Our hotel in Serfaus.
Serfaus ski runs.
Serfaus.
Pleasant 4 hour drive up to Serfaus. Our Hotel Garni Alpina is lovely. Great room with sitting area and south facing balcony. Everything is spot on and wifi seems to work.
Have trouble driving the last 50 yards to our hotel because as usual there’s a beer festival on with some typical Tyrollean music.
Park the car up and there it will stay for the next two days. Serfaus is a traffic free village with a free underground railway.
Serfaus lift station and Kolner Haus.
In the evening we go out to dinner for a typical Tyrollean food Zweifbelroastbraten, spatzle and couldn’t resist a Germknodel. It’s at least 20 years since we had one. All very tasty served in an awesome restaurant – just love all the traditional wood panelling.
Remembering Checkout Girl, Caroline Aherne, Fast Show:
On our way to the top of the mountain.
Great breakfast.
We get free lift passes with our hotel so it means we can ride all the 4 gondolas all day for free. In our day there was only one gondola. Off to the underground ski train. We remember this oh too well. Not as crowded as last time we used it. I’ll never forget the automatic German announcement “achtung tur schliessen automatische”
Ski lift!
Stop off at Kolner Haus for Wendy’s lunch. Arghh…., they modernised it in 2003. Lost all its rustic charm and they’ve got rid of those lampshades. Food wasn’t all that good either we should have eat at the top of the mountain.
Catch another gondola and lo and behold there’s a boating lake and amusement area been opened up on the mountain. Now I know why those walkers had to be so well equipped.
Kölner Haus, what have they done to it!
In the evening we go out for dinner again to the Astoria. All plans are for a bauern platter, tiroller grostle and kaiserscharm. Free schnapps (feurwasser) to round off the meal. We’re so full we can’t manage a kaiserscharm.
Love this place, it’s all so clean, organised, efficient and pleasant. Being in the mountains the temperature is not too hot, just ideal for walking. Civilised. Could certainly come back for a weeks summer walking holiday. But for skiing I don’t think we’d come back. Sure they’ve expanded the area and you can now ski Fiss and Ladis on the same lift system but still not a patch on the size of Park City; oh so expensive; most of the ski areas are not high enough to guarantee good snow; narrow runs; I suspect it’s still crowded.
A well deserved rest.
Wow these Germans sure like their walking. A lot of them are our age. The mountains are crisscrossed with organised walking paths, yet when you look at the average German walker you’d think they were on a mission to the top of Everest. They have super strong, shock absorbing, waterproof, hiking boots; back pack big enough for a whole years backpacking; super high tech, waterproof jackets and trousers; two walking poles that look like they’ve been personally moulded to their hands and could be used to defend yourself and scratch your back. All thats missing is an ice pick, crampons and oxygen.
Top 10 controversial Quran verses:
Our new home for 4 days. It’s massive.
A lovely 4 star hotel. Room was great with sitting area and small balcony. Breakfast was good quality food. Everything is just right. Would definitely stay there again. Surprised they didn’t accept credit card but we booked via booking.com, so not to big a problem and price was good. Wifi was ok.
Kitchen.
Lovely drive through Austria to the German border where there’s a traffic jam. Yes, despite Schengen there’s a German border patrol guy just waving all German, Italian and Austrian cars through. What happens to us? Yes, the only British car and we get stopped. Do I think it can be something to do with BREXIT. He asks us if we’re going home, I tell him no we’re going to Germany and we’re waved on. What a prejudicial waste of time. Looks like the Germans have already abandoned Schenegan, never mind waiting for an EU go ahead.
Dining area.
Bathroom with walk in shower big enough for a football team.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157200624320249&set=a.10150340074490249.575311.621375248&type=3&theater
Yeah, beans on toast for tea.
On our way to Munich.
Whatever happened to common sense? Aying platform ticket machine is like the typical German trying to worship the sun, getting a great tan. Stuff the passenger trying to read the screen. Wot no deck chair towel. Pity we could have used it to shade the screen. Let’s just summaries some of the other issues, won’t accept any of our credit cards; won’t accept a €20 note; says no change given and it gives change; confusing screen design; ticket it prints won’t fit in the authorize machine. Apart from that it was perfect.
Surfing in Munich.
Munich is lovely but oh so hot. We stop for a coffee in the English Garden and watch them surfing. Then it’s the Marienplatz for the town hall and a gentle stroll around. Wot no selfie sticks, not a single one to be seen, unlike
Hofbrau Haus.
Saunter round to the Hofbrau house for a beer and some lunch.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157203886330249&set=a.10150340074490249.575311.621375248&type=3&theater
Hofbrau Haus.
Then full of good food and quality beer, we waddle around some more. Hop on the bus back to the main station. By now it’s hotter than hell and half of Georgia.
Hofbrau Haus Trip Advisor Review – 1 star
Now I just love Hofbrau and going to the original Hofbrau Haus in Munich is a real treat. Even if there is no Humpah band playing inside. Beer and food are great but customer service must be organised by some renegades from ISIS.
The famous Rathaus.
Then to add insult to injury halfway through the meal our elusive waitress wants to be our best friend. Could we pay the bill now as she’s going off duty. Oh but don’t worry if you want more drinks or dessert my colleague who takes over will take your order. I pointed out what appalling customer service this is and she agreed with me, but it’s what we have to do. Then we get the coup de gras of all such inept companies, when she tells me I can email a complaint. Of course my standard retort is “you tell them” and of course her standard reply is “they don’t listen to us”. Don’t listen to your customers or staff at your peril.
Rathaus clock.
Hofbrau biergarten.
At last:
In a sign of the times, as well as the entrenchment of the internet in nearly every aspect of life, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring online access as nothing less than a human right.
Tegernsee
It’s a pleasant little town. A bit of a tourist trap. We have a coffee and lunch by the lake then have a saunter around. Splash out on 3 bottles of their local beer.
Awesome.
Aying Biergarten.
A beer in the modernised Kolner Haus in Serfaus.
* public incitement to violence or hatred directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined on the basis of race, colour, descent, religion or belief, or national or ethnic origin;
* the above-mentioned offence when carried out by the public dissemination or distribution of tracts, pictures or other material;
Aying town centre.
I wonder when the first prosecution will come about for selling or giving away copies of the quran, given that nearly every other page has passages inciting hatred and violence to non-muslims.
Wendy drinking in the Hofbrau Haus. Well someone has to drive.