Phil was the only Maria Alm veteran who was definitely up for a return and so he booked the same flights for himself a couple of weeks later. We were five strong, eight down on last year but no less confident of a great time. I say Phil booked the same flights. What he actually managed to do was book himself onto the 6.30 am flight out of Stansted, not the 6.30 pm flight that the rest of us were on. As it turned out it worked well for him as he hired a car, and in the twelve hours between him arriving at Salzburg Airport and us turning up he managed to drive around most of Bavaria and Salzburgerland. There are lot worse ways to spend a day.
Lynda's first of many
Right: Ditto
"Hello Mum, Hello Dad" Bryan and his Nokia MarrowphoneLeft & right: a photo opportunity around every corner in Maria Alm
Saturday arrived in a blaze of sunshine, clear blue sky and with a real sense of anticipation in the village for the coming celebrations. It's the author's experience that Tyroleans need very little excuse to throw a party, especially if the reason for it involves agriculture. This weekend is all about the cows coming down from the higher pastures where they've grazed for the summer months. What a shame then that cows don't drink huge quantites of chilled lager and eat very big portions of meat, sauerkraut and sausages, as they appear to be the only ones not getting stuck in.
After breakfast we sauntered down to the village centre, passing tables and benches laid out for the expected visitors, food and craft stalls, bars and oompah bands. Although events are centred in the town square, the same thing was repeated all over the beautifully decorated and pristine village. Around mid-morning we made a bee-line for an empty table and benches and made them ours for the day. Shortly afterwards we were joined by Bryan's brother Clive, his mum Gladys and her best friend Liz, all of whom had been in the village for a few days already. Clive is a complete Austrophile and with his wife Rose (who sadly couldn't make the trip for family reasons) is lucky enough to have owned an apartment in the village for a few years. Five had now become eight and very quickly became ten when Bryan's other brother Trevor and his wife Lorraine surprised us by turning up for the weekend. They also have an apartment there, making the non-Maria Alm property owners almost in the minority !
"I'm telling you I left my beer right there!"
The day's entertainment unfolded and included music from several bands, dancing, displays of horsemanship and whip cracking, parades of various animals and of course loads and loads of marvellous food washed down with one or two beers and the odd schnapps. All of which was executed with great humour and enthusiasm. The day became progressively warmer, we all got more relaxed and giggly and the beer remained ice cold. By around five, glowing with the day's fun and alcohol we sloped off to our various hotels and apartments. We five dragged out sun loungers and collapsed in the hotel garden for an hour or so's improptu and very light-hearted German lesson.
The next day we breakfasted and piled into the car for the short trip to the lakeside town of Zell am See, a few miles west of Maria Alm. Staring down onto the town and lake for no doubt several millenia, Schmittenhohe is a fairly hefty mountain. At Clive's suggestion we took the cable car to its top and marvelled at the views, made all the more beautiful for being bathed in bright sunshine. We were lucky ebough to be there at the same time as some paragliders leaping from the top with their yahooing passengers dangling in front of them. Definitely put us down for that on our next trip.
Click the play button twice, slowly - This really looked and sounded like a whole lot of fun
That afternoon Clive was taking Gladys and Liz to part two of the village celebrations, this time held at Jufen, a guesthouse/bar/restaurant in the hills over Maria Alm. A drive up a very steep winding road and a successful hunt for a parking space later we turned up and joined them, as too did Trevor and Lorraine. The pastoral setting, incredible scenery and weather, local band and makeshift but more than adequate wooden staging made for an even more enjoyable experience than the previous day in the town. We wasted no time in once again finding a free table and tucking into the excellent food and yes, a few beers. We were also surprisingly captivated by a game involving a hammer, a tree stump and a bag of 4" nails - yes, all that with loads of beer !!! A short uphill stroll not only gave us a glimpse of Maria Alm from above, but also into Bryan's latent 'Sound of Music' fantasy when he treated us to a Maria-moment, running round the hillside, singing something about lonely goat-herds. This was a highlight in itself. Little did we know though of the two highlights still to come...........
We're the kings of the castle......
Bryan sensibly opting for beer over that nail game
Highlight number one - Andy Arnold. Never heard of him? Neither had we but we won't ever forget him. A local boy, Andy is a Europopper at his Europoppiest. We felt sorry for the poor lad belting out his sub-Bee Gee disco tunes to a polite but pretty disinterested audience. Fair play though, the boy's a trouper and sang enthusiastically over the pre-recorded backing tracks regardless, wandering amongst and shmoozing the audience courtesy of a radio microphone, possibly thinking about changing his agent. Check him out at http://www.andy-arnold.com/ and see us on his gallery page !!
Andy in the striped shirt and to his left his probably now ex-manager
Highlight number two - This also involved Andy. A reliable source revealed that by around song 5 or 6 a drunk audience member - let's call him Helmut - was clearly no longer appreciating Andy's set. Believing himself to be invisible, Helmut wandered over towards the stage to put an end to the performance. Andy, possible fearing a thump, edged away but Helmut had spotted a more technical means to undermine Andy. He needed only to pull a plug out of the extension socket at his feet to stop Andy mid-song. Helmut pulled but Andy sang on. About 30 feet to the left however was a small comotion amongst some of the local kids, whose bouncy castle had inexplicably and unexpectedly deflated. Realising he'd actually un-plugged not Andy's sound system but the castle's air compressor, Helmut quickly ran off. The kids you'll be relieved were rescued by a quick-thinking barman who put the plug back into it's rightful socket enabling the bouncing to continue.
That night, by luck rather than arrangement we all met up in Dorfcafe in the village for very good (and garlicky) pizzas and wine, served by another blonde and efficient waitress, running the place on her own. We had an early start for home the next morning and coupled with being flaked from the day's exertions, we decided an early night would be a good idea. After a quick tour of Trevor & Lorraine's apartment we went back to the Niederreiter and fell into bed.
Frolics on Trevor & Lorraine's balcony
We should have been up at 5.30, but for Lynda and me it was 6. We didn't fancy a lie-in, I just made a bollocks of setting the alarm on my mobile phone! Our hosts had very kindly laid breakfast on for us specially despite their usual start time of 8. Tip 3: Remember Austria is an hour ahead if setting an alarm on a device that's still on UK time.
We said a rueful goodbye to Maria Alm, drove back to Salzburg, dropped off the hire car and took-off only ten minutes later than scheduled. We touched down on a wet but sunny Essex runway, none of us really having wanted to leave Austria behind. Bryan very kindly supplied the transport to and from Stansted and all points North, for which we're very grateful.
Another excellent trip to a wonderful place with great company. Thanks to all for making it special - a holiday's only as good as the people you're with, and this one was super.
