Tuesday 04
February 2014
A free day today but as it is so quiet we have offered a
trip to nearby St Gilgen on the other side of the lake and the chance of a
cable car ride high into the mountains. This afternoon we have a sleigh ride
organised from the hotel.
Breakfast is served between 8 and 10 and is an excellent
buffet. I can’t make my mind up on what to have!
The sun is out this morning and should be the ideal day
to venture up a mountain and I think most of the group are keen.
Normally it would be lovely to spend all day in St
Wolfgang but at this time a year the town is very quiet with many shops, hotels
and cafes shut until the end of February. In a ski-ing resort this would be the
busiest time but as there is no ski-ing here the town more or less closes down.
It is still very pretty though, especially the ancient centre and lovely
promenade.
All but two of the group join us at ten o’clock to go to
St Gilgen and within half an hour we are at the cable car station and Brian is
sorting out tickets for everyone. I think it costs everyone €20.50 each for a
return ticket and the journey time is about 20 – 25 minutes.
While they are all off up the mountain I take the coach
to top up with fuel and tolls! In Austria you have to have a small boxed fixed
to your windscreen (called a Go-Box) and this box has a computer chip inside
with all of the vehicles details. As we only come to Austria four or five times
a year we pay very much like a pay as you go phone, just topping up credit when
it gets low. On the motorway and some busy main roads there are sensors above
the road that record your vehicle going past and the Go Box will beep once if
in credit, twice if less than €35 left, three times if out of credit and four
times you are shot!! We jumped from one to four beeps yesterday as we came off
the motorway so I will have to top it up this morning.
The lovely young lady on reception looked up the nearest
garage I could do this at and wrote an address down in Mondsee, not very far
away.
I arrive at the garage but they are in the middle of a
refurbishment and don’t do Go Box credits anymore! The nearest is on the
motorway going in the Vienna direction and is only ten minutes away. I fill up
with fuel and put €100 credit on the Go Box before returning to St Gilgen and
buying myself a ticket to ride! Cost me €23.00!
The journey up is beautiful with plenty of snow up the
mountainside and at the top. I travel in many different cable cars and these
have to be the oldest left in Europe! No automatic doors and stepping in and
out as it moves here! You have to wait for the man to unlock the door with a
key, let you in, lock up again and then wait for his mate to send the car on
its way! They even have a pad and paper to write down how many folk travel!
Lovely ride though!
I take a few pictures at the top, have a chat with Brian,
Dot and Nicola who are in the small restaurant waiting for their lunch, and
then go back down again!
At the bottom I wanted to stroll around the village and
it is delightful. Just a small town that meanders down to the lakeside where
there is a smashing promenade.
This would make a lovely lunch stop in the summer, mind
you all of the lakeside towns would!
The coach is parked at the cable car station where there
is also a small cafe and a lot of the passengers are sat around eating tubs of
chips while I order, and devour, a delicious two sausage hot dog! This is
pretty tricky with the amount of ketchup shooting out every time I take a bite
but I manage to miss my clothes!
We leave here at 13:30 and are back at the hotel by 14:00 allowing an hour to kill before our
sleigh ride at 15:00. I think the sleigh ride will be on wheels today!
Our two carriages turn up just before three and soon all
but one of us are on our way. Our driver is Hans and the other carriage is
driven by Martin whose two horses are called Charles and Camilla while Hans’s
horses are called Mickie and I can’t remember!
Charles and Camilla are dark horses (??!!) while our two
are lovely horses are light brown beasts.
It is all a bit squashed sat in the carriage but as
always a giggle especially when we stopped halfway around for a glass (or two)
of schnapps! A few more giggles ensued!!
It was a funny hour spent with the horses and we didn’t
touch any snow but never mind all enjoyed themselves.
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