Still in Bleiburg

As you can see, I have been busy climbing mountains....if you can call this "climbing"...
I take the car as high as it will go, grab my cameras and go for a hike. Some hikes are more strenuous than others, but none is a killer. I don't remember when it last rained in this beautiful country. Today is the first morning in a long time that I awake to a cloud covered sky. I have no doubt, though, that they will disappear by midmorning. (it is 7,50 AM now). Almost each night it rained a little. Just to take the dust of the "mulberry bushes on the side of a dusty road."... You should see a real Alpine Mountain Meadow. The are very difficult to photograph...the flowers are tiny and do not show well in a picture. But I may post one anyway, just to try...
Tomorrow I will leave Bleiburg for Velden. I am hoping for good weather, since "Velden am Woerthersee" is Swimming- in- a- warm- lake- country.... Not too warm...it's still refreshing.
After Velden I plan to travel all the way to Dresden. This will be a long ride, but I am looking forward to it. I've cancelled my reservation in Florence. Maybe I'll go there later, when it is no longer quite that hot.
Anyway...the pigeons are lining up again...so, I'll fly...
Auf Wiedersehen!!
bertstravels

The "Petzen"

I took the cable car (almost 20 minutes) to the top of the Petzen.
There is an intersting story connected with this mountain and this cable car.
someday i will tell it to you.

A hazy view from the top of "The Petzen"

1708 feet above sea level. A beautiful view.

The Mountain and the chappel.

The "Hoch Obir"

The top of the "Hoch Obir" is 2142 meters.
Tis "hut" is at an elevation of 1555 meters
so what's another 587 meters?
You walk it slowly in 30 degrees heat and in long serpentines
over many rocks and roots.

The two very nice people who run the
"Eisensattel Huette"
A cold "Almdudler" goes down very well.

Alpine Thisles.

A small group of Scouts, featuring a green flag
almost "gallop" up the steep incline.
"Youth" is truly wasted on the "Young".

From the "Hoch Obir"

...what else
can I tell you..
You drive
as far as you can
...then you hike
some more
(1 hour)
and you get
these pictures.

All in a pretty row.....

These pigeons sit in a row very much like my thoughts.
All lined up, nicely...until one flies away, leaves an empty space,
just to be filled by another one.
Does the other one fit?
Anyway, yesterday I left Braunau for another extended "trip abroad".
The Bavarians started their holdiday (each province or state in Germany starts vacations on different days, to avoid traffic chaos.) Avoid?? traffic chaos?? The radio reported traffic jams 35 km long with delays of up to 5 hours to negotiate these 35km. So I took the long way from Braunau to Bleiburg in Carinthia, through the very pretty province (Bundesland) of Styria. With a couple of breaks for coffee and to refreshen my attention, I arrived in Bleiburg after 5 hours drive instead of the normal 3 hours. Christin was home. She had visitors and so we all sat around a large table on her terrace. These were lovely people, indeed.
Today I am planning a trip up to the "Hoch Obir" ...drive up to the last possibility and then walk. The entire hike to the very top would take about 1 1/2 hours. So that would be almost 3 hours walking both ways. I am not sure at this point if I am prepared to do all of this. In any event, we have plans to do things for the next 7 days. Friends and school chums will come from Altheim and Graz. We will all meet in Velden, which was one of Mom's favourite places. I have been promised to get our "Old" room # 83 or 84...
in the good old "Seehotel Europa"...
The early morning fog is rising. I am in the hotels "guest room" where I have a plug in internet connection. I don't want to miss any of the nice part of the day. The weather forecast speaks of sunny and warm.
So, with your permission, I am saying:
"Auf Wiedersehen"

First day in Bleiburg

From Christin's
balcony,
the view
onto her pool
and one of
the many
local churches.
The little kid
is GramaChristin
the big one
is her 17 year old
grand child.
at a "garden party"
with Christin's
family and
friends

Special Licence Plates

Some people might want to tell you
that this Licence Plate indicates that this car
is registered in the City of BRaunau.
Don't believe them: this is a Plate issued specially
for Bert Reitter
and the BG at the end?
Big Guy, of course.

All these other BR plates?
That's to celebrate my visit!