Thursday 03 June Corpus Christi Kaunertal

There is a procession in the village today to celebrate Corpus Christi, a religious festival that is Latin for Body of Christ.
We were going to have the rest of the day free but it is a public holiday and there is even less open than normal today, nothing in fact! So I have decided to go out at 11:00 and try to do our excursion to the Kaunertal Glacier that we had to postpone on Sunday.
We all had an early morning alarm call today at 05:00! Part of the today's festival involves the firing of rifles (that sound like cannons) at five o'clock in the morning! Three times! Charly had warned us so we were prepared but it was still louder than I expected.
It is a bit of a damp, grey morning and the procession is running half an hour late!
We are all waiting patiently as we can hear the band playing in the distance by St Valentine's church.
Outside of the shop next door and the Gasthof Leuwen they have put up two temporary alters that look like shrines.
Four strapping young lads walk past carrying the two very large, and very heavy, flags from the church. They don't stop and carry on back to the church.
We see the procession approach the hotel with the village band leading the way followed by the villagers dressed in local costumes and a group of the men carrying rifles. There are three mobile shrines carried by a group of teenagers in local costume and then the priest with his entourage. They all stop by the shop and the priest performs a service at the alter. Once he has finished the riflemen load their guns and fire a shot into the sky. It doesn't get any quieter!
They then continue on their way past the hotel to the Gasrhof Leuwen for another service. I see Christian, Patricia's young man, smartly dressed marching. Following the villagers who are dressed up are a great many people. They must have shipped a few in from the surrounding areas as I'm sure there are not this many people in Nauders!!
It really is quite a sight and something you feel privelaged to witness.
This morning I looked on the Kaunertal website to check on the weather and it said thin cloud and sun. This is one of the reasons we shall go to the Kaunertal today.
We leave at 11:00 as the sun is trying to come through.
The Kaunertal is a valley with a glacier at its head and has 29 hairpin bends to negotiate to reach the top. A wonderful drive in sunny conditions. At the top is the glacier where they ski all summer as well as winter.
This is a toll road and the cost to take 26 passengers and our bus is 156 euro. It had better be good!
The road is very wet and there has obviously been a lot of rain recently and the summit is shrouded in cloud. Slowly the cloud starts to lift and you can see fresh snow high up the mountain. I do not like the look of that.
I am always a bit wary of having to put the chains on and don't really fancy doing it today! There are no warning signs up and the road is just wet.
So we climb, and climb, and climb! There is a lot of snow but not a flake on the road. At some points near to the top the snow at the side of the road is higher than the coach. There is a bit of nervous laughter in the coach but the road is fine and what also helps is it is not very busy.
We drive through the cloud and cannot see the top until we are almost there! It is snowing when we arrive.
What a beautiful ride and not something we all expected. They obviously forecast the weather as we do at home!
Because of the mist there are not many skiers here and the large restaurant is virtually empty.
Due to the lack of traffic the drive down is straightforward and event free except for various sightings of marmots, little beaver like creatures that live in the mountains.
Just as we leave the sun starts to break through the clouds and blue sky appears.
I am really glad we have done this journey today as we have definitely seen the best of the scenery.