Alps
March 8 and wanted to make a nice gift to his wife, well, myself : )
Accidentally seeing a friend and asking about plans for the holidays. Given that we have open Schengen visas, we decided to go to Austria. As previously all trips to Austria were limited to Vienna, on the recommendations of experienced skiers decided to go to Solden.
On the website www. soelden. com leaving a request for accommodation, spent a lot of time browsing the sites of various hotels and apartments and made their choice on the apartment http:// www. fabio-soelden. at / appartement-1 /, 720 euros for 5 nights, including final cleaning.
We talked to the apartment owners by e-mail with the help of an online translator, as I speak German at a minimum level. An advance payment of EUR 200 was required to confirm the booking. The advance was paid through Volksbank - a commission of UAH 150, other banks wanted about UAH 300. for the transfer, and still fooled that they lack the details.
We left on Sunday, March 4.2012. We drove to Lviv, rented skis for three crew members, I left my rossignol skis there and took some of the best atomic skis on the recommendation of the rental staff. Attached "tulle". It is cheaper to rent a bed from us, you pay only for the days of the actual ride.
We head for Beregovo, drive to the gas station, fill a full tank of diesel fuel. Gas station employees communicate with each other in Hungarian, they do not speak Ukrainian easily, they obviously translate in their minds. I think we are already abroad, but I see OKKO and prices in hryvnias.
We arrived at the crossing in Luzhanka at about 9 p. m. In front of us were two cars that passed quickly. On the Hungarian side, a female border guard, holding four passports, said, "Oh, Polish visa, " and left. We checked the insurance, the reservation, the receipt of the advance payment were surprised, I think they even called Solden and checked the reservation.
For half an hour we stood in our "pockets", the queue passed us. I really didn't want to go back and go through Slovakia, but we were let through. So, if you have an armor, you can safely travel through Hungary with a Polish visa.
Before Mukachevo, we drove to the car wash, where we for 15 UAH. "knocked down. " The castle on the tulk froze, and the Hungarian customs officer believed that there were only skis, sticks and shoes in the tulk. No packs of cigarettes were carried.
30 kilometers from the border at the gas station bought a matrix (13 euros for 10 days, according to the seller). It is paid by card and now I see that it took only 113 hryvnias. It is paid by card in Hungary until PrivatBank blocks it. The euro is taken, but the delivery is given in forints.
Vignette in Austria - 8 euros for 10 days.
A motorway starts 100 km from the Ukrainian border, leading to the Otstal Valley exit. We went to Innsbruck, bought food for a week, everything is very tasty, paid 70 euros.
1.600 km were driven in 18 hours of clean driving, we didn't spend the night there on the way, we drove slowly 110-120, because there was an hour's reserve.
At the exit from the highway, the police stopped, asked for a driver's license, here I think they also checked the presence of vignettes.
The owner of the apartment was waiting for us, settled. The impression was generally pleasant, but a certain coldness was felt. The house had two apartments on the ground floor, the owners lived on the second floor, and a ski storage room in the basement. Our car was under a canopy.
The apartment did not live up to our expectations. Quite small, an area of .50 square meters. meters, large kitchen with all utensils overlooking the ski area, two bedrooms (one small), one bathroom. Everything is clean, new, but too simple, it looks better in photos. The bedroom was a little damp and seemed to blow out of the window. Draining the water in the toilet served as an alarm clock for all residents. Skibus stop - 50 m.
from the apartment, to the lift 1 stop.
As it turned out, we were given the right to visit Freizeit Arena http:// www. freeze-sold. com /, which we used. It was unusual to visit a sauna for the first time, where women and men soar together.
Two days of skiing, one day was spent visiting AquaDom http:// www. aqua-dome. at /, and then another day of skiing. In three days he did not have time to go around, but he was on all three thousandths. The weather was good, sunny. Day skip costs 45 euros. Friends took an instructor - 150 euros for two hours. Eat on the mountain - 20-30 euros for two.
In general, the prices are not more expensive than in Bukovel, and the wheelchair and service are at a higher level. There are almost no queues on the lifts. After Bukovel, it is unusual, but for an hour I never heard the traditional smell of fumes from tourists.
The budget for the trip is about 1.200 euros for two per week, including all expenses, including the purchase of some products, sweets at home for gifts, except shopping in Parndorf http:// www. designer-outlet-parndorf. at / de. I really liked the outlet, it was the best gift for my wife.
For the first time I decided to personally refund the tax-free, because the amount was quite large. There are no problems with the taxi-free statement in the store, it takes a maximum of 5 minutes. , but to mark it at the border is really not so easy. On the way back we drove again through Luzhanka, the Hungarian customs officer asked himself if there was a taxi-free, after three minutes he handed over our documents and some other paper. I thought that already noted, but everything turned out wrong. After that, the customs officer pointed to the car on the way out and told him to go there. In the absence of a queue at the border, there were already two cars near the booth, we were third.
About an hour we stood in line, we returned the marked tax-free, while checking the actual availability of goods, and the customs officer next in line saying that he "went to eat. " An hour later, the next one in line overtook us and I concluded that he did not wait for the mark of the tax-free. Perhaps his decision to go to eat on the first night was influenced by the fact that the 221st 6.3 AMG had just arrived and the prospect of earning a couple of euros loomed. This Hungarian customs officer spoiled the overall positive impression of the European Union.
In Mukachevo we spent the night at the Star Hotel http:// www. star-ar. com. ua / ua /.
Upon arrival, tax-free checks are handed over to VTB Bank, which refunds cash in hryvnia, approximately 20% commission.
