What I Saw as We Glided by
I sat by the train’s big picture windows and watched Austria pass by. In one field, a little pony kicked up its hind legs at a bigger horse when he tried to bite him. Next to the fields were huge bales of hay, all wrapped up in pale white or aqua blue plastic. Neat […]
Bike Trails Abound Because People Want Them
The rain let up today and I finally got out on the mountain bike, for my last day in Kitzbuhel. Kurt arrived at 8:30 with two bikes and we set out from the hotel to Schwarzsee, the small lake nearby. As we rode along the lakeside, ducks too flight, skidding with […]
Rent-a-Bling: It’s the Experience that Counts
The train ride from Kitzbuhel to Graz takes about four and a half hours, so I had plenty fo time to relax. I really looked forward to this time, to write some of my stories, stretch out, and enjoy a nice lunch. I first entered the train too far down, […]
Lagniappes Make the World a Little Better
One of the nicest words I’ve ever heard was shared with me by Kim Foley Mackinnon, with whom I traveled on my first part of this trip to Graz. I told her about how a woman at the cafe who comes in in the afternoons once told me that she felt […]
Watching a Chef Close Up in Kitzbuhel
Tonight I followed the advice of a local, and dined in supreme style at Lois*Stern, a 12-year-old restaurant just outside of the center of Kitzbuhel. It was recommended by Kurt Exenberger when I asked him for his favorite place in town. It’s a cozy little place, serving Asian inspired fish and […]
Lisi Makes ’em Laugh up on Hahnenkamm
Today my plan was to join Kurt Exenberger of the Bike Academy for a mountain bike ride. But rain poured down, so we put this off until tomorrow. That was ok, it gave me a chance to get to the Hahnenkamm, the steep mountain that gave Kitzbuhel its famous name in […]
Taking a Sip of Wurtzelgeist–Wow!
This man’s grimace comes from the strong drink he’s been passed, Baumann’s Wurtzelgeist, with Alpine herbs. It does down like fire, but the aftertaste is pleasantly herbal. We had just come down from our long hike on the mountain and this is how the hikers like to celebrate another good […]
Train Reading Across Austria
On the train to Kitzbuhel, I parked myself on the wide leather seats of the first class car, thanks for Rail Europe, who hooked me up with a Eurail pass days before I left. As I settled in and turned on the iPod, the conductor approached with a stack of […]
The Baron Who Shot the Chocolate Loving Deer
At breakfast at the Hotel Kitzhof, I read the Independent newspaper, and found a story by Tony Paterson about a Baron. It seems that Eberhard von Gemmingen-Hornberg, a German aristocrat, was hoodwinked into believing he had shot a trophy stag, which turned out to be a tame deer that loved […]
Hiking the Alps in Jochsberg
Faithful readers, I must take it all back. I know I was railing about Kitzbuhel being a tourist trap yesterday, but as I suspected, a day here doing something really fun has changed my tune. We met up with Englebert at the tourist office and we followed him to a […]
Is Kitzbuhel More than Tourists from Germany?
After a long and productive (wrote my story) train ride from Graz, finally reached Kitzbuhel about 3:30 pm. Taxiied to my hotel a guesthouse up in the hills, where the owners raise dairy cows and chickens. My first question of my innkeeper, of course was ‘do you have wireless?’ and […]
Time to Read Wired in the Graz Train Station
Sitting in an internet cafe at the Graz railway station. Now I know what is it like for our internet cafe customers who have to hurry and finish their email and their blogs. This is a little different because here the instructions are coming at me in German, as are […]
The Tram is Close, but Nothing to Fear
I had a sandwich at this cafe in Graz, while the tram glided by, close but nothing to fear. I am so impressed with the extensive network of these electric trams, with flat screens that show the next stop and all sorts of other information, and easy to use, automated […]
A Manmade Island on the Mur
Today is a wonderful day and I can’t remember when I felt so good. I woke up refreshed, sleeping a little late in this hotel bed, with the sun streaming in and the river Mur rushing by next to me. I went down to the Tribeka Cafe and Rosterei, a […]
Funny Names for Big Bottles of Vino
We visited many wineries and wine shops today in Austria, and I came across a huge bottle in one of them. Not sure what to call it, I found out this: Standard Wine Bottle Sizes: These are traditional standard bottle sizes for Champagne. Split1/4 bottle 18.7 cl Half1/2 bottle37.5 cl […]
Styrian Fields Are Glorius in September
We drove into the Styrian countryside today, it was a bright clear day, sunny and bright, the kind of day where you want to spend as much time as possible sitting in the sun, like the cows we passed enjoying their corner of a hilly pasture. Our first stop was […]
"It Is Not a Potato…It’s a Bubble"
“It’s not a potato…It’s a bubble,” said Klaus, as we stood outside the Kunsthaus Graz, a futuristic bubblish looking building that sits beside the Mur river. It’s an enormous museum filled with art you don’t understand…but that’s okay, you simply experience it. This building dates back to the 1800s and […]