After 3 days in the French Alps we left France in search of more mountain excursions and small town atmosphere. We ended up in Seefeld a small city resort town just outside Innsbruck , Austria. The area around the town has twice hosted the winter Olympics in both 1965 and 1976 and the resulting effects were ski lifts stretching up in every direction and a plethora of hotels and restaurants designed in rustic Austrian fashion.
Despite the grey weather we decided to spend our one full day on a nice long hike up to one of the many surrounding ridge tops.
The view of Seefeld valley from about half way up our hike.
Sheep grazing near the top of the ridge.
The chilly wind at the top of the ridge made the Nördlinger Hütte (6,500ft) a welcome site. Inside turned out to be a full functioning restaurant and even though we’d packed our lunches, the very nice lady offered to let us eat inside as we were “wearing short trousers”. We ordered a few beers and hot chocolate with lunch and enjoyed the warmth.
However since the Hut had no windows, we were a little surprised by the weather when we stepped outside again after lunch. Blizzard in July.
The weather had moved in real fast and it was now snowing fairly hard and sticking to the rocky ground. Not wanting to be stranded at the hut all night, we decided to put on all our clothes and head down, knowing that in an hour or two we’d drop below the snow line as we descended back into town.
The snow line of our little storm. The hut and most of the ridge top are obscured by the clouds.
Our hotel, the Klausnerhof. Though it’s a little hard to read in this picture, the sign on the front advertises a sauna and whirlpool among other spa amenities (a few stars nicer than our normal digs). So after our snow and rain drenched decent we thought we could use a little warming up. Reception informed us that the whirlpool required a token to operate, but we decided a nice soak would be worth €5. When we entered the top floor spa we found a sauna, steam room, a somewhat dilapidated, small “whirlpool” bathtub and a scantly toweled, but obviously nude, plump old German couple lounging in some nearby chairs. We crammed into the whirlpool-tub, put the token in, and were rewarded by slightly grey, luke-warm water and jets. After about 15 minutes, the jets switched off and the token machine light switched from red to green signifying it was ready for another token. Somewhat relieved that it was over we headed to the sauna for some actual heat. Maybe 3 minutes later we hear a scream from around the corner, then the sauna door was jerked open by the now very nude German man who was frantically motioning for us to come with him. We returned to the whirlpool to find that it had reactivated and the jets were now spraying water 10 feet across the room due to drop in water level caused by the lack of our bodies. Naturally the spraying water had shot directly at the German couple, completely soaking them as they lay reading magazines in their lounge chairs, thus the screaming. So there we were with the whirl-a-tub from hell and the nude plump German couple who were angrily gesturing for us to do something about the spraying water, because it was obviously our fault. Quick thinking Sue reached over and hit the only button on the token machine, forcing the machine off. After lots of angry German, which we responded to with lots of helpless shrugging the couple finally deemed it time to dress and march off. Then we enjoyed the sauna and stream room. Needless to say it was a little awkward (and hilarious) to see the couple in the lobby the next morning for breakfast.
Next off to experience some Austrian hospitality with Sue’s study abroad friends she met years ago in Australia.
I love this!
ReplyDelete