Austria - TSC Winter Expedition:
Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic

by Tom Keever

If it's Wednesday, we must be in Neustift---or is it Prague? Sometimes, particularly for those of us who went on the pre-trip, the basic trip, and the post-trip, we did need to consult calendars and schedules frequently to make sure where we were and what day it was. (In fact, I would not stake my life on having all of the chronology precisely correct in this article).

After the usual thrilling trans-Atlantic flight beginning on Tuesday, the main pre-trip group arrived in a cold Munich on Wednesday which was followed by a 3 1/2 hour, plus lunchtime, bus trip to Vienna where we stayed at the Hotel Mercure. Somewhere along the way, we "adopted" a young lady pharmacist, Cinnamon Mitchell, who was the sole representative of her San Antonio club on this expedition. Our guide, a delightful young woman from Innsbruck, pointed out various points of interest along the way. Upon our arrival in Vienna, (also cold) some of the group chose to crash while others wandered about the city.

On Thursday our guide took us on a tour of the city, some walking and some riding, which included a tour of Schonbrunn Palace and an extended history of the Hapsburg royal family. That night we had dinner at an authentic Viennese restaurant with typical Viennese food. Music was provided by an accordion and violin and our own bashful Cinde Cotton started the dancing. Cinde even prevailed upon our tour guide and bus driver to join in the dancing. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

On Friday morning, we departed Vienna for Salzburg but had at least two stops along the way. One of the stops was in Melk where we had a tour of the beautiful Melk Abbey with its paintings and tremendous library. (All in German, of course). The other stop and the one that I personally will always remember was in the small, quaint, picturesque village of Rattenberg. This small village is situated beside a river and allows no vehicular traffic. We left our bus in the parking lot and made the short walk into the village. Since there was plenty of snow on the ground, snowball fights were, I suppose, inevitable-particularly between Tony Whittemore and the dynamic duo, Lynn Erickson and her sister, Karen Recter, a member of the club and southern belle from Decatur, Alabama (And an absolutely charming lady). With an element of surprise, Tony had the upper hand in the snowball fight before lunch but the sisters planned to ambush him after lunch. Tony tried to bribe his way out of being clobbered with snowballs with chocolate but was not totally successful-he got clobbered and the sisters still got the chocolate! Other participants shall go nameless.

Upon our arrival in Salzburg where we stayed at another Hotel Mercure, we took a walking tour of the city seeing the home of Mozart and other points of interest. The cold weather and wind encouraged us to seek shelter, coffee, cake, and hot chocolate whenever we could. This is also apparently an Austrian ritual or tradition.

We departed Salzburg on Friday morning and took some of the back roads, with some light to heavy snow part of the way, through small villages and local ski areas on our way to Neustift. We came with a few miles of Berchtesgarden, Hitler's Bavarian retreat, although we did not actually go there both for reasons of time and because there is very little there now to see according to our guide. Before proceeding to Neustift, we had an intermediate stop in Innsbruck for touring and shopping. Innsbruck is another lovely relatively small city with one of the principal points of interest being the House of the Golden Roof which you will need to see in the color photos on the website to do it justice.

We finally arrived in Neustift and joined other club members at the Hotel Sonnhof, a lovely and cozy chateau-type lodge that is family owned and operated. Our accommodations were quite good and some of our members appeared to be fascinated with the spa---perhaps because of the rule of optional clothing. Although the bar was small, it was adequate and the dining room was very nice and provided us with breakfast and delicious dinners. Our "adopted" member, Cinnamon departed our company since she had reservations at another hotel although we saw her frequently for the balance of our stay in Neustift and she rejoined those of us on the post-trip to Prague.

Most members opted to ski the first full day in Neustift on the Stubai Glacier, a short bus ride from our hotel. Although Europe has had an unusually warm winter, the skiing on the Glacier was surprising good. We had excellent Austrian ski guides who separated us into two groups based upon ability. That night DSC members joined other TSC groups at another hotel and then participated in a parade, including an Austrian band and banners unfurled, to a local pub for a welcoming ceremony from local Austrian officials and TSC officials.

For the balance of our time in Neustift, there were various options available to our members. They could ski on the Stubai Glacier or, depending upon the particular day, could go to St. Anton, Kitzbeuhl, or St. Moritz. The snow conditions were somewhat less than desirable in some instances. Most members opted to spend most of their time touring rather than skiing although we did have a few die-hards skiers.

The first non-ski excursion on Monday was to Salzburg, including stops at the village of Rattenberg which most of the pre-trip group had already visited and the famous glass factory at Kisslinger. That night there was an optional event labeled in our schedules as "Toboggan Fun Night" but which we came to refer to without a great deal of affection as "Kamikaze Night". Those who were adventurous enough (or dumb enough- take your pick) were taken to the top of the mountain for the longest natural toboggan run in Austria. The toboggans were wood sleds with minimal steering and no brakes, except your feet, and away you went. Laurie Harness and Cinnamon both sustained broken wrists and there were several other collisions and near-misses resulting in various bumps, bruises, and scares. This was not one of the DSC's better nights.

The most serious injury on the trip was a broken leg suffered by Richard Aldridge while skiing. Richard, an emergency room physician, had surgery in Innsbruck the following day and was back at the Sonnhof either that night or the following day. Plus, he continued on his planned extension trip to Paris when we all left Neustift. What a trooper!

Tuesday was a beautiful day and the majority of our members went on the excursion to Venice. According to reports and photographs, Venice was lovely and a good time was had by all sightseeing and shopping. There were, of course, gondola rides along with music and singing. There was also a birthday celebration for Kim Hampton.

Another excursion during the week was to Bolzano in the South Tyrol area of Italy and to the medieval border town of Vipiteno. While in Bolzano, many of our group met "Otzi", the mummified Ice Age 5,300 year old man that was found in a nearby glacier. The scenery was spectacular and the shopping and wine were not bad either.

Although it was a three hour bus drive, an excursion to King Ludwig's "Disneyland" castle, Neuchwanstein, was well attended. Neuchwanstein is, indeed, like stepping in to a fairy tale setting. Although there is a good uphill walk to get to the castle, it is well worth the effort. If you have not been there and have the opportunity, Neuchwanstein should not be missed. On the way, you also see the castle of Hohenschwangau although it is not as well known as Neuchwanstein. Another stop on this excursion was a visit to Oberammagau, famous for its Passion play every ten years and for its wood carvings that could be seen in most of the shops.

The excursion to St. Moritz attracted a number of members, more for the shopping, glitz, and glitter than for the skiing but everyone seemed to enjoy the outing.

The remaining excursion was back into Munich. I had missed the excursion into Munich when the club was in Garmisch a couple of years ago so I was very pleased that I had this opportunity to make up for that oversight. Again, this excursion attracted a large number of our members. We observed the famous performing "Glockenspiel" at the Town Hall, shopped, and did our tourist thing. Roger Allspaugh and I, as well as many others, thoroughly enjoyed a lunch of local sausage, potatoes, and kraut for lunch at the Hofbrau House while also sampling (only wee sips of course) the beer. The omm pah pah band was really quite good, particularly the younger trumpet player who performed a solo while we where there. Unfortunately, we had to leave to get back to the square for departure time or no telling how long we would have stayed.

A farewell party at a local pub on Friday night concluded our stay in Neustift. Except for and really in spite of the injuries some of our members sustained, I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this lovely mountain village with its friendly people. Everyone departed Saturday morning, either returning home or to catch a plane to Prague or to Paris.

Prague was my favorite portion of our extended trip, an opinion that I think was shared by the majority of our group. We arrived in Prague in the afternoon and checked into the Hotel Adria which is located on one of the main streets within three or four blocks walking distance of Old Town. After our arrival, we were free to sightsee, rest, or do whatever we chose. That night some of the members had dinner at the Triton restaurant in the hotel while others had dinner at other locations including a group of us that went to the Pelican Café which was 2-3 blocks from the hotel. The food was very good.

The next morning we embarked on a walking tour of Old Town with an outstanding guide who had lived in the United States for a number of years before returning to Prague. Our tour included Prague Castle located high on a hill from which you have a magnificent view of a large portion of the city with its multitude of church spires and old buildings, and continued with a view of various government buildings, a tour of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square and a view of the Kinsky Palace and other important buildings. We walked through several areas of the city, crossed the Vltava River on the Charles Bride with its statuary, and one or two hardy souls walked up the ancient tower at the end of the bridge. One of the sites we walked by but did not visit was the Museum of Medieval Torture. Many of you, I am sure, would be interested in the museum if you are every in Prague.

The afternoon was open for individual sight-seeing and shopping. Late in the afternoon, many of us also went on a boat ride on the river which was interesting but short and darn cold so we tried to stay warm with coffee and other beverages. When that was not totally effective, we had a Happy Hour in the Inn of the Two Sisters. That evening a number of us had dinner in the Triton restaurant previously mentioned which is located downstairs in the hotel and has a stalactite cave décor. While the maitre d was somewhat lacking in humor, we did have a good meal.

Our final full day in Prague was totally free for each of us to sightsee as we chose. The day was highlighted by our dinner at a restaurant on the banks of the river which was rated as one of the best two or three restaurants in the country. We had a semi-private dining room, the food was excellent and the service was impeccable. And by the way, Joyce and Pat announced that they had become engaged so that event was also celebrated.

We left the hotel early the next morning for a short flight from Prague to Frankfurt and then flew home from Frankfurt.

This was absolutely a great trip which left many of us anxious to return some day for a more in-depth visit. I have been able only to give you a brief summary of our trip which all participants could talk about for a long, long time. Our sincere thanks to Kim and Steve Abrey for their leadership on this outstanding trip.