Travel Life Europe 21/22 - Planning, General short TRs, Travel and covid
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Not great here in the Arlberg either. That brown stuff is grippy. It got darker as the day went on.
Out of the ski country for a while now, seems not much being missed. Some may be interested in this. Been on the walk from Bologna to Florence this last week, it’s called the via degli DEI. It can be luxury walking staying at BNB’s or free camping if you want. Nice to travel really light though. Thorougly Recommended 6/7 day walk following a mainly ridge top route dateing back 2200 years. It does go up and down a bit. 200 metres to 1000 + metres a few times. Amazing towns at either end. Not busy at the moment. Photos: part the 3 km of Porticos in Bologna, views from Mt Adonis, some snow about still and Florence thingys.
Just returned from a 2 weeks trip to Austria for some skiing in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and also some work in Graz. What a week it was, the weather was awesome and it was cold, keeping the snow in great nick.
We timed it well with the Dutch holidays finishing on the Saturday we arrived, and it was so good to see the huge lines of traffic all going the other way, mainly with NL plates, and the familiar 'mother-in-law boxes' on the roof racks.
Timing was also spot on with the abolition of the Austrian Green Pass regs on that Saturday, so no dramas at all with tickets/hotels or anything else.
Great skiing, great weather, and so glad to be back in Hinterglemm catching up with some locals we have got to know over the last few years, and making some new ones on the way.
Some on here know that we do a 'Strudel Tour' every year as part of our trip, and our Strudelometer was working overtime, much to the amusement of the other lunch guests, and a number of high scores were recorded, but like other places, Hinterglemm had some 'supply chain issues', so some key ingredients were sadly missing, which was a bummer.
We were unable to hook up with @sli1 and his lovely +1 as our plans both changed a bit, but all in all, it was great to be back after a 2 year absence, and looking forward to a longer trip next year.
Pic # 3 How good is Hochalm for big GS turns ?Just returned from a 2 weeks trip to Austria for some skiing in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and also some work in Graz. What a week it was, the weather was awesome and it was cold, keeping the snow in great nick.
We timed it well with the Dutch holidays finishing on the Saturday we arrived, and it was so good to see the huge lines of traffic all going the other way, mainly with NL plates, and the familiar 'mother-in-law boxes' on the roof racks.
Timing was also spot on with the abolition of the Austrian Green Pass regs on that Saturday, so no dramas at all with tickets/hotels or anything else.
Great skiing, great weather, and so glad to be back in Hinterglemm catching up with some locals we have got to know over the last few years, and making some new ones on the way.
Some on here know that we do a 'Strudel Tour' every year as part of our trip, and our Strudelometer was working overtime, much to the amusement of the other lunch guests, and a number of high scores were recorded, but like other places, Hinterglemm had some 'supply chain issues', so some key ingredients were sadly missing, which was a bummer.
We were unable to hook up with @sli1 and his lovely +1 as our plans both changed a bit, but all in all, it was great to be back after a 2 year absence, and looking forward to a longer trip next year.
Just returned from a 2 weeks trip to Austria for some skiing in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and also some work in Graz. What a week it was, the weather was awesome and it was cold, keeping the snow in great nick.
We timed it well with the Dutch holidays finishing on the Saturday we arrived, and it was so good to see the huge lines of traffic all going the other way, mainly with NL plates, and the familiar 'mother-in-law boxes' on the roof racks.
Timing was also spot on with the abolition of the Austrian Green Pass regs on that Saturday, so no dramas at all with tickets/hotels or anything else.
Great skiing, great weather, and so glad to be back in Hinterglemm catching up with some locals we have got to know over the last few years, and making some new ones on the way.
Some on here know that we do a 'Strudel Tour' every year as part of our trip, and our Strudelometer was working overtime, much to the amusement of the other lunch guests, and a number of high scores were recorded, but like other places, Hinterglemm had some 'supply chain issues', so some key ingredients were sadly missing, which was a bummer.
We were unable to hook up with @sli1 and his lovely +1 as our plans both changed a bit, but all in all, it was great to be back after a 2 year absence, and looking forward to a longer trip next year.
In my couple of days here in the Schladming region, I haven't noticed any Dutch visitors. I recall though from previous trips to Skicircus that there always there in force. Here it is mostly Austrians, Germans and I've also heard a few Slavic speakers.
After all the effort in getting the Grüne pass I haven't yet used it it at all, although I haven't been going out at night. Hardly used the mask since I got here and have seen very little usage so far, although it apparently becomes mandatory again inside from Wednesday.
The Dutch holidays period is always busy in Saalbach. we used to say thank god its not during Fasching.
I remember last time I was there in 2019, had a day where there were Dutch in just about every gondola ride I was in.
It is nice here im Ennstal to hear mostly Austrian dialects.
Despite the mass exodus on the Saturday we arrived, there were still a fair number of them around, mainly congregating at the GoatStall, Walleggalm et al, and falling down the hill pissed and yelling and singing, very badly, as they went down the road after dinner and drinks.
I dislike them for a number of reasons.Taxing out of Vienna now. Other than the Sahara sand storm that created some crap weather and conditions for a couple of days that we were in a the Arlberg, we have had a wonderful trip with blue sky returning in Slazburger land. At each of the places we stayed they had never had Australian guests before and we also didn’t hear any Aussie accents on the trip. It so good to travel again.
Just some advice for those yet to come back to Australia, ie @Sbooker and @Heinz, I’d recommend filling in your Australia DPD app as much as you can in advance of getting your COVID result to save time.
I resented every moment of the process of getting our RAT today at Vienna airport to board. At least we passed!
@Whiteman- if only we had flown into Munich rather than Vienna them we would have been able to catch up.Thanks @sli1
I’m sitting in our apartment in Tignes right now after a big day. We’ve had our time in Les Arcs. Loved it. Too much to report so I’ll post some pics. Travel, snow (even if slushy and orange), trying to speak another language and out of the ordinary food and drink - this is living.
Thanks, noted. But I'm not returning home until May. Hoping for more changes before then.
Note the hazy background from the Saharan dust.
French cliche frog’s legs.
Cable car to the Les Arcs glacier.
Grand Motte in the background.
Yes, that one. Called Australia DPD. I was over the COVID BS by the time we got home tonight.
In the last 30 hours:
Covid Tested at Vienna airport, opened a DPD account (not intuitive), access to the Vienna airport COVID test results for my wife and was quite different processes (why?) causing much stress, got our DPD and vaccination certificates checked at Vienna boarding which is stupid - You are getting every passenger to open two different apps on their phone (its on the same effin app!) had to do the same at Dubai check-in, then during the descent into Brisbane we are told to go on-line to get authority to enter QLD (separate to Australia) and how does one do this on a plane?
Then told to disembark keeping 2m from each other when we have just spent 14hrs on quite full flight! Then on arrival, we have to produce our vaccination certificates to ABF again. FFS, given all this BS, I figured omicron must be rampant here. Then I checked that we have 5 people in ICU in QLD.
I guess you can tell I’m pretty happy about continuing this BS to protect those that have chosen not to be fully vaccinated. Covid isn’t going away, the hospital system won’t get overrun and we are still persisting with all this crap.Last edited:
We had no such issues. It was fiddly to fill out, but everything else went okay. Arrived in Sydney, straight through the ePassport terminal, picked up bags, quick scan, and out of there.
I'll add that that while there are certain rules around entering Queensland in terms of having another test within the 24 hours that you arrive, there is no declaration that you have to sign on the website that emirates was directing us to so they were wrong on that count.
We were also given the declaration card to fill in as we were descending (as has been the case forever) and told that you only need to fill it in if you haven't filled in the Australia DPD app which was also wrong.
I realise I'm being persnickety about what was otherwise yet another excellent Emirates flight but there is more than enough justifying of your Covid test status and vaccinations without being given further wrong directives.
That feeling when you get here and the dog seems happy, the house hasn't burnt down, work isn't in crisis and you say why am I here? Another week skiing would have been perfect!Well at least your now home.
Yay. Pre flight tests for re entering Australia being ditched from Apr 27.
Pre-departure COVID test rule ditched for people travelling to Australia
The federal government is ditching a requirement for overseas travellers to provide a negative COVID-19 test before they fly to Australia.
www.abc.net.au
Yay. Pre flight tests for re entering Australia being ditched from Apr 27.
Pre-departure COVID test rule ditched for people travelling to Australia
The federal government is ditching a requirement for overseas travellers to provide a negative COVID-19 test before they fly to Australia.
www.abc.net.au
A bit late for us. We just did our test near the Geneva airport for a negative result.
The test was done by a laboratory and a certificate was issued. It was completely free. @sli1 Did yours cost anything?Last edited:
Yep, it was 25 or 30 euro each for ours. The uncertainty on how long it would take and finding the place in the airport to do it was more of a pain than the cost. I really despise pre-testing for anything in a vaccinated world.A bit late for us. We just did our test near the Geneva airport for a negative result.
The test was done by a laboratory and a certificate was issued. It was completely free. @sli1 Did yours cost anything?
@Heinz, even better, its April 17. Great to see us moving on. Meanwhile in NZ..............Yay. Pre flight tests for re entering Australia being ditched from Apr 27.
Pre-departure COVID test rule ditched for people travelling to Australia
The federal government is ditching a requirement for overseas travellers to provide a negative COVID-19 test before they fly to Australia.
www.abc.net.au
Quality effort with the strudel. You ski those calories right off don’t you ...Just returned from a 2 weeks trip to Austria for some skiing in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and also some work in Graz. What a week it was, the weather was awesome and it was cold, keeping the snow in great nick.
We timed it well with the Dutch holidays finishing on the Saturday we arrived, and it was so good to see the huge lines of traffic all going the other way, mainly with NL plates, and the familiar 'mother-in-law boxes' on the roof racks.
Timing was also spot on with the abolition of the Austrian Green Pass regs on that Saturday, so no dramas at all with tickets/hotels or anything else.
Great skiing, great weather, and so glad to be back in Hinterglemm catching up with some locals we have got to know over the last few years, and making some new ones on the way.
Some on here know that we do a 'Strudel Tour' every year as part of our trip, and our Strudelometer was working overtime, much to the amusement of the other lunch guests, and a number of high scores were recorded, but like other places, Hinterglemm had some 'supply chain issues', so some key ingredients were sadly missing, which was a bummer.
We were unable to hook up with @sli1 and his lovely +1 as our plans both changed a bit, but all in all, it was great to be back after a 2 year absence, and looking forward to a longer trip next year.
Had a great time in Saalbach a few years ago.
Planning has started for my 2023 trip Nothing definite yet but leave from work is already booked and my ski trip fund is looking healthy. At this stage I could still be skiing in Canada or Japan but Europe is calling for a ‘big’ trip after so long without snow or travel.
Hoping to try somewhere new but still looking for a reasonable size ski area. Zermatt is a bucket list location but mot sure if my bank balance will be happy. Not too fussy on country but likely to be doing at least one week in the Dolomites in Italy.Last edited:
Our extended 6 month foray onto “the continent” continues. Got the dreaded c thing a week or so ago. Funny sort of sick, bad cough then weird lingering spasmodic malaise, nausea. Could be a lot worse. Got a few days on the delightful Cinque Terre prior, reasonably quite for a tourist hot spot, great walking with train shuttles. It’s deservedly popular. Back to the UK to convalesce, there is something weirdly quirky about the the coast there. Now over in Finland driving north to Lapland, still plenty of snow. Little downhill ‘resorts’ and xc tracks everywhere. Photos Italy Cinque Terre, Brit coast, Finland Lahti xc tracks.
Northern Finland xc touring over the last week, snowing everyday. It’s pretty special with lots of xc tracks, cafes on the trails and little ski resorts. Forget Perisher, you want flat it’s here!Photos track to Sioskuru hut near Hetta, hut, Levi ski resort. May do a trip report later, it’s a very cool ski destination particularly for xc track and touring.10 cm of new snow in Saalbach. Snow all the way down to Fieberbrunn base 836 elevation with a few flakes continuing this morning . Big fat flakes up on the hill. Amazing for this time of year.
Have you found the underground Nordic Trail?Northern Finland xc touring over the last week, snowing everyday. It’s pretty special with lots of xc tracks, cafes on the trails and little ski resorts. Forget Perisher, you want flat it’s here!Photos track to Sioskuru hut near Hetta, hut, Levi ski resort. May do a trip report later, it’s a very cool ski destination particularly for xc track and touring.
Have you found the underground Nordic Trail?
The 1 km training tunnel? not found yet. views this evening over the fells around Pallas.
That’s a lovely shot.Have you found the underground Nordic Trail?
The 1 km training tunnel? not found yet. views this evening over the fells around Pallas.Back to the UK on Sunday after another trip to Aosta, this time with the kids. After the terrible season in Italy that they have had, it is truly remarkable how they manage to keep runs open... towards the end of the week it was 24 degrees at the top of the gondola and 31 in town! Waterskiing through the bottom bit and we thought there is no way they can fix this for the morning... yet they did!
5 days at Pila, 1 at La Thuile and 1 at Cervinia. With the exception of Cervinia absolutely empty pistes, at one point I couldn't see anyone in any direction at Pila even though I could see about 4 runs and 3 chairs.
It got much busier in Aosta itself as the Easter weekend hit but clearly the Italians are done with skiing by this time of year which is fine with us!
As always thoroughly recommend Aosta as a base for a ski trip. We will be back next year!
Yup, the Dutch in Austria are like the Australians in JapanDespite the mass exodus on the Saturday we arrived, there were still a fair number of them around, mainly congregating at the GoatStall, Walleggalm et al, and falling down the hill pissed and yelling and singing, very badly, as they went down the road after dinner and drinks.
I dislike them for a number of reasons.
I'm planning our next Japan snow trip to start right after January 31st
Enjoying the delights of Snowdonia on our 6 month in Europe journey. (See free camping photos below). Run out of Schengen time, so UK and Croatia it is to finish off. No questions asked leaving Finland even though we were a couple of weeks over the 3 months. The Visa waiver arrangement was our back up. Feel So so lucky to do this after Covid and being at pensionable age
A bit of a Europe spring travel update but first, so stoked to see the majority of Australians have some common sense. After the marriage vote and saying goodbye to scomo, my faith in the Australian ‘vibe’ is restored. Meanwhile in the uk a reasonable bit of coverage and awareness of the event. On another note after enjoying the delights of the Snowdonia Way, have had a short trip up to the Peak District and the starting point for the Penine Way. Wonderful walking all over the UK with plenty of free camping options, never to far from village refreshments though. A few pics .. Snowdonia wild camp, Peak District near Edale
Quick question, can you use the same travel sim for Austria/Iceland and UK?? I can only find info stating all EU countries but given the UK are no longer an EU country, will we need multiple sims??
Try here https://simcorner.com/collections/europe-sim-card
Can order in Australia. I used one specifically for Austria. It had a UK number and used the 3 network. It automatically connects to the local network when you install it - takes 10 mins or so. Not sure how it works when you move countries. Worked mostly pretty well in Austria apart from a couple of days.
UK still part of agreement re mobile roaming in Europe. We used the one Heinz mentions above worked fine UK and Italy. Since then have bought the prepaid ‘3’ sim here in the UK (20 GB for £15) that has worked in fine in Italy, Finland, Croatia. You get a UK number with it. Also bought an e sim through the Airalo app that is working well too.
I have a Giffgaff sim which you can order in Australia from UK and has global roaming. Easy to use and has good rates.
Iceland is not in the EU either.
Regarding the UK you may want to wait until closer to travelling - our relationship with the EU is constantly changing.A couple of notes in the simcorner details and FAQ.
- Can be used in the following countries: Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Canary Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guyana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Israel (Data Only), Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Islands, Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Saint Martin (French), Saint Barthélemy, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Vatican City (Italy)
A. If you are travelling to different countries that are noted on the "Countries Coverage" section, then all you need to do is restart your phone as you move from one country to another. The sim will automatically connect to a local carrier.
Looks like a truely special start to the Aus ski season. Wow. Meanwhile, on a completely different note, it’s been a fun summery few weeks cruising around the coast and mountains of non-Shengen Croatia. Last Euro foray before heading back to Straya in a week. There is so much to experience in Europe. A few pics from Croatia.The amazing tourist hotspot of Plitvice Lakes:
Adriatic blue at Krk:
A closed and bordered up mountain hut (apparently because of recent break ins by ‘emigrants’):
Finally the mysterious source of the Kupa river in Risnjak NP near the Slovenia border:
