Mondsee (Austria) and The Rhine Valley 1994
5th August 1994 - Amsterdam to Dinklesbuhl
Dinklesbuhl, complete with outer walls and moat. As you walk or drive through the gate time turns back many centuries. The historical town is largely intact and provides a great sense of the times. Dinklesbuhl is very pretty and I think every building is Listed. The town can not be changed in any way. It feels very, very touristy to the point of being false. Nice to visit but only for a night.
6th August 1994 - Mondsee, Austria
My birthday but not as we know it. Some traffic trouble and got to Mondsee in the afternoon and rented an apartment. Beautiful over looking the lake which is surrounded by mountains. Even had our own private beach.
7th August 1994 - Mondsee, Austria
The weather for the trip is beautiful but maybe a bit too hot to be as activate as I'd like. Went into Mondsee itself. It was a sort of festival day. Street stalls selling beer and the most calorific food imaginable. Whole place had a good feel young and old having fun. In the afternoon drove around the lake and into St Gilgen. An OK place but a bit touristy or maybe it was just a coach load of Americans that made it feel that way. Nice evening, watched the water-ski show and fireworks over the lake.
8th August 1994 - Saltzburg
Salzburg is a nice city, fancy buildings and churchs. In fact the whole area seems so clean and old. No new buildings at all, it's so good that the feel of the area is protected.
9th August 1994 - Kaprun
Drove down to Kaprun so that we could go up a mountain. We had the choice of the cable car and the funicular railway. Managed to convince Mum to take the railway, she's scared of heights and wouldn't take the cable car, I thought it safer than being stuck in a 3300m underground tunnel! Finally emerging at about 2500m. Great view, fresh air and an escape from the heat in the valleys. It's amazing how altitude effects you and how out of breath you can get, so we did a little walking and a lot of sitting. A few years later my apprehension at using the train was proved right, the following was taken from Wikipedia. "The Kaprun disaster was the result of a fire that occurred in an ascending railway car in the tunnel of funicular train "Gletscherbahn 2" in Kaprun, Austria, on November 11, 2000. The disaster claimed the lives of 155 people, leaving only 12 survivors from the burning car. The victims were skiers on their way to the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier."
10th August 1994 - Koblenz, Germany
Stopped off in Koblenz for the night. It's where the Rhine meets the Loure. Wine making country.