Breakfast starts at 08:00 but I venture in at 07:45 thinking it would be okay especially as it is a buffet.
I am not alone and the young waitress is not impressed, telling anyone who would listen that breakfast starts at 08:00. She has the right hump!
I wait until 08:00 to ask for a coffee and am abruptly told that coffee is on the table. It isn’t and I tell her so. She must have forgotten while worrying about a few people coming in early. She soon has coffee on the tables though but is still not smiling.
We are away at 09:00 and after a couple of buildings down from the hotel I have to turn left. It is tight and there is a German car parked opposite with a lady loading the boot up. It will be hard to turn left with her there so I politely ask if she could just move forward for a second so I can turn and then she can move back again. We are talking about 20 feet. She is not impressed and becomes the second women I have pissed off this morning!
I then drive up a narrow road for a couple of hundred yards before joining the main road but at the junction is an ADAS (Austrian AA) lorry loading a broken down car on to his back and he is stationed in the middle of the road. I have to wait.
We are going to the Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden today, a summer retreat high up in the Bavarian Alps bought for Hitler by Martin Boorman for his 50th birthday.
To access the Eagle’s Nest you have to change from the coach to a local bus that takes you to a parking place from where you walk through a tunnel to a lift that takes 40 seconds to take you the top.
It is a very pretty drive to Berchtesgaden and we arrive in the town at 10:30. My first stop is to drop Colin, Pat and Wendy off at the Salt mine and then drive up to the parking lot for our Eagle’s Nest bus. I had sent an e-mail yesterday but had no reply so called this morning to provisionally book a bus for 11:00. They run every 25 minutes.
We don’t arrive until 10:55 and by the time I have queued for our tickets we have missed our slot at 11:00. This is no problem as the 11:25 will be better as it allows time for the loo and any souvenir shopping.
We are all on bus number 4. It takes 41 but there are 44 of us! We all squeeze on and bang on 11:25 are transported up to the top parking area in 15 minutes. The journey is fantastic with some of the views breathtaking.
Once at the top I have to go to the ticket office to book my return time which I book for 13:55.
We now have to walk through a long dark, damp tunnel to a lift that has been carved into the rock. In 40 seconds we are whisked up to the top. The lift is a piece of art in itself with gorgeous mirrors and old fashioned workings.
Before walking through the tunnel a young lady, Vanessa, is advertising English speaking tours for €5 per person. The tour lasts 35 minutes and seems like a good idea. A few of the group join me on what is an informative and funny (how dare you listen in without paying!) tour and I learn a lot. 35 Minutes was a bit optimistic though as we must have been with her for closer to an hour.
Once the tour finished I had a look around, ate my packed lunch and then went back to the parking lot to wait for 13:55. It is a little cloudy now which is obscuring the view but every now and then it clears for a glimpse of the stunning countryside.
Most of the group are down and ready by 13:30 but we have to wait until 13:55. I ask at the ticket office which number bus we are on and am told we can catch anyone.
The busses open their doors ten minutes before departure and I am soon being called to one bus and then another to show the ticket. Both bus drivers say we should all be on the same bus and I explain that I was told to get on any bus. This does not impress the drivers who in turn do not impress me! Tough, nobody is moving now.
Once we are all back on the coach I drive back to Berchtesgaden to pick the three miners up. I go back the quick way and meet a bus on a bend which takes a bit of manoeuvring but we pass each other with plenty to spare. He is another unimpressed bus driver! I seem to be making a habit of annoying Germans today!
We are back at the hotel by 16:00 and I check to see if I can go to the garage but it is busy today so I book it for Thursday morning. Not ideal as I wanted a day off but at least something is being done. The odd thing is the air-con seemed okay today.
Once I have dropped the passengers off at the hotel I try to make my turn left but am hampered by some decking with tables and chairs on it opposite the road I want. There is some kind of festival on tonight.
I try to get round but only manage to scratch the side of the coach on the damned decking! In the end I have to reverse all the way back up the road and blindly out on to the main road. Now I’m an unimpressed bus driver!
It is not a bad scratch but is a scratch nonethesame.
Once parked I decide to wash the outside windows as we are going to drive the Grossglockner Road tomorrow and as the forecast is good people will want to see the scenery!
I end up washing the whole coach.
After dinner Malcolm walks some of the group to a slide show at the Tourist Information Centre while I walk 22 to the Tyrolean Evening, held at the nearby Sport Hotel.
The seats are in an upstairs gallery in what is a small room for a show and I hope it all goes well.
I was going to stay but decide to leave and spend an hour on this blog back at the hotel.
It is very lively in the town with live music and lots of people adding to the atmosphere.
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2 comments:
Maybe you ought to think about the way you spoke to the receptionist in the hotel at Bruhl - think you p----d her off too!
For the record I wasn't rude to the receptionist in Bruhl, I just wanted what was best for the group. If anybody was rude it was her. When everybody had gone to their rooms I spoke to the receptionist and apologised for being late. She was more apologetic to me than I to her over her short manner.
I do this blog as a bit of fun for my customers but despair with some of the comments I receive. If somebody wants to have a pop at me fine, but please have the stomach to put your name to the comments instead of hiding behind anonymity both on this blog and in mail sent to the office where it is easy to be brave behind words without a name!
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