Austria

The drive from Venice into Austria started unassumingly but by the time we were crossing a mountain to get to our destination of Lienz, it was spectacular.

Markus Tomasi is the MSO's other Concertmaster. He lives in Salzburg and comes to Melbourne a few times a year for 10 weeks altogether. When he heard we were traveling through Europe and to Salzburg in particular, he very kindly offered us his parents' cottage in the Alps near a low-key but very nice ski resort to use for a few days. He and his wife and 9-month-old daughter were staying there before us and waited till we got there to show us the ropes and give us a hearty lunch. The cottage was rustic and very cosy with a wood-burning stove for heat and cooking. Markus, Margit and Ida left for Salzburg that evening and we settled in for an early night all excited about skiing the next day. With no TV it was a good opportunity for some family bonding over card games. The sunset from the cottage window was picturesque.

We took ages getting sorted out with rental gear the following morning but finally we were off on the 15 - 20 minute gondola ride up the mountain to the ski field. Jessye is the relative expert amongst us, the rest of us being total novices. Rosie had a couple of days on skis with Jessye at Mt Ruapehu when she was about 5 and was quite good at it but we didn't know how she'd go with her wonky right leg etc. I hadn't been planning to get on skis at all but when everybody else was hiring gear I thought I might as well give it a go. Jessye took Sophie off, gave her a bit of instruction and then Sophie was off skiing. We were horrified to learn later that Jessye had taken her up the high chair lift and basically made her get down the mountain with a combination of terrified skiing and walking. Rosie and I, meanwhile, had an abortive attempt to get on skis by ourselves which ended in a lot of falling over, staggering about and walking back up the learners' slope. Why we didn't have lessons immediately, I don't know. Peter had the good sense to case the joint first and booked himself a 2-hour lesson for the afternoon. Rosie and I gave up on skiing and went up the chairlift to the mountain-top cafe and soaked up the amazing views. We met up with Jessye and Sophie who were having a whale of a time all over the mountain. That night, back at the ranch, Rosie and I decided we wouldn't quit for ever as we'd thought earlier in the day, but instead go back and have 2-hour lessons along with Sophie who was fine by herself but was persuaded to develop her technique with a personal instructor. Peter had improved during his 2-hour lesson but had come to the conclusion skiing was not for him and was happy to sit out the next 2 days. Rosie and I both improved with instruction, unsurprisingly, and she was keen for another lesson and more skiing by herself on day 3. I was very impressed by how she was able to manage the balancing and shifting of weight etc - she was much better than me! Jessye had a great couple of days doing the harder runs by herself and meeting up with us for lunches and hot chocolates. All in all, the ski interlude was one of the highlights of the trip.

One night, while playing cards still in our mountain retreat, we were startled by a knock at the door. I answered it and was even more startled to find 3 kings/wise men and 3 queens/wise women in full regalia on the doorstep. Luckily they spoke some English and explained that they were from the church and they would like to sing for us, which they proceeded to do, bringing out their repertoire of English carols. We gave them 10 euros which we hoped was the right thing to do and they went to the neighbours. We peeked through the curtains and saw that she invited them right inside and they were there for ages so we hoped they weren't too disappointed with our doorstep reception. Still peeking out the window we noticed that when they left the neighbours place, the accompanying guy who was not dressed up but hovered in the background while they were singing, wrote something above the neighbours door. Sure enough, when Peter looked above our door the next day, there were some enigmatic scribblings there too. Apparently they make a big deal of the 3 kings/wise men and have a special night's festivities in their honour on January 5th which was the night we arrived in Salzburg.

After a 3rd day of skiing for the 3 girls (Peter did the town instead and I was content to ride the chairlift and enjoy the views, feeling a bit sore in the wrists after falling about during my ski efforts and not wanting to push my luck, what with some impending serious playing to be done on our arrival home), we drove to Salzburg in the afternoon of January 5th. Or at least so we thought. Peter programmed our destination into the GPS system and off we went but we were confused when it sent us to a railway station. After much inquiring of various people, including a Russian family on holiday who also thought they were driving to Salzburg but had also been sent to the railway station by their GPS, we were persuaded by the lady serving in the cafe that we were in the right place and that a train was coming in half an hour. This was no ordinary train. It was a car-train which took cars and their passengers through a gigantic mountain via a tunnel, saving hours of extra driving. It was quite an adventure. We drove onto the train then left the car and sat in the double decker passenger compartments for the journey.

We checked in to the Elefant Hotel in Salzburg and foraged for food before collapsing into bed for a good night's sleep before Rosie's birthday. After breakfast and presents, Rosie, Sophie and I went for a walk around town coming across the horses and carriages waiting for custom outside the Residenz, the former Emperor's palace. Since it was Rosie's 14th birthday (hard to believe!), we paid our money and went for a very nice ride around town made cosy in the freezing temperature by a blanket and sheepskin seat covers.

For something special to do on Rosie's birthday we decided to do the Sound of Music Tour, a bus tour visiting some of the main settings from the movie, such as the conservatory where Rolf and Liesel and Maria and the Captain sing and dance their big numbers, the tree-lined avenue where the Captain and the Baroness drive along and see the children hanging out of trees and the big house and the lake where the children fall out of the boat. The lake was completely frozen and lots of skaters were out having a great old time. Hockey players were shovelling snow off the ice to play on and Jessye and Sophie made their own little sliding strip. Sophie found a big crack in the ice and tempted fate. The last stop was at a town called Mondsee (I think), home of the beautiful little church where the wedding of Maria and the Captain was filmed. After a stop for goulash soup (our favourite food in Austria which we discovered in the cafe at the ski resort) and apple strudel, the bus took us back to Salzburg where our friend, Markus, was busy preparing us a 7-course dinner for Rosie's birthday. We thought we were having a simple schnitzel meal and birthday cake but Markus is a great cook and he had other ideas. Everything was delicious, the girls enjoyed playing with baby Ida and the cake was superb. In fact, Rosie wanted the recipe.

During our remaining couple of days in Salzburg we visited churches (under duress) took the funicula (cable car) up to the huge fortress that dominates the town, bought many eggs to give friends at school from the legendary egg shop and visited the Residenz, former home and official rooms of the Emperor where the young Mozart first played many of his works, and the massive cathedral where Mozart and his father were both employed as court musicians. We had our last dinner in Salzburg at St Peter's Stiftskeller, a restaurant which first opened its doors in the year 803, making it Europe's oldest restaurant.

We drove from Salzburg to Vienna and stayed in an apartment a couple of subway stops from the centre of town. I don't know what happened with the various cameras because I can only find pictures of Rosie and Sophie meeting a very short horse in a pedestrian mall. Highlights included a visit to Mozart's house and a performance of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera which Peter and I queued for ages for (standing room tickets for 3 euros!). The girls were quite happy to leave us at the opera and make their way back to our apartment by themselves. After a very short stay in Vienna we took the train to Munich where we connected with our flight back to Melbourne. I remember back in Wellington days thinking about doing a big European family trip for our 50th birthdays. Well, we were a litlle late but we did it!