A German & Austrian Trip in 2001 - 4
From Zell am Ziller to Kitzbuhel

Friday 14th September 2001

Only £55 for the night at the Englhof. The valley had quite a bit of cloud drifting in & out but there was a piece of blue sky. Illusion. We drove up to Mayrhofen for a look-see & found it very attractive. Maybe for our old age skiing. Going back, we turned up the Gerlos Pass & the weather threatened to improve, it actually being sunny in Gerlos Village.

Mayrhofen town centre	Gerlos village	Krimml Falls - the best in Europe

This was a snare. After we got over the pass, the rains came. We did see the Krimml Falls (immediately nicknamed the Kriminal Falls) but through a veil of rain. These are supposed to be the best in Europe & look pretty good. We stopped for coffee in Krimml Village while it poured. We carried on down to Mittersill & called at the Tourist Office, where Claudia directed us to Webern's Grave. We went there & found the posh cross missing. On quizzing Claudia, she was surprised & rang the priest, who said a new name was being carved on it. Must be a daughter. She was very helpful but asked us questions about London in preparation for her trip! There was a composers congress on in Town. (For the uninitiated, Ken is a composer & a pupil of Emile Spira, who was taught by Webern, the most significant composer of the 20th Century). We carried on down the valley, Avis wondering why I ignored the Kitzbuhel sign (over the Pass Thurn). Zell am See was a disappointment, being a dump for the same reason as Starnberg: the railway gets between the town & lake.

Mittersill	Ken at Webern's Grave	Saalbach in the 'Summer'

Then, up the Glemmtal & stopped in Saalbach for tea & apfelstrüdel. I did not realise that it was not until I found the Hotel Saalbacherhof that Avis did not realise that we would be staying in Saalbach for skiing. The hotel is near the Schattbergbahn. She was pleased as, rain or no rain, it is a pretty place. She had been grumbling about being 'conned' into going into the Alps again. I retreated down the Glemmtal & went round by Leogang to Kitzbuhel, having trouble locating a garage on the way but filling up in Fieberbrunn. Kitzbuhel was packed with traffic in the rain but I crept round to the Hahnenkamm & we booked in to the Schweizerhof for the night. Not two, as originally planned, as the walking round would be off. There were a number of Brits brought by Inghams & they had had 10 wet days out of 13 so far. Why do people go to Kitzbuhel for two weeks in the 'summer'? We took half pension & had a great seafood buffet to start with, followed by turkey made interesting. Afternoon tea had been in Prazmairs, which is still dull. The little black chambermaid is still in the Schweizerhof. We went for a mooch round town after dinner, then talked to the Brits.