2006 retirement tripAustria April 8 to April 11

Eugendorf

Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We awoke on Tuesday morning to find that it had begun to snow during the night and it was still snowing. This is mega-exciting for Jenni and me.
1
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Snow on the connifers (Norway Spruce perhaps) look like pictures from a Xmas card. Look closely and you can see the falling snow.
2
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The swimming pool was full of snow . . .
3
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . . Claus' car was buried in snow . . .
4
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . .  and up the street was blanketed in snow.
5
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   At breakfast in the Alpenblick, we meet up with Mike and Dani Barrett - long time friends of the family.
6
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Alex
7
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Max
8
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   and Nicky.
9
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Jenni did her usual "look at me in the snow" pose.
10
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Shock, horror. She threw some snow at me.
11
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Xmas card.
12
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   After the pokey little hotel rooms in Spain, our room here was huge. It even had it's own balcony.
13
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   This wolf-like dog belonged to the owners.
14
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Before we start the day's adventures, we need to prepare the cars.
15
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Mike gets lots of help.
16
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We're travelling with Claus and he correctly assumes we wouldn't know what to do.
17
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The trick was to prepare the cars quicker than the snow could cover them up again.
18
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We head off with Claus, into Reitberg . . .
19
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . . through Reitberg, then Neuhofen Kraiwiesen and on to . . .
20
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . . the Salzburg Model Flying Club's field.
21
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   This is the club house.
22
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   It even has an old 180 for decoration.
23
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   This is a control line circle - used for racing. The stunt fliers use the radio airstrip as this circle is too small.
24
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus and Jenni stand in the snow and chat a bit - good place for a chat. The hat Jenni's wearing is the one she got at the Harley shop in Chicago.
25
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Gasthof Alpenbiick is at Schwaighofen and the flying field is the left turn just before the Autobahn. It's a very short and pleasant drive. The Gasthof is a very popular place to stay for competitors visiting Salzburg MFC.
26
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We go back through Eugendorf and Salzburg  to . . .
27
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . .  Hangar 7 at Salzburg Airport. Hangar 7 is free and is a museum that promotes Red Bull products. Red Bull is an Austrian company that sells an energy drink.
28
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We're now in Hangar 7 and this is one of the Saubers of the Red Bull Petronas team. Petronas supplied the engines which were rebadged Ferraris.
29
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Petronas Redbull F1 car of the Sauber team. Sauber were consistent mid-field runners and now no longer race in Formula 1.
30
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Mika Kallio's Red Bull KTM 125 from the 2005 season.  KTM is also an Austrian company.
31
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The North American T28B Trojan was a piston-engined military trainer aircraft used by the United States armed forces in the 1950s and into the early 1980s.
32
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Flying Bulls chief pilot Sigi Angerer found this T28B Trojan (built in 1954) in Oklahoma and immediately purchased it.  The "Trojan" is the star of many airshows.
33
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Alpha Jet is a light jet attack and advanced trainer aircraft manufactured by Dornier of Germany and Dassault-Breguet of France.
34
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Flying Bulls’ three Alpha Jets  were purchased from the German Air Force.
35
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   I could not believe the toilets. These are the urinals!  Fresh flowers even.
36
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Each wash basin (spotless of course) had individually wrapped linen towels and a soap dispenser that actually dispensed soap.
37
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   This is for number twos. Nothing exceptional here except for each booth having its own flat-screen TV, electric seats and air-assisted flush.  Toilets in Austria and Germany are always spotless but it can't get any better than this.
38
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The art gallery of Hangar 7. A superb sound system was playing "Best of Cafe del Mar". The music matched perfectly the elegance of Hangar 7 (how nice not to hear Mozart - he was born here in Salzburg you know).
39
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1959.  More than 700 were built and many still fly today.
40
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   This particular plane had just returned from an air show.
41
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   It was being lovingly hand polished.
42
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   I looked up inside the landing gear wheel wells and everything looked brand new.  It is impossible to describe just how good the condition of this plane is and it's nearly as old as me!
43
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Bell Cobra TAH is an attack helicopter manufactured by Bell from 1967 to the present day.
44
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Red Bull's helicopter is of recent manufacture. The Bell Cobra TAH is a trainer, other variants are simply AH for attack helicopter.
45
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Cessna CE 208 Caravan is a single-turboprop engine, fixed-gear short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft built in the USA and it typically seats nine passengers. This is an amphibious version.
46
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus walks up the glass-encased footway . . .
47
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . . and follows the path to . . .
48
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . .  the Ikarus 7 restaurant. Each month they have a different guest chef.  Very swish.
49
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Threesixty bar hangs directly below the ceiling and has views in every direction, including down.
50
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The glass floor of the bar reveals a bird's eye view of the fleet  below.
51
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The threesixty bar can be reached only via a narrow bridge.
52
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Every piece of glass was individually custom made in China and no one piece is exactly the same shape as any other.
53
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   In total, there are 1,754 pieces of glass with a total weight of 380 tons. Hangar 7 is 14.5 metres high and the steel frames holding the glass weigh 1,200 tons.
54
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   I was there with Jenni. What a surprise.
55
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Rolf, Dani's dad, chats with Claus.
56
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Hangar 7 was built for hosting the private airplane collection of the billionaire Mateschitz.
57
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We had an excellent coffee in the Hangar 7 coffee bar.
58
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We then stopped for lunch in a Guest House near the airport.
59
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Barretts with Dani's dad.
60
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   I'd have looked for a restaurant not realising that guest houses are normal places to go for meals. This is really nice in Austria.
61
Tuesday 11  April, 2006    We left the Barretts and went with Claus. He took us along the tiny little road leading through Oberwinki to Gaisberg (Goat mountain). Schwaighofen is where we're staying.
62
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   On the way to Gaisberg (Goat mountain).
63
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus was disappointed that there was snow everywhere, but for us it was a real treat. We never see snow where we live so seeing snow, and seeing snow falling is very exciting.
64
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus said that the views from the top were magnificent when it's not snowing or fogbound . . .
65
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . . which it is right now.
66
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus and Jenni examine what might have been. For us, we've never seen a winter fog like this and it was a thrill.
67
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The scenery was wonderous.
68
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus took my camera and took a few shots in the courtyard of the hotel.
69
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   In summer this place would be alive and gay.
70
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Claus has an artist's eye and can make the simplest things interesting.
71
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   It was then another short drive to Lake Fuschlsee, another of Claus' favourite spots.
72
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   It's smaller than the other lakes, so there's not so much tourist traffic.
73
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The Zistel Alm hotel  (Alm is the word for cow pastures high in the mountain )
74
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The German chancelor used to spend his holidays here, that's why it's popular with Germans.
75
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   Its surface is approximately 2.7 km² and its maximum depth is 66 metres.
76
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   The gloves Jenni's wearing are the Harley gloves she bought in Chicago.
77
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   But it was incredibly cold so we dashed into a Gasthaus for a hot chocolate . . .
78
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   . . . over there where the cars are parked if memory serves me. It was nice and warm inside.
79
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We drove along the lake's edge to the township of Fuschl am See, a typical alpine village. Lovely.
80
Tuesday 11  April, 2006   We then drove back to the Alpenblick and had dinner in the hotel. We decided to cancel the next two days in Vienna and to spend them here. Snow? Who cares? This is one of the most beautiful places we've ever been. However, at the last moment, our plans changed for the better      We go to Germany instead.
81
   
SalzburgPrevious: Salzburg
Create online photo albums with jAlbum & TurtleSkin: Turtle Gold, 5.6.7 Download   ·   Help