A busy week

Our first bus group of the year has come and gone. 42 people, mostly elderly as usual, but a very pleasant bunch and very happy with their stay here. Many left saying they would come back with their families which was lovely. The week went very smoothly, which shocked us all I think - we were all expecting something to go wrong! We had extra help this week from Elfriede who last year just did the washing up and this year has more hours to give us and has turned out to be an absolute revelation - just so easy to work with and almost always one step ahead of what you want her to do. The others were all great too - its a good team! We converted the bus driver (who turned out to be a master barbecuer - see photo!) to proper single malt and a couple of the old men to Guinness too and added a music evening to the programme which meant some of them actually sat in the bar later than 8.30pm!

Yesterday we visited another local hostelry, the Pflügelhof, in a little hamlet of the same name just up the valley. It used to be a royal hunting lodge in its heyday and yesterday hosted the 10th anniversary celebration of the local hunting horn group - a good excuse for a party! Later in the day a couple from Canada turned up to stay and guess what - her name was Pfluegel and her ancestors came from that very same hamlet! How weird was that! They have gone off to Croatia now on the next stage of their month long trip round Europe but hope to call back in on their return journey and have promised to keep up with the blog from home.

 Tomorrow we get a day off and will be testing out another of our 'tour routes'. Our next group (bikers again) comes next week and then we are pretty much all systems go for the summer. Nephew Matt joins us at the end of June - really looking forward to having him here to help out. Already got several offers from the local youngsters to take him out and about a bit, so hopefully he will have some fun as well as helping with the work!

Another outing!

One of the 'perks' of having family to stay is that we have an excuse to do a bit of sightseeing ourselves. Today, as our group of Goldwingers left early to avoid the post Bank Holiday traffic jams in Germany, we had a couple of hours free to take cousin Sue to see our nearest lake, the Millstäter See. Perfect timing, as it turned out, to jump on the pleasure boat and take a little trip on the water - something we have never managed to do before. Its very warm again here (27 degrees on our terrace at midday) and the morning was a little muggy but the photos still show how pleasant it was to see this lovely little town, and its neighbour Seeboden, from a different perspective. Thanks Sue!

P.S. Schmidti obviously didn't ask more than €5 'cos he brought me back!

Ros kidnapped by biker!!!

STOP PRESS ROS KIDNAPPED


Ros was last seen on the back of a Goldwing. I am waiting for the ransom note. If it's for more than 5 Euros they will have to keep her.

Problem is what do I do with the biker's wife?

First trip up to the Dam in 2009

Grabbed 2 hours this morning to take John's cousin Sue up to the Dam - 20+ degrees in the valley, 13 degrees up the top but feeling warm in the sun. Still enough snow about though for there to be a cross country skiing event going on. Looks like they ski over the mountain from the Mölltal side and then when the snow runs out put the skis on their back and walk back to where their transport is. Quite amazing to see the skiers walking through the tourists wearing shorts and tee shirts! Had to include a photo of my favourite waterfall too - the snow melt is really lasting a long while and all the rivers and waterfalls are really magical. The 'Valley of the Tumbling Waters' is living up to it's name.

The Gold Wings Cometh!

Our first motorcycle group of the year - and how impressive. 8 bikes, 7 of them Gold Wings and 2 of those trikes! It all looked (and sounded) very impressive yesterday when they arrived and this morning when they set off for their day's ride to Lienz and back. The trikes are both driven by ladies and I have to admit they looked like a lot of fun - so comfy AND enough luggage space for several pairs of shoes. What more could a woman want?

What's more, as we have come to expect from our biking guests, they are a great group to have. They especially endeared themselves by asking for seconds of our Caramel Croissant Pudding! We were hoping to have our first barbeque of the season tonight as well, but sadly looks like the weather is against us as, after the high temperatures of the last few days, they are forcasting thunderstorms later. Still tomorrow again looks set fair and hot, hot, hot, so we might get that barbie going yet!

John's cousin Sue is also here enjoying her first trip abroad without her family and being able to just sit! Always nice to have family to visit. Next week our first bus group arrives - 42 elderly Germans from Dresden. Hope the weather holds for them too.

There's no place like home!

So what if it is a bit 'bijou' - it's ours and it's private! And there is not far to go in the mornings to get to work! The flat is just about finished now (do DIY projects ever really get finished?) and we have moved in and tried to make it feel a bit like home. We only have a few days left until the groups start arriving so not much else will get done now. The focus has to be on preparing for the guests - especially out motorbiking guests who will need as much room as possible for garaging their beloved machines. With help from our friend Andrea who speaks at least 5 languages (I am so envious!) we have been doing some direct marketing with biking groups in Hungary, France and Spain. Already a couple of bookings have come in so it looks like it is a good strategy. We will also look at Belgium and French & German speaking Switzerland next I think. There is certainly a big market out there. I might have to learn Italian!

April showers bring....

....... lots and lots of May flowers! The meadows are full of them and, in this setting, even the dandelions take on an unexpected beauty. We have been loath (as you see) to cut the grass and destroy the beauty, although the time is coming when we will have to. Still our reluctance proved useful to one of our neighbours yesterday who, having forgotten it was Austria's Mother's Day, was able to pick his Mum a lovely wildflower bouquet! The lilac too is in full bloom and smells divine - a real treat if you are sitting on our terrace. The weather is being very kind this week so far and temperatures are up in the high twenties. All in all a perfect start to the summer season. It's just such a shame that more people don't take advantage of this time of the year - the panorama roads are open, most of the tourist attractions are in full swing, all the local bands and choirs are having their Spring concerts and the views are wonderful. Why wait till July???

Summer is here!!

What is the first sign of summer? Leaves on the trees? Swallows in the air? Turning off the heating? No it's when the Grossglockner Hochalpstrasse re opens. Just had the message to say tomorrow is therefore the first day of summer. In the best interests of our future guests I feel compelled to get on my bike and check it out - a tough job but someone has to do it! The Nockalmstrasse also opens this week-on Saturday. Just wish I had the time to get out on the bike all day. Ros is in England for a few days and when she comes back on Saturday I hope we can move into our own accommodation. In England an estate agent would call it "easily managed", it's not large but it is our own space. Anyway there is plenty still to do to make it habitable so the motorcycling will have to wait. A great shame considering the weather, yesterday started OK, a bit grey with some showers but by afternoon the sun was out, by evening it was warm! Today is fantastic and the forecast is good for the weekend-just need afew more guests please

John

Back from the UK and doing some background research!

After a bit of a break, during which we spent some pre-season time in theUK and caught up with friends and family, we are now back in Malta and making preparations for the summer season. First some spring cleaning, then into the kitchen. We are still finding there is much to learn, especially abou Austrian cuinary requirements. It seems we just do not use enough seasoning in our food in the UK! So John is undertaking cookery lessons from our Irmgard and we are endeavouring to keep the salt content down to something not too life threatening!

At the same time we are getting a good response to our marketing with motorcycle groups and John has developed a range of pre-planned routes around Carinthia to keep them amused and hungry for more! Today we tried one route out to find out where the pitfalls are. (We discovered last month that a road we had put into a Slovenian tour was in fact no more than a dirt track and quite impossible for anything other than an off-road bike - can't let that happen again!). Our route today took us to Friesach - a new destination for us and a wonderful surpise. A real mediaeval treasure with so much to see and do we could have stayed a weekend there. We have attached a couple of photos and there are more on my Facebook page.

Tomorrow I have to fly back to the UK briefly (my son has had an accident - thankfully not as serious as it might have been but nonetheless worrying) and meantime John will continue with his cooking lessons and stocking up the freezer for our first big group of the season (40 people) in 3 weeks time. Time is already flying!