The Tyrol

Posted by Ben on Jul 20, 2010 in updates | 1 comment

So after we had finished being punished by Italy and more specifically, the Romans, we were now on the back straight and heading northwards towards Austria. The journey felt a lot quicker than it had done before visiting Italy. Maybe it was because I was getting so tired I wasn’t paying attention to the road, maybe it was the fact that I was about to visit the countries that I’d been anticipating the most, or maybe it was simply the fact the coach was now a hundred kilos lighter because it was missing a third of the bags…

I’d complained enough over the previous forty-eight hours that I really didn’t care less what was happening, I just wanted to see some more snow and check out what The Tyrol (the part of Austria we were visiting) had to offer. As mentioned before, the Swiss Alps had been, so far, my favourite place and I knew this part of the continent was going to be much the same so I was pretty enthused.

Now Donal and I had decided that we were gonna do the sky-diving in Austria rather than Switzerland because it was about sixty Euro cheaper and was pretty much the same, except it was a thousand feet lower. Anyway, due to some stupid safety regulations and Top-deck, the sky diving was cancelled and we were left disappointed.

However, Donal didn’t let this stop him doing something; he took his next opportunity and went paragliding. Now personally I didn’t wanna spend a couple of hundred Euros to hang off a sail. I could do that with a bed sheet and a trampoline when I got back to Sydney. Donal seemed to enjoy it though and he had a great time while I sat in the pub and played Jenga (that’s how you spell it isn’t it?) and sank some Jager and beers – Jenga was a tops game anyway.

The Tyrol really is another amazing place, a place very much the same to the Swiss Alps, where you’re tucked away in the middle of no where, with wooden cabins and lodges for peoples homes, large fields, fresh water streams, amazing views and one supermarket for the whole village. It’s another of the places that I definitely wanna visit again before I die, to snowboard at or just to see.

The funny thing was, the village was bang out of luck if they had a tooth ache and needed a dentist, or their dog needed a quick castration as they were also about half hours drive from the closest vet, but if they needed a bike or a canoe, they were sorted, they had a huge sports store right in the middle of town. Sweet!

We stayed in a room which I believe was the best place we had stayed at so far. It was a massive log cabin, just as you would imagine in the movies. Something right out of Dumb and Dumber when they visit Aspen. It had a bar downstairs, a reception desk with all the typical trimmings around the place, an open wood fire and a view of the river and snow capped mountains. All I needed was a snowboard and a lift ticket and I’d have been in my place of Zen.

I think this was going to be our stop of peace. There wasn’t really any massive nightclub to go visit and get shitfaced at and to be honest I think from what was about to come (and the stories I have for you) that it did me, and everyone else, the world of good.

I had a quiet night that night, even though I was drinking Jager again. I spent it just hanging out looking around the town.

The next day, we spent the time chilling out in the bar of the lodge, browsing the supermarket at items that looked like nothing you’d see in Australia (like jarred eel), sitting down and watching the trout filled stream (which I really wanted to go fishing in!) and kicking around the football with everyone.

We left early the next morning and I was pretty bummed to be honest. I had found a place that really was somewhere where I could find myself living one day in the future.
The problem was, I think I had let my body realise that it was on struggle street and that I had pushed it closely to the limits. What it didn’t know was that our next stop was Prague, Czech Republic and that that city, with its cheap beer and party hard nightlife was going to show my body was it’s pain threshold really was. It was an amazing city and I will explain why when I get the chance.

Before we reached Prague, we made a stop that was going to make me realise just how nuts a man named Hitler actually was…

These are the stories I will post when I get another chance, but for now I am off to Manchester to check out what the Midlands has to offer, and hopefully not get stabbed by one of those gangsters I’ve seen on the TV. No doubt it will become a post on my blog… somewhere in the next ten years.

I hope you’re enjoying reading my posts as much as I am writing them.

Bye for now!!