to the ski season. It took everybody a bit by surprise but now everyone has their winter woollies on!













In the meantime we have made great progress with our building and renovation work and have managed to move back into our little studio flat at last. There are still a few bits and pieces in the main room to sort out (aren't there always?) but basically we are no longer homeless and the work on the other areas of the basement level has also started, so that eventually - thanks to our wonderful insurance company - we will be in far more comfortable surroundings and should have added considerable value to our investment, we hope!

Because of the sudden change in the weather our next major task will be the bringing in of the plants and terrace furniture, as well as putting the winter tyres on the car. By next week we should be in full winter mode and looking forward to seeing our first wintersports guests when we get back from the UK in mid December. We will be trying to keep the blog up while we are in Britain and will hopefully have some news about our plans for the trip shortly.

Apple Picking Time

Happily the weather defied the forecasters today and we have had another dose of Carinthian Autumn sunshine instead of the promised rain. However, the luck may be about to run out as temperatures are due to fall from a very pleasant 20 to a rather less exciting 12 over the next week - so today had to be the day to pick the apples. The exercise is always a bit daunting as neither of us are particularly good with heights - but as the pictures will tell you, we were brave little soldiers (and had moral support from the cat who was quite happy up the tree!) and the results, although not a patch on last year's bumper harvest, will nevertheless keep us in Apple Crumble for a good few months!

Meanwhile the rcreation of our living space has continued, with the floor in there just about complete and all the additional heating, painting, re-organising also well underway. With luck our next blog will include photos of us no longer homeless! Our plans for our Autumn trip back to the UK are also just about sorted and we should be able to spend about 5 weeks catching up with friends and family before returning here for the Christmas/New Year party season. This time we are driving and will be able to stop overnight with friends in Stuttgart on the way which is an added bonus and something we are really looking forward to. While we are away the remainder of the renovation work will take place, so coming back will also be exciting. We are also waiting to hear about some possible grant support for small businesses which will allow us to update some of our equipment as well as potentially expanding our Wi-Fi coverage to the guesthouse. We will keep you posted of course!

This is scary but if you would like to see me 'live' click on this link! http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2279411 This brief interview was recorded today at the Trebesing Harvest Festival event - carnival processions (and silly dressing up) are clearly not just the preserve of British seaside towns!

Time is still flying

We can't believe a whole fortnight has gone by since the last posting! Our last Onka group (more dancing and a celebration of Arthur's Day!) and the school group from Vienna (lots of noise, shoes everywhere and an Austrian convert to HP sauce) have come and gone, the Almcamp proved a great success (see www.soisses.at for all the details), our insurance agent turned out to be an angel in disguise (yes I did say that!) and the repairs to our flat are finally underway. The weather has been really wonderful with almost every day seeing afternoon temperatures in the low to mid 20's and Autumn is slowly turning the valley from green to gold.


October is a quiet month here - although we can never understand why as it is perfect weather for walking and cycling. We have a date with our mayor next week to discuss marketing strategies (more of this in a minute) and we shall be raising with him again the importance of getting the message out to potential visitors that the season does NOT have to end on September 1st!



Our biggest effort though will be to seek the support of the Gemeinde to generate enough materials to take to the NEC Motorbike and Scooter Show at the end of November. To our amazement the cost of a stand there for small businesses is subsidised, which means with some practical support from some of our colleagues in tourism and the business world, we could actually be there! The chance of raising awareness of the merits of biking in Carithia to 130,000 British bikers is rather too good to miss! We already have the first contributions so watch this space.

New things!

As the summer season finally draws to an end and the weather is reminding us that Autumn is really coming (although today is glorious!), we have been looking at things to do to encourage a few more off-season visitors. For a bit of fun we have bought an electronic dartboard (help for the mathematically challenged!) and have already enjoyed introducing our friends to this very British pastime. (Also introduced them to Marmite with cheese at the same time!). We're hoping we will soon be home to the first Malta Darts Team!

The next big event in the valley is the amusingly named First Malta Valley 'Vertical Feet Contest' - a specialist climbing/bouldering event to be held on October 3rd with award presentation party afterwards, DJ'd by our very own Mayor, Klaus Rüscher!

To celebrate the event we have a special offer - 2 nights for €55 to include a large Guinness, foot plasters and muscle rub! It would be great to see some English speaking competitors there but for the German speakers amongst you, here is the information again!

“1. Maltataler vertical feet contest”

Am 3. Oktober findet im Maltatal der “1. Maltataler vertical feet contest” statt.

Der Teamgedanke und Spass steht im Vordergrund, ein faires Punktesystem sorgt für Chancengleichheit.

Geklettert wird in 2er Seilschaften, Mandl und Weibl, oder gemischt. Das Kletterkönnen spielt natürlich eine gewisse Rolle, aber auch Taktik und Organisation stehen mit im Vordergrund des Wettbewerbes. So kann man sich durch viele Begehungen, auch leichter Routen, ein fettes Punktekonto holen. Und man kann dieses auch mit einer schnellen Teambegehung am Wasserfall Klettersteig aufbessern.

- bitte meldet Euch alle vorher an

- nehmt die € 20.- Startgeld mit und bezahlt direkt am Veranstaltungsort

- füllt das Anmeldeformular aus und gebt dieses bei der Anmeldung ab

los geht es um 9.15 Uhr mit dem “briefing” der Teilnehmer, um 10.00 Uhr erfolgt der Start des Bewerbes selbst!

Die genauen Infos und ein Anmeldeformular gibt es auf www.gerhardschaar.com

Read more: http://www.soisses.at/2009/09/19/1-maltataler-vertical-feet-contest/#ixzz0Rjbu0wkd

Will report on the event when it happens.

Also next weekend is the first ever 'Almcamp' -

www.barcamp.at/AlmCamp_09. Sadly we have a house full of bus group this week so couldn't help out with accommodation for this event, but are helping to sponsor it and will be acting as the meeting point for guests arriving by public transport on Friday. We are looking forward to meeting some of our Facebook 'friends' in the flesh and sharing a Guinness or two!

We are also looking forward next week to the return of our favourite Viennese schoolteacher - a fellow Star Trek and Doctor Who fan, with a talent for music (Reveille at 6.00am!), near perfect English and a great sense of humour! He is bringing 28 pupils with him, but we won't hold it against him!

Our new National Park Authority

September 13th 2009 – the launch of the new Hohe Tauern National Park Regional Authority.

Political leaders from Kärnten, Osttirol and Salzburg joined together to launch the new combined Hohe Tauern National Park Region incorporating the former National Park Holiday Region, The National Park Region, Kärnten, the Osttirol Tourist Authority and the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. The new Authority will work across regional boundaries to promote the area as the ‘Yellowstone Park’ of Europe, advertising the largest protected area in the alps and Austria’s biggest National Park to a worldwide audience and establishing the double aim of nature protection and accessibility.

The invited audience of local dignitaries, National Park employees and accommodation owners were told that this new co-operation was something ’the whole of Austria should take notice of’. At a time of falling tourist numbers generally, the Grossglocknerstrasse has seen a rise in visitor numbers of between 7% & 8 % this year, due, it is believed, to its international status and excellent reputation. The new Authority aims to raise awareness internationally of the whole of the National Park area by creating a new ‘Hohe Tauern’ brand. To achieve this the Authority has identified 5 main areas that typify the National Park – driving the Großglockner, winter sports, waterfalls, park ranger activities and life on the alms – and has made a short introductory film which it is releasing to highlight these. In so doing the Authority hopes to establish mental pictures for tourists that they can associate with the area – much as a picture of the Campanile reminds people of Venice, or the picture of the Yellowstone Geyser immediately identifies that particular area of the world in people’s minds.

Certainly the speakers at today’s event came across as enthusiastic and committed to this new joint venture. It remains to be seen whether the methods used to promote the new Region will reach the international audience it needs to. Hopefully the introductory film will soon be available to download – a first but important step – and if so, we too will be adding it to our website! Watch out too for a TV programme on Dec 8^th called ‘Nutzung & Schönheit – Hohe Tauern National Park’ – a documentary on what the National Park has to offer to visitors and to those who live there.

Another group dances!

Another of our bus groups has found the holiday spirit and amazed the locals by conga-ing in the street! (Not to mention through the hotel, taking the staff with them as they went!). Even Matt ended up in the line! I, too, was 'forced' to dance with one of the male guests who proved very light on his feet for an 84 year old and John joined in the rock and roll while pulling a few glasses of Guinness (not all for the staff, honest!). Lovely to see them all having a good time. This is the penultimate bus group of the season but the largest so far. Our last one comes in 2 weeks time and then we will finally have to accept that the summer is over and start planning for our winter customers. Ski brochures are starting to appear and requests for bookings for New Year are also coming through. Summer is just never long enough! Check our our new Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Maltaberg-Austria/Gasthof-Hochalmspitze/155646895759?ref=ts for updates too!

The Aftermath

One week on and the wheels of the Insurance Company vehicle turn slowly! After an initially encouraging response, everything reverted to type. Nothing happened at all until after the weekend. The drying machines finally arrived on Friday afternoon following an assessment visit on Tuesday and only after we had had to take up the wet lino (very well stuck down many years ago!) ourselves! The dryers will have to be in for a week to 10 days at least and then we have to have a new floor laid before we can even think about moving back in. Meanwhile our insurance agent has gone on holiday! One positive though - the drying machine in the laundry is also very affective at drying the wet clothes and bedding - and the insurance company is paying for the electricity!

Next week and 2 weeks later we are full with bus groups, so the insurance company will be paying additional accommodation costs as well I guess. In the meantime some stuff has gone to the laundry and other stuff to the tip and we are running around getting quotes for replacements so that when the insurance man comes back with his tan, we can try and get everything sorted as soon as possible. Interestingly a German guest, Dieter, who we know from last year, and who is himself an insurance agent, told us that in Germany the dryers would have been in within 12 hours of the report to reduce the long term cost. Oh, for some German efficiency here!

Autumn has also begun to arrive. Although the sun is still shinig the temperatures are no longer in the high twenties/thirties. Rather a relief really! Rain last night turned to snow on the tops until the sun warmed up this morning. Against the clear blue sky it looked wonderful (but we didn't get round to getting a photo - sorry!). As you will see from the photo - we also have Matt back - he was a really welcome sight! We also have my Uncle & Aunt here visiting, so we are pleased the weather has perked up for them. Still the change of temperatures has reminded us that we need to start planning our winter program - skiing season is only just around the corner!

And from our Roving Reporter.....

http://www.soisses.at/2009/08/30/unwetter-in-malta/

Here is a link to more pictures of the Great Flood of Malta and its impact! R x

It never rains but......

Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get! Forrest Gump was a great philosopher eh? So, you plan a Latin American evening in the middle of the best heat wave of the summer and you get..... the great flood of Malta!

Before I get on to the main story, let me at least say that the Latin American evening was good fun - the musician was fabulous, the food and drink great and those friends and customers who braved the early weather and then found themselves temporarily stranded here, had a really nice time! There is, of course, enough food left to feed a Mexican army but somehow we will at least struggle through the remaining Rum Punch! And I do like avocados.

The rain began as usual a bit on and off and then came a rather threatening black cloud. Czaba, the musician, carried on for a while under the gazebo and the customers sat under the umbrellas and all seemed Okish. Then about 9.00pm the rain started to get heavier. To protect his equipment, Czaba decided to move inside and most of the audience came with him (although some continued, in a very English manner, to eat and drink outside). Even then we thought it was just an ordinary bit of 'Gewitter' - until about 30 miutes later the wind started to get up the rain doubled and more in strength and suddenly the world went mad! The umbellas and the gazebo flew, a river started flowing down the Maltaberg and, after a few vain attempts by some of the guys to rescue what they could, the rest of us were trapped in the restaurant for about an hour while the elements took over. The town's emergency sirens went off at about 11.30, so we knew things were getting serious.
When it finally calmed down enough for people to go home, Andrea, Czaba, Pauline, Elfriede, John and I cleared up the restaurant and kitchen and decided we couldn't do much outside till the morning. Andrea and I went over to the flat to collect some stuff she had left there and noticed that the lights had tripped. John went upstairs to the fusebox to turn them back on and I went in in darkness - immediately noticing there was water on the floor in the entrance. Bugger, I thought, the rain has got in! Ha! A bit of an understatement! When the lights went on and we realised that the whole flat was under about 2-3 centimetres of water we were just stunned. The water had cascaded down the entrance, pushed open the doors, swept the doormat 10 metres into the room and spread out into the workshop and the laundry on either side. What a mess! It doesn't sound much water, but it certainly made its presence felt!

So instead or crashing out after a very long day, we spent the next hour raising what furniture we could out of the water, moving other things and finally taking what we needed up to a hotel room (thankfully we don't have another full week until the 7th September!) and fell into bed about 2.30. The storm carried on all night, the emergency sirens went off again about 4.30 and no-one (apart from one of our biker guets who slept through the whole thing!) got much sleep!

The weather hadn't improved much next morning - we got breakfast for our few guests but there was no way the guys were going anywhere on their bikes. which was a blessing for us, because, having established that our insurance would cover things, we were told to get on with clearing up and, bless them, Grahame and Nick, were golden - helped us clear the flat, re-stack everything in the other cellar, dry out what we could, throw out what we couldn't etc etc. They were just fabulous! We were also consoled greatly by our friends Monika and Achim who turned up ready to offer us a temporary home in their guest suite if need be - don't think we will need to but it was lovely of them to offer!

Happily very little apart from the carpet and the kitchen cabinet were totalled. Several things need to get properly cleaned, but most of it is salvageable. And as with every cloud there is also a small silver lining, as we will be able to install the pipes for the radiators we planned to put in before winter, before the furniture goes back in! Our biggest problem is getting it back into use before the 7th, but friends tell us that insurance claims here go through very quickly so we are hoping that, together with the dozens of photos we took, the insurance visit tomorrow will be enough to allow us to go ahead and get a new carpet down as soon as poss. In the meantime we are back in Room 11, and at least after after months of only showers, we can again have a bath!

Thanks to all those who responded to my Facebook photo with messages of support - as you can see all is reasonably well and we have survived yet another adventure in Austria! Take care! R & J

Getting out and About

Now that the bike is legal here we are taking some time to explore our surroundings. When we have coach groups in we can get away for a few hours on the day we have the barbecue as we can get everything prepared in advance. When we don't have groups in we have some time on Mondays because it is the one day we do not open for lunch. So last week we had a coach group and took advantage of our free time to ride over the Nockalmstrasse. As it is me writing this and not her you get a picture of interesting cars we saw on our trip! A pair of ACs both RHD and both registered in Vienna, and made a fantastic noise when they drove off.

This Monday we got up early to ride to Berchtesgaden, around 150 kms away. And what a road, it has got to be my favourite route so far, a fantastic mix of tight bends and open sweeping curves. The B99 over Obertauern a road made for motorcycles. We stopped for coffee a Werfen ( where the castle featured in "Where Eagles Dare") before crossing into Germany on a single track road. The sign for Germany was smaller than most English village nameboards. We wanted to visit the "Eagles Nest" which we knew was just outside Berchtesgaden. What we didn't know is that the Germans call in the "Kehlsteinhaus" so it took a little finding.

But as you can see find it we did, it was an amazing experience walking in the footsteps of the perpetrators of some of the greatest acts of evil the world has known. I find it incomprehensible that the Nazi leaders could have come to this beautiful place on a regular basis and still wished harm to their fellow men. That is is now full of visitors of all nationalities and creeds is of some comfort. As Ros said maybe they should erect a Star of David next to the cross.

The ride back was a little quicker than on the way, we rode in company with a German biker who's reg plate proclaimed him as GOD! He did not ride like one however and we left him behind after a while.

Just so you don't get the wrong idea today we have chopped 10Kgs of carrots to make soup for 45 people, made more Turkey Schnitzels than I care to think about, and cooked lunch for three Germans. We are also busy organising our Latin American evening ( this Friday) which I am sure will be the subject of the next exciting episode of this blog.

John (for a change)

And so it goes on...

Already seems like ages since our Czech group left - although in reality only a few days. But we are now halfway through the next week and have got to know another group, so time moves on. We have had some great feedback from the Czechs though and both several individuals in the group and the group itself hope to see us again, plus the agency in Prague have said they hope to use our services in the future, so we feel justifiably pleased with the outcome of the week and know that the Czech words we learned will certainly come in useful again!

In between we had some surprise visitors - some of the biker group that was with us in June turned up for lunch on Saturday, which was really nice. Just a shame that we couldn't accommodate them this time, but they plan to return next Spring anyway. We have also had a return visit from another previous guest, who came for a business trip earlier in the year and brought his wife with him this time. He is back on business in September and at various times throughout the year, so could turn out to be our first proper 'Stammgast'.

John and I managed a few hours out on the bike again yesterday so went over the Nockalm - the signs of the damage caused by the storms 3 weeks ago are still very much there, even though the road is passable again. Mother Nature can be vicious! The Nockalm was really busy with bikes and cars from all over the world. We passed the aftermath of an accident with a car totally inverted and on its roof - luckily both passengers out and reasonably OK by the look of things, but a reminder that the glorious weather and the holiday atmosphere can take your eye off the ball sometimes! We also grabbed enough time to see the Dutch Porsche meet in Gmünd and have a rather wonderful Nußbaumer ice cream!
We also had our first guest illness this week - one of our latest group was taken quite suddenly ill one evening. I have to say we were very impressed with the response of the emergency services and the doctor, and the guest, who was thankfully recovered enough the next day to be collected from the hospital in Spittal, was full of praise for the standards in the hospital. She has been fine since and I think quite enjoyed being the star of the group for a while!

Next week appears to be going to be quieter - which is a good thing as we are sadly losing Matt for a couple of weeks while he visits his Grandad. We hope to have him back on September 3rd all being well and I think we will be very pleased to see him by then.

Our busy week

The Czech group have been here 6 days already - time has flown! They have been great fun to have and hopefully will go away with a positive experience of us and the area despite the weather having been very mixed for them.

Yesterday was a day of mixed experiences. John and I got away on the bike for a few hours at last and went to the Franz-Josefs-Höhe on the Großglockner. We failed miserably to meet up with the friends who were supposed to be there but had a good day anyway - especially loved the marmots! More pics as usual on my Facebook page.














It was BBQ evening - started off well and then the heavens opened! In true Brit style we carried on serving for a while but eventually the elements won and we had to move the whole thing including the music inside - by now most of us were saturated! Anyway the group took it all very well and managed to find some room to dance a bit as well - the conga line was particularly popular!

Some interesting visitors!

Our Czech guests have arrived - and are a very lively and friendly bunch, so that bodes well for a good week. I am sure there will be some photos to put up here soon. Meanwhile we had some other surprise visitors yesterday. A grass snake decided to visit our terrace - very unusual for this area and luckily not dangerous, but he took some persuading to find a more appropriate sleeping place!

We are pleased to have our American friend Peter Benjamin back in the valley for a few days. He has brought his friend Debs with him - her first experience of Austria, but one she seems to be enjoying.

Most excitingly our friend Balazs - only a few weeks ago a guest - arrived for a visit this weekend and promptly dived in to serving at tables and behind the bar! A definitely positive addition to our staff team (as vouched for by all our ladies!). Sadly we couldn't persuade him to stay the week - and locking a Hungarian policeman in the cellar seemed a little extreme! But he promised to return again soon and next year will bring his parents and other members of his family too!