We had only just touched down in Salzburg after our flight when Dougie’s phone rang. It was our taxi driver asking us to let him know when we had cleared customs. We rang him back and tried to locate him. Some translation errors meant we spent some time going up and down in the lift, trying to find the ‘second tier’, only to discover he meant he had parked adjacent to the first parking area. Honestly, after all the waving and instructions, he was only a few feet away.
Anyway, Joe le taxi (not his real name) was great fun and a mine of information about the area, which bars were worth a visit and oh look, there’s the Eagle’s Nest (Hitler’s lair) on the top of the mountain. He dabbled in herbology on the side and promised us some oregano oil if he happened to be our driver on the return journey.
Berghotel Rehlegg
After an entertaining 40 minutes, we arrived at Berghotel Rehlegg, a fantastic hotel in the village of Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden. As usual, we declined the offer of help with our luggage. Or rather, Dougie preferred to keep hold of his bags despite the fact that he happily waves them off during check-in at the airport. Big mistake. Our room was in a different block to the reception area, we couldn’t find the lift and room 333 isn’t on the third floor.
All was forgiven when we eventually found our room, a junior suite with views over the mountains. It was beautiful. I loved the little touches of candles, herbal teas and a hot water bottle. We also appreciated the Austrian Twins – a double bed configuration but with individual duvets. Although we did laugh after the first night, wondering why our feet were sticking out, only to realise we hadn’t turned the duvets round 90 degrees!
Getting our bearings around Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden
On our first morning, after a superb buffet breakfast (and a delicious dinner the previous evening) we decided our first day should be spent getting to know the village. During January much of the village is closed but our winter walk was all the better for the peace and quiet. We’d expected to be trudging around in the snow but it was a warm week so the white stuff was confined to the mountain tops. This made for glorious scenery and easier walking: a win-win.
We headed east to the edge of town to reach Wimbachbrucke, a bridge which has several paths leading to the National Park and its famous mountain, the Watzmann. Hard climbs weren’t on our agenda but we did make use of the very warm and clean toilet facilities. And, you know me, finding a good toilet stop can be the highlight of my day.
Where’s the webcam?
Walking back, we kept to the banks of the river, the Ramsauer Ache, which was stunningly clear. One of the tourist attractions in the heart of the village is St Sebastian’s church. There’s a webcam here, so at home I’d been looking at this very spot for weeks, seeing the snow come and go in the vicinity. I think we picked the perfect day to take our photos of this picture-perfect scene…
Climbing up to the Kunterwegkirche
One of the region’s suggested winter walks was to the Maria Himmelfahrt, a church at the top of a steep path but very close to the centre of Ramsau village. On a proper winter’s day this would be a snow-shoe walk but the mild weather meant this was easy for us in normal walking boots. I say easy but it was one of those short paths where you need a breather every so often. Thankfully there is the little Pletzer Chapel to admire and the Stations of the Cross en route. The church is a little beauty and well worth the workout. I asked Dougie to walk ahead so I could take a nice photo of the back of him and the church in the background. Whenever I ask him to do this, he has a habit of channelling Dave Angel from The Fast Show so always turns round quickly for a daft pose. Ah, the simple things amuse him.
Climbing down from the church was easy, though I did have to dissuade Dougie from going on an unmarked path to god knows where. Suggesting he could have soup and cake back at the hotel seemed to work. He followed the proper trail and we were back in no time, only for him to embarrass me by dropping his soup spoon into the urn and then not telling anyone. Let’s just hope they didn’t pour any remains down a waste disposal unit.
A snooze by the pool
The family who run the Berghotel Rehlegg know a thing or two about their guest preferences. They know we’ve all been hiking in the national park and need to be soothed and comforted on our return. So there’s an outdoor and an indoor pool plus a whole host of chairs and beds to relax on. Most of the people on the beds by the indoor pool were asleep so we joined them to loll about, read and gaze out of the window as the sun was setting. We did have a little swim, though this was short-lived when Dougie mistimed his touch to the wall, using the bridge of his nose instead to make contact. The man’s a liability!
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