SATURDAY 30th JUNE 2012

INNSBRUCK

Plenty of sore heads about this morning with one Victorian gentleman in particular in dire straits! Rohan is not much of a drinker and a white wine hangover is not nice! He was struggling big time as we boarded the bus - a couple of sick bags placed very close at hand!!!!!!
The views along the autobahn were again out of this world, mountains, sheer cliffs, fast flowing grey/ green rivers and open farming land as far as the eye could see! We saw it all! I reckon quite a few missed it all as there were plenty punching out some zzzzz after a few minutes!!! We stopped for a coffee at a fantastic spot with a huge lake and the Alps on one side and miles of flat country on the other! Way to go!!!!
We reached Bayern at noon and followed a little river a way to the base of the Tyrol Mountains, to where Hitler and his henchmen had holiday chateaus! The bunkers that he occupied are still there but are covered in concrete and not seen! Once there we left our coach and caught a smaller bus up one of the most amazing drives I have ever done! We climbed over two thousand metres - two kilometres - to the top of the mountain and to where Hitler had his private lodge, given to him for his fiftieth birthday by his closest friends.
We then walked the tunnel which was drilled about a hundred and fifty metres into the cliff face for Hitler to take his car to an elevator, rising then the lodge!
It was pretty creepy to think we rode in the elevator that he actually used, also walking through the rooms that he and Braun used!
The views from the top defied description and we spent an hour or just walking the top of the place looking out over lakes, farms and other mountains as well as the city of Salzburg.
It was all over way to soon and then we were back down the mountain and onto the autobahn on our way to Innsbruck!
It is pointless for me to keep blabbing on about the views! Too hard to put into words but I'll just it was everything I expected plus about fifty percent!
We reached Innsbruck about four o'clock and and had a couple of hours to visit a Swarovski crystal shop and wander about the deserted city centre (no Sunday trading here), but it was very hot - unusually so - and we were glad to get back on the bus.
From Innsbruck we drove about an hour to a little mountain farming village called Igls, a pretty little place that looked like it was existing in a time warp! Our hotel was definitely in a time warp!!! The reception etc was not bad and there was an indoor and outdoor pool, but our room was the pits! Any sort of cooling is never needed in this area, but with the temperature at thirty four degrees and our room a tiny box facing the sun it was a shocker! A large window promised some relief but our room overlooked the main road through the town and the traffic noise was horrendous!
For the first time on the trip I complained but was told the place was full and there were no other rooms! Crap! We showered and found the bar for a drink but the heat had affected everywhere and the whole place was like an oven - dinner was eaten with sweat pouring off us and we couldn't wait to finish and get outside into the fresh air.
The usual crew of us took a long walk around the quaint little place, sitting in a park and listening to a band playing (very good too), before sitting out on wall beside the hotel to have a nightcap.
Suffice to say the night was a disaster! I put in my ear plugs and got some broken sleep in the heat, while Sue got very little sleep due to the traffic. Hotel rating - half a star!