Confessions of an Author

Austria Austria – Family Holiday Diary Day One : Munich to Austria Car arrived 5am. Everyone ready -unexpected -maybe some of them didn’t sleep. Flew Heathrow to Munich, all went smoothly, and everyone managed the automatic barriers. Eventually. Collected minivan, and drove Munich to Salzburg. J made redundant from map reading due to rather efficient satnav. Arrived at Sheraton at Fuschlsee, a lake near Salzburg. Staff at reception predominantly female, wearing national dress, which does make them very buxom. Impossible to avoid mainly noticing bosoms. H told M not to wear his glasses while we’re here. Dinner in expensive hotel restaurant. Lots of antlers on walls, candles, flowers. Nice meal, but tired (me, not meal.) Everywhere here is SO pretty. Day Two : Hallstatt Nice breakfast, though I had problems with coffee machine and covered surrounding area with milky froth -rescued by very nice waiter who collected me a mug of coffee. Drove to Hallstatt. Traffi...

The Drive to Slovenia 1 I got up early and went to the gym before breakfast. Had red face for rest of the morning and felt slightly dizzy. Pretty sure exercise is unhealthy. Breakfast good again – we’ve had a nice time here (Sheraton Salzburg) it’s a shame to leave. Drove south. Left main road and went through Alpine National Park. Worried that we hadn’t paid (you have to buy a vignette and stick it on your windscreen) and that we might be fined. But there was nowhere obvious to buy one. Then we arrived at the official entrance to the park, and actually it would be impossible to NOT pay, so that was an unnecessary panic. Stunningly beautiful views in every direction. I want to live in Austria – they even like dogs, so Kia could come. Followed mountain road to a glacier. Saw a marmot (looked like a groundhog). Lots of cows with bells, sheep, motorbikes and – surprisingly – cyclists. Not quite sure why anyone would cycle up a mountain by choice, but there are some wei...

Fuschlsee, near Salzburg – Family Holiday Diary 1 Day Three – Fuschlsee near Salzburg Breakfast 9 am. Managed to sit inside today. Sheraton provides a good selection for breakfast – and S selects most of it. Today he poured chocolate powder over his eggs by mistake (same wrapper as mustard). We, of course, never mentioned it again, because we’re a tactful, understanding, family. R had a boiled egg, which wasn’t. J spent 3 hours cooking a waffle (had to restrain Husband so he didn’t go to “help” him.) But we didn’t break the coffee machine today. Choices for activities today were: walking, rowing, golf, cycling, swimming. We, of course, had a voting system (20 votes per person) and made an Excel spreadsheet. Sometimes I wonder how I came to be part of this family. Anyway, rowing won. Hired two boats (€10 per hour) and set off across Fuschl Lake. Made it to a jetty with a fish restaurant and had drinks. Had to walk across a scary floating jetty and down a plank of woo...

Salzburg 1 Family Diary Continued Day Three: Salzburg Only table big enough for seven of us was outside, which was good due to sunshine, and bad due to wasps. It’s a good breakfast, with lots of choice (and S chooses nearly everything. This is good, because Austria is not great for vegetarians, and even menus marked as ‘vegetarian’ sometimes contain fish.) Drove to Salzburg and parked in a car park dug into the rock. Car parks here are well signed, with each one telling you exactly how many spaces are left. Walked around historical part of Salzburg. Saw where Mozart was born (building now a Spar supermarket, which seems wrong). All the shops sold lots of Mozart souvenirs. Especially small round chocolates. Did Mozart eat small round chocolates? J assured me this was not covered by music A level (which seems a shame). Saw a lot of traditional Austrian dress – the boob enhancing white blouse under pinafore dress for women, and lederhosen for men. I understand why peop...