French Trip, Day 01
Aug. 4th, 2007 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartWhich is not France yet. Obviously. But we had to get there somehow, and by bus, it takes a lot. Below are our adventures on the road.
We did a good time till the Hungarian/Austrian border, after having wasted half an hour in Mosonmagyaróvár, to find a loo that could bear 35 people in a row. Let me tell you, in Hungary, it's not an easy task. Anyway, after crossing the border we again had to wait half an hour,because the bus drivers had to get something ready for the highway. Don't ask me what. I can't drive and don't even pretend to understand these things. And no, I have no idea why couldn't we organize both things at the same time. That would have demanded some thinking from the side of our guide, and that wasn't someting the woman did easily, as we found out later.
In any case, barely were we on our way again, when we got stuck in a traffic jam, due to a turned-over caravan somewhere in front of us. So we waited again, for an hour or so. After that, we finally made a break at a Rosenberger, where everyone attacked the coffee counter. Let me tell you: caffeine-deprived Hungarians are a dangerous lot. After leaving the restaurant, we finally got some travelling done, for 2-3 hours. It was raining all the time, and I was getting a wee bit depressed.
But after Salzburg, which we didn't get to see, the rain stopped and the mountains appeared. One of them loomed at the horizon like the Lonely Mountain in "The Hobbit", sometimes nearer, sometimes further away, as the road was winding, wrapped in mist and mystery. At first there were wooded areas, sometimes with little villages scattered in all that greenness, but sometimes a wisp of mist swirled among the trees like a living thing. As we were nearing Tyrol, the mountains became sheer and naked, and deep lakes and river valleys lay at their rocky feet, while their middle was girdled with thick, white clouds. It was an unforgettable view. Ever since I saw the misty mountains near Salzburg, I have a very clear image what the Ephel Dúath must have been like. And just like Bilbo, I realized how much I needed to see mountains again, after having lived on the flatland for more than forty years.
Take a look:
I'm a very dilettant photographer, but even so...
At Salzburg, we took a shortcut through Bavaria, and returned to Kufstein, where we made the first longer break... the first longer voluntary one, that is.
The castle, where many brave Hungarian patriots were imprisoned in the 19th century, and which we only saw from the outside... :((
Nice fountains, with and without Mum:
The Town Hall of Kufstein:
The Holy Trinity Church (or, to be more accurate, its crypt)
Two nice houses, just for fun:
We left Kufstein in rain again, but all of a sudden, a huge rainbow appeared on the other side, before the white background of the naked rocks. Not only could we see every single colour clearly and sharply, but the whole thing was mirrored in the upper air, so that we actually saw two rainbows, of which the scond one was a pale mirror image of the first one.
We slept in a ski lodge, somewhere beyond the Rim of the World - very high up in the mountains. I'm afraid of heights, so the way up was a true horror for me, and I was scared to death in advance of the return. The hotel room was very small, and it was furnished like the cabin of a ship - meaning that it was unpractical to the extreme. For example, there was no cupboard for the clothes, so that we hung them onto the thick sails that "decorated" the walls. Ah, well, at least the dinner was edible, and I got the chance to have a wheat beer again.
Next time: Switzerland. Stay tuned.
We did a good time till the Hungarian/Austrian border, after having wasted half an hour in Mosonmagyaróvár, to find a loo that could bear 35 people in a row. Let me tell you, in Hungary, it's not an easy task. Anyway, after crossing the border we again had to wait half an hour,because the bus drivers had to get something ready for the highway. Don't ask me what. I can't drive and don't even pretend to understand these things. And no, I have no idea why couldn't we organize both things at the same time. That would have demanded some thinking from the side of our guide, and that wasn't someting the woman did easily, as we found out later.
In any case, barely were we on our way again, when we got stuck in a traffic jam, due to a turned-over caravan somewhere in front of us. So we waited again, for an hour or so. After that, we finally made a break at a Rosenberger, where everyone attacked the coffee counter. Let me tell you: caffeine-deprived Hungarians are a dangerous lot. After leaving the restaurant, we finally got some travelling done, for 2-3 hours. It was raining all the time, and I was getting a wee bit depressed.
But after Salzburg, which we didn't get to see, the rain stopped and the mountains appeared. One of them loomed at the horizon like the Lonely Mountain in "The Hobbit", sometimes nearer, sometimes further away, as the road was winding, wrapped in mist and mystery. At first there were wooded areas, sometimes with little villages scattered in all that greenness, but sometimes a wisp of mist swirled among the trees like a living thing. As we were nearing Tyrol, the mountains became sheer and naked, and deep lakes and river valleys lay at their rocky feet, while their middle was girdled with thick, white clouds. It was an unforgettable view. Ever since I saw the misty mountains near Salzburg, I have a very clear image what the Ephel Dúath must have been like. And just like Bilbo, I realized how much I needed to see mountains again, after having lived on the flatland for more than forty years.
Take a look:
I'm a very dilettant photographer, but even so...
At Salzburg, we took a shortcut through Bavaria, and returned to Kufstein, where we made the first longer break... the first longer voluntary one, that is.
The castle, where many brave Hungarian patriots were imprisoned in the 19th century, and which we only saw from the outside... :((
Nice fountains, with and without Mum:
The Town Hall of Kufstein:
The Holy Trinity Church (or, to be more accurate, its crypt)
Two nice houses, just for fun:
We left Kufstein in rain again, but all of a sudden, a huge rainbow appeared on the other side, before the white background of the naked rocks. Not only could we see every single colour clearly and sharply, but the whole thing was mirrored in the upper air, so that we actually saw two rainbows, of which the scond one was a pale mirror image of the first one.
We slept in a ski lodge, somewhere beyond the Rim of the World - very high up in the mountains. I'm afraid of heights, so the way up was a true horror for me, and I was scared to death in advance of the return. The hotel room was very small, and it was furnished like the cabin of a ship - meaning that it was unpractical to the extreme. For example, there was no cupboard for the clothes, so that we hung them onto the thick sails that "decorated" the walls. Ah, well, at least the dinner was edible, and I got the chance to have a wheat beer again.
Next time: Switzerland. Stay tuned.
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Date: 2007-08-05 02:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-05 03:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-05 03:47 pm (UTC)