It's all downhill from here

Final day spent climbing up and over another mountain, scenery was spectacular and gave us a good last day view of the forest and valley. Stopped for a Grosi to in a hillside restaurant so that completed the food double I wanted.

Yesterday we went to Innsbrook for a few hours. The highlight in The old town was undoubtedly the magnificent cathedral. We had a wander around the Swarovski crystal shop and exhibition. I had not realised they were Innsbrook based, you can take a bus to the factory and do a tour but we were happy seeing the few special bits on display in the shop.

We were pleased we did not press on with the langlauf lessons when, on Wednesday we saw a lady tumble in front of our bar terrace and break her hip. She was on the dead flat nursery slope, if a a slope can be flat! It was impressive to see the air ambulance fly in but clearly we would rather it had not happened.

So its home tomorrow, the holiday has been good if not necessarily in the way we wanted it to be, but that seems a trend with us and walking. The resort is very quiet with little or no apres ski bars so I think SWMBO was disappointed with that but overall had a good time.

She became very philosophical when she said, try to do all the things on your bucket list before you get too old to do them! Skiing certainly falls into that category, enjoying an Alpine resort does not.

Seefeld and eat it

Second day of our Winter experiences holiday saw us ditch the Langlauf as too risky injury wise, and explore a bit of alpine hill climbing.

So armed with supplies, kit and map we started at base level 3600ft and followed a route expected to take three and a half hours. With no expectation of elevation variations we were lured into a false scene of security as we started off along the lake and down about 600ft into a pine clad valley.

What goes down must come up of course and after about 45 minutes the gradient started to kick in, and two hours later  we reached our summit of 4300ft. Quite a view, snowy track down and a beer or three waiting at the end. We finished fifteen minutes ahead of schedule too!

The resort its suffering with lack of snowfall so a day at leisure is planned for tomorrow, Insbrook on Thursday and who knows what Friday will have in store?

You're having a langlauf

SWMBO and I are here in Seefeld as we tick off anothe4r of her bucket list items. It's not so much that she wanted to ski, more the fact that she always wanted to visit an alpine resort.

We chose Seefeld as it is well regarded as a cross country skiing destination so she could have a go at that with minimum risk, right?

Wrong! We used yesterday as a reconnaissance day. We found our ski school, picked up our ski hire equipment and found an apres ski bar. All good sensible stuff. The hotel had a six course gala dinner, we had a few drinks then headed to bed eager for the fun ahead.

There has been little snow in Seefeld for about three weeks but the piste bashers and snow cannons have done their job keeping the runs in good order, so with a glorious blue sky and much anticipation we set out on our new adventure. Chris, the ski guide showed us how to use the cross country equipment stage by stage, then he showed us how to fall properly if need be. This came a bit late in the lesson for me as I had already been down twice but no damage recorded.

SWMBO then decided to fall innocously but got her ski's twisted, a well meaning Austrian tried to untangle her and 'pop' she strained an intercorstal muscle on her sternum. Mega pain and concern followed but she was determined to see the lesson through, not anticipating I would have other ideas. The worst fall you can have cross country skiing is when you lean backwards, you are a gonna. Coccyx damage, a bang to the head or a broken wrist are there just waiting to happen.

So what did I do? Yep, fell backwards at pace, luckily avoiding all the above by landing square on my back, but wiped SWMBO out as I had encouraged her to go ahead so I could keep an eye on her. Oh dear, end of lesson and another holiday trauma to add to her collection!

We did manage the venicular railway up to a mountain top restaurant to take in views and have a bowl of goulash, but whether either of us will be able to walk tomorrow remains to be seen!

Biffa bear

There is an overwhelming case for sympathising with Juhel Miah, a Welsh maths teacher, who was refused boarding on an America bound flight from Iceland this week. It was particularly difficult as he was accompanying a group of school children who were allowed to fly and were clearly distressed that their teacher was left behind.

The story was featured on national television and showed him working out the value of x in a algebraic equation on a whiteboard at his school. He rightly included the verification process to ensure you got the right result.

It is such a pity when he wrote 'substitute' on the board, that he spelt it wrong! Clearly whiteboards do not benefit from spell checker!!

The whole joy of language seems to be degrading by the day. Lazy usage, abbreviations and American influences are all so sad to see and hear , but when our teachers can't spell, and address classes as 'guys' there really does not seem to be much hope going forward.

I am just off to prestidigitate and hope it all vanishes!  

You are number 2....

The final day started with a hearty breakfast, which was of equally good quality as all the food we had enjoyed in the hotel. Unfortunately it let itself down with the accomodation. If I were a Trip advisor junkie I would have to say the Tanronnen Inn had cold bedrooms, the bath was too narrow for normal sized people and the shower was next to useless. The bed was a small double and Wi-Fi was intermittent. So public areas and service 5 star, accommodation 3 star at best.

Anyway, onto day three. The plan was to drive to Barmouth and do the Cader Idris walk which took in the Victorian gardens and Garb, often referred to as the Barmouth Slabs. The weather was a bit misty and the bodies a bit weary, so that was parked for another day. We decided instead to stroll along the beach, have an ice cream and play tourist.

I had always been keen to visit Barmouth having heard stories of its role as an industrial tourist venue. During the traditional Summer factory shutdowns, thousands of workers from Yorkshire and Lancashire took the train to Barmouth. It is also the closest seaside resort to the West Midlands from where workers would load their charabanc's and make off for their annual break. The North Wales coastal resorts of Prestatyn, Llandudno, Rhyl and Portmadog benefited in the same way.

Barmouth, however, has stood the test of time. It's high street is still tidy, its hotels and guest houses are well presented and there are bars cafe's and bistro's which could grace Brighton or Bournemouth. There were a fair few Midland accents around too, so the links of old are still preserved by all accounts.

We drove back via Lake Bala, utilised by Thomas Telford in his construction,almost, of the Ellesmere Canal which he had planned to link the river Mersey with the Severn at Shrewsbury. It did not quite work but he did leave the Llangollen viaduct as a local legacy.

SWMBO did not fancy a walk over that so it was 'home James' with a wave to Moel Famau as we drove through Loggerheads,  where this mad plan started. Next week is another adventure altogether.

Dog tired

There is a saying in rugby circles that you never beat Wales, you just occasionally score more points than them. I don't even think the population of Snowdonia were even aware there was a game going on. I think they are just born miserable and their mood is never altered by events of the world. Hey ho!

So onto day two of camp Beddgelert, and another change of plan. We were due to do the Fisherman's Path, but the hotel proprietor indicated there had been a few people fall in the river lately and the mountain rescue team needed to get involved. The walk was fairly flat anyway, so we reverted to plan B.

This involves a gentle walk along the river to Bethania and a climb from there. We started off on the Watkin Path which would have taken us all the way up to Snowdon, but a more relaxed route allowed us to divert over Bylchau Terfyn and return to base that way.
It was a 1000ft climb on unmade paths so it certainly taxed our knees and thigh muscles.

It took a little over 4 hours and concluded with a visit to Gelert's grave, after which the village is named. Legend had it that Prince Llewellyn returned home one day to find his wife in distress and their baby missing. He then spotted his dog, Gelert  with bloodied jowls, assumed the worst and slayed him.

A while later he heard a baby 's cry and found his child alive next to a dead wolf. Gelert was the hero after all, Llewellyn was distraught and buried the dog by a tree in a field. Now I expected a huge mausoleum, but no, it's a lump of rock. Very disappointing.

There is another legend in these parts about the Red Dragon and its symbolism zzzz.

I must remember it's Valentine's night tonight, leeks instead of roses in these parts. Can't see them cheering up the locals mind.

One down,two to go

Here we are in the foothills of Snowdonia, at the start of Beddgelert boot camp. More hill walking and food and drink as the preparation for upcoming activity holidays continue

Today a 5 mile stroll to Rhyd Ddu and then the Sherpa bus back. It was not quite to plan as we had hoped to take the bus first and then walk back, but in hindsight it worked well as the altitude increase helped the old cardio vascular.




The first part of the walk meandered in and out of the Welsh mountain railway,






We then entered Beddgelert forest and later circumnavigated Llyn-y-Gadair. The sherpa bus is not quite like the reggae bus in Barbados, and it was 15 minutes late. Given there are only three a day lets hope they don't cancel any of them!!



All in all a good start to the camp. Nobody has mentioned the rugby yet but there is still time. Bar meal tonight then prep for tomorrow which is a planned alldayer!!