Heiligenblut, Austria to Salzburg, Austria to Munich, Germany
Woke up to the chill of the alpine air (having left the window wide to provide air flow in our a/c-less room.
As hort segue to discuss the type of windows we see often in the places we’ve been in Europe. We first encountered them in the airbnb in Croatia, but I actually took pictures of them here. Basically, they are two-way hinges that can be converted by turning the handle one rotation to pivot from the top, creating a transom type opening, or, by turning the handle a bit more, the window will then use the side hinges, allowing it to be opened wide via side hinges. They are pretty smart. However, they also lack exterior handles. This means, like in Croatia, when you are out on the balcony, there is no way to securely close the door. Many a bug came in because we couldn’t close the doors when outside.
Went downstairs and had breakfast. They played Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” (an unusual soundtrack as we sat next to the town’s church), BonyM’s “Rasputin”, and most troubling (considering the trek we were about to start out on) AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”.
The Alpine road was amazing. Drove to the highest points only to discover a bunch of badly parked Porsches blocking everyone’s way and not allowing me to park. Sylvia got out and got some pics while I tried to circle before the gridlock stopped the fun.
As we exited the Alpine road, we had a low tire warning. Had to stop in a small town and search for a tire inflator. Found it eventually, a small unit that had a guage attached and did the trick. I’ve never had to do so much maintenance on a rental car before (needed Diesel additive, then oil, now air).
Stopped in Saltzberg for lunch. Ate at Sto Bene. I ordered a Ungherese” pizza with Hungarian salami, speck, peppers, and all things delicious. Sylvia ordered a “Spaghetti Nero di Seppia”, octopus ink dyed spaghetti with calamari, prawns, and mussels. Also had a couple non-alcoholic spritzes and I had a cappuccino for the two hour drive to Munich.
Got gas before turning in the car at the airport.
Overshot the hotel and had to do a loop.
Sylvia checked in as I found parking and unloaded the car. We brought the luggage up to our room and then returned our car at the SixT return. In total, leg one put 1,808 miles in.
Returned to the hotel and stopped for a drink in the lobby bar (me: old fashioned with Buffalo Trace) and talked with the bartender about Europark. He also gave us restaurant recommendations for the night.
Back to the room, where Sylvia wrapped our gifts for Vix to give her in the morning. So excited to be reunited!
Tried to find one of the restaurants the bartender had given us, but Google Maps was leading us into the terminal area of the airport behind security, so we returned the to big hub area and tried another recommendation, a German place that was closing soon. We promised that we’d order quickly. With only one shot to decompress with a beer, I ordered a really big one.
Returned to the room to chill.
Vix’s Day
Last night campfire
