Traves Tangents

  The climax of our tour! A visit to… …a festival to celebrate the cows coming down from Alpine pasture for the Winter. This is Austria… …so as well as lots of beer and schnapps, there was sausage galore… …and cake… …and whip dancers… …and traditional bands… …sustained by Schapps…  …and the magnificent Alpine horns. Not to mention folks in costume with cute dogs… …and people in costume with cute dogs in costume. And the cows… …the stars of the show.

  Today we had a quiet time… …hanging out in the village…. …where we are staying. This involved cake… …and a wander round… The rather… …lovely… ….Roman Catholic… ….church. Sadly…it all got rather damp… …so I am enjoying my new dry socks.

Yesterday we left… …the gentle Zillertall Valley…. …behind us, and went through… …the many scary… …hairpin bends of… …the Gerlos Pass. We saw a beautiful waterfall… …ate Strudel… …and enjoyed the souvenirs. There was also a train ride with an accordion player playing the ‘Birdie Song’, but I shall draw a veil of Christian charity over that.

  Today we went to visit Innsbruck… …one of the seats of the… …Hapsburg Empire. A glorious medieval city… …that is encircled by mountains. Lots of lovely things to see including this shop sign… ..,these knights jousting… …and this lovely drinking fountain. Then a trip by the funicular… ….followed by the cable car… ..,to be up with the birds… ..,with a beautiful view of the city, How lucky are we?

  In a fit of madness… …I agreed to accompany my Aged Mother on a coach trip to Austria. After two days on the coach… …we have finally arrived <phew>.