Travel Life Europe 21/22 - Planning, General short TRs, Travel and covid
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Not used in anger since Aspen March 2020. Freshly tuned today. Will be on snow in about 15 days with any luck.
COVID, War and now Brisbane floods trying to stop my trip but looks like we won’t get flooded this time and currently flight out of Brisbane Friday is still on. I’ll be happy when I get to Saalbach. Most of my friends have decided we are deranged nutters for attempting skiing…obviously don’t realise it’s like crack cocaine once you are hooked nothing is stopping you.
We arrive on Saturday, and yes, we will also be happy when we get there
Whitey, we will be transiting in Dubai Friday morning for few hours from 5:30am before flying to Vienna. Will you be in Dubai at the same time?We arrive on Saturday, and yes, we will also be happy when we get there
In regards to the trip, in addition to the Covid stuff, I have mounted three sets of skis with Quiver killers via paper templates inside my apartment. It has felt like another full-time job preparing for this trip.
Hi Sli, nope, we are going through Singapore, then onto Munich. Should be in Saalbach at around 2.00 pm on Saturday, if all goes according to the plan.
Can we travel during a global pandemic all the time please? What a breeze tonight. Checking in, security and immigration with minimal lines. Spare seats next to us on the plane. Asked for Int’l vax certificate when boarding. Nothing else. We are flying to Vienna. No COVID test required.
They also changed the plane. It’s an A380. When we booked it was a 777.
Sounds dreamy. Are you spending a night in Munich? Or straight off the plane to the mountains?
We are now at the airport for this arvo's departure, and loving the very few travellers bit. Advised that we do not need to show a PCR result in Munich. Naturally we found this out after we had the test and paid for it. Grrrrrr.
If you are spending any time in München, I can recommend this place. https://www.kuffler.de/de/restaurant/haxnbauer/
Arrived in Salzburg. Great trip no issues. Only had to show vaccination certificates in Brisbane then at lounges in dubai & Frankfurt. Didn’t have to show in any shops, restaurants or bars yet. German border staff asked questions and wanted to see our return trip details but other than that super easy. Off to walk around Salzburg for the day then go to airport tonight meet parents and brother from UK and all transfer to Saalbach
Fly home day today. Leaving Paris. Couple of things we picked up on that might help future travellers. We did the DPD form online yesterday and thank god cos it’s a slow painful process. Downloaded the DPD app to do it. Emirates checkin would not have given us our tickets without it. We were planning to get pcr tests in Paris city inside the 72 hr window of departure but ended up getting a rat test from a pharmacy in the city 22hrs (the day before) before departure. Only cost 25 euro as opposed to 75 euro for pcr test. This meant airport checkin was a breeze and now I’m at the bar crying over ski photos.
2 pics- 1 is of Arc De Triomphe yesterday when they shut the main road for a parade.
The other is a pic my brother sent me looking at Warth resort from the other side of the valley. The day I left Warth at 9am it was blue skies after it snowed 40cm, he stayed an extra day and went touring. Fair to say he rubbed it in my face. He took the photo of himself with his drone.
Snow adventures for the non-skier - Austria edition
Bramberg am Wildkogel, 19-26 feb
Had to abandon the trip this year as the gf and I ended up buying a house in London instead (happened a bit earlier than planned this year) I should be happy about adulting and all that, but I’m still sad to miss out on a trip this year.
Looks like fun spring skiing coming up in Europe.
Wow congrats! (And commiserations...) You will make up for it in the future I am sureHad to abandon the trip this year as the gf and I ended up buying a house in London instead (happened a bit earlier than planned this year) I should be happy about adulting and all that, but I’m still sad to miss out on a trip this year.
Looks like fun spring skiing coming up in Europe.
Thanks! And yep, already keen for next year. Just hopefully other life plans don’t get in the wayWow congrats! (And commiserations...) You will make up for it in the future I am sure
I almost miss the carefree 20s where you can skip off overseas skiing for a long time without any worries or responsibilities!
Absolutely stunning week so far in Saalbach. Great piste skiing snow and blue skies amazing views an absolute joy perfect spring skiing
Very useful for people following me. Not so good if you are trying to hide thoughI love your ‘under the radar’ get up.
Enjoyed the ski over to Zell today. Great views, nice blend of runs. Drinking in the sun was in full swing there. Weather stunning again. Great day although the ski route back to Saalbach involved dodging holes in the snow, lifting one ski over obstacles and trying not to hit dirt. Would probably download via gondolathis late in season next time.
Final day in Saalbach was another blue sky sunny dream. Did the ski circus for another free mug. Had a wonderful time with family and would love to come back to Saalbach when the powder is on. The off piste looks epic but this week was about as good piste skiing as you will get. Back to Brisbane tomorrow.
Useful info for anyone heading to Austria. In Salzburg and Saalbach no checking of vax certificates beyond airport. No need to check in or show anything at any restaurants, bars or hotels. Still need FFp2 or similar for ski bus/public transport but wasn’t being rigidly enforced. 1 in 10 wearing on gondolas but not mandatory.
We got pharmacy to do RAT test for us in Saalbach on final day took 2min and they emailed PDF with QR code in 30min. We set it up in advance via email but could have walked in up until 5.30pm. If you wanted PCR had to be there before 3pm. Happily negative. Very simple and easy. We are all checked in and heading back to Brisbane after a fantastic week. Worth the crazy travel for 5 of the best piste skiing days in years and to see parents.
I would also highly recommend Salzburg as a destination for a night or 2 if you are heading to Saalbach or similar absolutely stunning old city. Airport is 10min taxi ride from old town. And Saalbach about 1.5hrs transfer away. The old town and fort are beautiful and the beer at the Augustine’s brau is top notch. The beer halls there really are something. It’s small enough that you can walk around and see a lot. Would love to come back for 2-3 days to really explore.Sitting in a Singapore Airlines A350 on BNE tarmac right now. The first time on an international flight since a return from USA in early March 2020. As regular international travellers I had no idea it would be a whole two years until our next trip.
Will be in French mountains in a couple of days. Apparently the French mountains have Aussie like snow this year. No complaints here though.
Everywhere has Aussie like snow this winter, Including Nth America/ Canada
Yep, have to say, that’s what it felt like to me most days in Italy although without as much melt freeze just freeze freeze and actually less snow. I reckon that where we were if it wasn’t for the one dump in December and snow making it would have been pretty marginal. Although like Aus a 1 metre depth is just Ok.Today’s fun in the Arlberg. And it was fun. Last week was way too busy.
80km covered in skiing from Warth to St Anton and back.
Here is the loo with a view at the Asitzbrau above leogang on way to Saalbach. Looked a bit strange taking the photo but hey anything for the ski.com.au crew. Also weirdly you can see in while going up the chairlift but hey anything goes in Austria.
took that same shot in 2019.Here is the loo with a view at the Asitzbrau above leogang on way to Saalbach. Looked a bit strange taking the photo but hey anything for the ski.com.au crew. Also weirdly you can see in while going up the chairlift but hey anything goes in Austria.Non-skiing...but......Just bought air tickets for myself and Ms Tonester to Paris for start of May. Unencumbered by children (they'e adults now, but jeez they can still leach off you even so).
Last time we did this was Little Miss Tonester was 5 yo, back in 2000. So....pretty excited.
Trying not to get too pumped because, you know, COVID has a way of ruining the party.
Looking at a long weekend away from Paris. London maybe. Or???
Also, found out Iggy Pop is playing in Paris while we are there. That might be fun.
Awesome! That’s def something to look fwd to. We always gravitate towards Easter Europe these days. Far cheaper and a bit more culture. Our favs which are easily accessible from Paris were Budapest, Krakow, Tallin etc. London of course is amazing but just so huge for a weekend I wouldn’t know where to start! Some of these other options are doable for a few days with some solid walking around old towns etc.
Just got back from Paris. We had an Airbnb for 7 days. Absolutely loved it, hadn’t been there since 2005. We caught the train down from Luxembourg, about 3hrs. Luxembourg definitely worth a 3 day visit.
We have about 11 nights booked in an air bnb in Paris. We then have 4 days to go elsewhere. I thought go to London. Ms Tonester, for some reason is not keen....but Luxembourg did come up in the discussions.
...also, when in PAris you must have had the Vaccine Pass. I believe you get it via a pharmacy. Was it a fairly straightforward process or any tips?
Not sure. I had the Swiss covid pass to get me the Grüner pass for Austria. Both these passes are good for France. From what I understand it’s very easy to print off ur Australian covid pass and walk into any pharmacy to get the Pass Sanitaire. There is a pharmacy chainstore called Pharmacie with a green cross. They are like 7/11, on every corner including a couple stores at the airport.
We went to Luxembourg to buy a watch. Long story short, we had no knowledge of the city/ history and left Luxembourg without the watch and an absolute love of the city. There’s stone ruins from 1400, buildings from 1800 and a super modern/ clean city all in one. No doubt there’s a few cities that could rival it for a great long weekend. You could always train it to Chamonix, Plenty of Airbnb, and things to outside of skiing.
