4 Days in Salzburg - Tues 9 to Sat 13 June 2009

My journey began on the Monday evening when I caught at Terravision coach from Liverpool St to Stanstead. It was a normal coach so I'm not sure why it needed three members of staff to check the handful of passengers on board. There was the driver, a ticket issuer and a short, ruddy-faced, gap-toothed man who would have looked more at home on a cargo ship and seemed to serve no other purpose than to leer at the young girls as they boarded the coach (I managed to escape his gaze)and discuss their virtues in an unfamiliar language with the other two.

There were no more than a dozen of us on the coach, mostly young backpackers with too tight a budget for the Stanstead Express, plus one or two of us older travellers, who were just too tight.

The coach smelt vaguely of stale beer so I decided to hold off eating my homemade brie and tomoato sandwich until I checked into my hotel room, in the hope that it would be more fragrant.

En route we drove past the site of the 2012 Olympic village, it looked like they might need to get a bit of a move on with it. One other unusual sight was a sign on the sliproad to the M11 prohibiting pony and traps. It made me wonder how many people in that area used that form of transport for it to warrant a warning sign. Is there a large gypsy encampment nearby perhaps?

Off of the Terravision bus at Stanstead and straight onto the Holiday Inn shuttle bus to the hotel. At £66 for the night it was more than double my return flights to Salzburg, but how else was I to be at the airport for a 6.30am flight?

Was surprised at how effecient and modern the hotel was. I was checked-in and in my room in less than 5 minutes. The room itelf was up to date, clean and spacious and well sound proofed. Finally I was able to eat my brie and tomato roll, then settled down in bed to watch the final episode of Ashes to Ashes - and I was very happy with the ending, a perfect set-up for another series. Lights out at 10.30 ready for an early start.

Tuesday 9 June

Up at 4.30 and on the 5.20 shuttle bus to the airport. Got through security and to the gate in perfect time. The flight was only an hour and forty minutes, just time for a coffee and a snooze (apologies to the young German lad I kept falling against).

I left a grey and wet London but landed in a warm and sunny Salzburg. A taxi took me to my hotel , the Bloberger Hof - a truly delightful, traditional chalet-style, family run hotel. It was set in a suburban, rural area - surrounded by arable fields with mountains in the background.

It was too early to check-in, so I dropped off my bag and armed with a town map and directions from Inge, the hotel owner, I set off to catch the bus into town. 15 minutes and 2 euros later I was in the heart of Salzburg.

Pictures and more to follow in next blog - if I can figure out how to do it...

Labels: Holiday