Twenty-two days of one journey. Day three
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The third day of the trip was already part of a good rest without haste and unnecessary movements, without any thoughts about work, a “normal” day on vacation. At 10.30 we smoothly set off towards Austria, which is already 6 km away and the border from which we slammed, or rather, did not find even the slightest sign.
The path lay in a small resort for skiers and others, the village of Kremsbrü cke (Krems is the name of a local river, brü cke is a bridge) in Carinthia. The hotel was called Gasthof Post, 67 euros per night. I chose at random, the main thing was to get into the heart of the Alps, I was interested in mountains, roads and the fact that the next day by 14.30 be in Venice. The distance from Bratislava is about 400 km.
Google promises no more than five hours - it's lying, don't believe it. He does not take into account the fact that the road will pass through Austria, he does not know
that you need to add two or three hours to rotate your head in different directions, opening your mouth in amazement and eyes from something you have never seen before. I will say right away: we arrived at the hotel around 17.30.
Alpine meadows are different from any I have seen before, they look like golf courses, they are regularly cut and grass is sown.
Cows in these meadows often lie, as do residents of European cities in parks. Many castles of various sizes appeared either by the road or high in the mountains.
The Navigator almost immediately took us off the highway, for which we thank him and promise never to update maps again,
after all stress for the old man. Everything around was a setting for films, an object for artists and photographers. . .
. . . and also for people who are inspired by what they see to create something similar.
In the city of Leoben, I slumped in earnest, I was sure that I drove into a zone where cars are not allowed - buildings around and pavement made of paving stones without sidewalks, people in fancy costumes.
I was driving and waiting for the police, wondering about the degree of punishment. It turned out that this is how they drive all over the city. Leoben - the capital of Gö sser beer, a city over a thousand years old,
located in the region (federal state - that's right) Styria.
We stopped often, it was raining almost all the way, we turned our heads and took pictures of everything. Ten kilometers before the hotel, the road went up sharply...
. . . at an angle of 35-40 degrees, the climb lasted more than two kilometers and the car refused to go at 4 thousand revolutions and second gear - a mixture of the remains of Ukrainian and Slovak 95 Eco plus a small amount of air at an altitude of 1760 m, but pulled I gave him twenty minutes to rest. A dozen and a half hotels in Kremsbrü ck, a school, a fire department, a shop and a gas station suggested that the village is not inhabited by tourists alone.
We were met by a young chubby office worker, friendly and very smart, she understood my German the first time, showed us to the room, showed us the hotel, the restaurant, invited us to dinner. I read the menu for a long time, I wanted everything and more, I got tired, after a minute I gave out: “Nach Ihrem Geschmack, Fleisch, Fisch, Salat, Wein, Saft”.
T. e. I gave it to her and did not regret it, 45 euros is not the price of such pleasure. I am not a fan of alcohol, except for Armenian cognac, but I can appreciate the quality. Austrian wine, especially farm wine, is no worse than farm Chianti and Georgian Khvanchkara. I didn’t like the coffee, but it didn’t matter anymore, since the first full-fledged lunch in the fresh air in the Alps in three days at an altitude of 1 km mixed with physical fatigue and brought us into a state of mild euphoria. But they didn’t go to the room, they went around the whole village, examined everything, took pictures, which I am glad to share.
When they returned, they thanked the girl, handed them a jar of honey and chocolate, and said goodbye (she was leaving her shift). The hotel building, according to her, is almost 600 years old.
In winter, the village is packed with tourists - there are ski slopes nearby. “Es gibt immer Schnee” (in winter, of course) from her words that I promised to check, she was not at all embarrassed.
Thus ended the third day, in my opinion, very successfully. Venice tomorrow.
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