Yep, I'm a bit confused too, and we took a convoluted journey up one mountain before coming down and having to go up another one. Me and the car not getting along, so Chrissi is the driver, and I'm blaming google maps/Carys for our slight detour today.
The bits I had sorted out kind of went to plan. Run booked, numbers and goody bags all collected from the town hall in Telfes. Our race entry also gave us a free cable car pass, as they needed to get us up to the mid station for a start, and of course get us all down again. Even if I do say so myself 105 euros for 4 race entries, loads of food/souvenirs, and magnificent views quite a bargain. And that's before we even get onto the run itself!
prep
registration
someones in the toilet so killing time
Bryn feeling confident
Realised we hadn't any breakfast so a glass of water and wafer bar had to sustain these elite athletes at altitude. Chatted to some fellow runners, turns out most were there for the Austrian championships, so we stood at the back for our 7.5k uphill slog. There was also a 11.5k version but wouldn't have had the cable car fun if we had done that.
wandering to the start line
struggling to find anyone fatter than me
pre race prep
lliswerry running family
The 'race' started, Bryn shot off and I was left in no mans land, and on about the third switchback realised this was not going to work without a walk/run strategy :) Never done anything like it, but the views and scenery were magnificent, the one thing I didn't do was take photos. Instead jogged where I could and marched uphill where I could. For the last 2-3 ks was doing 20 seconds of each in a never ending hill interval training session. And then got to the final turn where there was a pretty much vertical incline, where I managed to take some old fella who had been swapping places intermittently with me for the last few ks. (almost went imperial there for a minute, but would be doffing my cap to the new face of conservatism, Lord Snooty, and that wouldn't be what I would do if I ever had the pleasure of his company)
Oh and some coke! Lots of great photos and cheering in the rest of Lliswerry as is tradition at any race in any country. And then an amazing cable car back down, taking in both the views and the size of the mountain we had just runclimbed (new word alert)
essential refuel
feeling top of the world
down we go
A little bit of a walk through the beautiful village of Telfes, and then the rain arrived, right on cue to send us back to our hotel, with lots of happy, achieving faces in the car ride home, and loads of bad snacks bought from a roadside service station. Looked for a possible restaurant for the evening but off season and Sunday did not help matters, and once again, we just went downstairs.
teenage mutant ninja turtles
Couple of hours bantz, cards, mixed grill and a nice baked american cheesecake that I determined as being my birthday cake and heralded my 47th year on this planet.
happy birthday to me
-Carys-
I thought I was good at being 'navigator' for Team Williams when on the road, and was the only member of the family who could use Google Maps efficiently, but that label seemed to go out the window this morning - not literally.
We were woken at around 6:30am by the bells - the actual bells from the church next door. They were loud, they were ongoing and most of all, they were quite annoying. Once they eventually stopped, we packed our things, braced ourselves and hopped in the car to head to our run destination.
get me away from those bells
So, like I mentioned earlier, we had to make a small detour because I messed up a bit with the google maps. Well, technically it wasn't my fault since I was just saying what the phone told me to say, but we ended up on a mountain, on some windy, narrow, stone path. We soon escaped, but I was relieved of my navigating duties and just enjoyed the scenery instead.
30 minutes later, in the town of Telfes - not to be confused with Tulfes, which is the name of the place we are staying in - I was having serious doubts about this run. My confidence wasn't boosted when we saw the Kenyan international team turn up and a tv crew interviewing some top athletes. I was also freaked out by the thought of being carried thousands of feet into the air in a small compartment, but I really enjoyed the cable car ride when I was actually in it. The views were stunning, so that distracted me from the fear.
crack on
I want to hold your hand
At the start point, we started to prepare for our 7km adventure, and soon we were off. It was a really nice event, and I stopped occasionally o take photos and enjoy the sights. It was such a well-organised run, with water stations and wet sponges to soak your faces with at plenty of places on-course.
only way is up
bloody bells again
false flat
After an 1 and half of walk-running (more walking than running - but it was all uphill!) we arrived at the mountain peak, or at least the run peak. We were greeted with a facebook live from dad, and lots of tasty food and drink as well. The apple, pancake and sugar was particularly delicious, and just the perfect things to have after a mountain climb.
It was quite cold at the top, and wearing our matching vests, we weren't the warmest so we hopped back into the cable cars and took the descent down. It didn't take long to get back to the car, and stopping briefly to pick up some supplies from a petrol station, we made our way back to the hotel.
worth it for the views
loving the cable cars now innit
The afternoon was spent relaxing, and we had dinner in the hotel restaurant again. I had vegetable wraps tonight, and I think I enjoyed them more than the pasta. Speaking of pasta, I thought I'd mention in our 'race goodie bags', we were gifted a hat, some fizzy apple juice, cereal bar, some leaflets and bag of pasta each. Isn't that an odd thing to get as a run reward? Ah well, I'm sure it'll come to great use in one of the Air BnB's we'll be staying in soon.
I also had some cheesecake, american style with cream and strawberry sauce, but I was so stuffed I couldn't finish it - mum and Bryn gave me a helping hand. We finished with a few games of cards, before coming back to the room.
Hopefully the bell won't wake us up tomorrow - especially as we can actually have an optional lie in - the first one of the holiday!
Happy Birthday Dad, I hope you've had a good one. Love you always x
Most things went to plan today, took almost everyone in the family to contribute to make it so though. And not always in the ways they normally would.
-Carys-
We had a longer sleep today, which was nice, though we're yet to have a lie in - it''ll come soon, I hope. We left the hotel just as it started to rain, which is unfortunate but luckily it stopped by the time we got to the park.
wake up, it's parkrun time
Parkrun was lovely, everyone was very welcoming and kind. The course was quite difficult it had quite a few different terrains and some inclines. I didn't run to my best ability, but I have two more parkruns to redeem myself - it's okay though.
one down
Once we'd had a chat with some other tourists and also some of the volunteers, we headed back to our hotel. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant rather than the club lounge, but I was feeling a bit ill, so I only had a few bits and pieces.
The next part of our day consisted of us packing up our things and saying goodbye to our gorgeous two-roomed hotel, whilst worried about leaving something behind. Well, that was mostly me, I often get paranoid.
With our suitcases, we crammed onto the underground and got off at a large station where we would be able to pick up our car that would help take us around Europe. We found the car in the car park a few streets away from the station and dad sat in it for a few minutes to get used to the controls. There was quite a 'debacle' but I'm sure that'll be explained elsewhere. We didn't discuss a car name, so I'm sure there will be an argument about that soon.
alls well that ends well
We all helped one another to work out how to get out of Munich and head towards our Austrian location, also using our good friend Google Maps. Once on the autobahn we'd settled down. The views were pretty, especially when you could see the mountains approach in Austria.
head for the hills
The town of Tulfes is situated in quite a secluded area of the mountain range, but has a few shops, restaurant, houses and hotels around the place. WE came up to our room, a nice space with a double bed and a separate area with two singles for Bryn and I. It's pretty, but the main attraction is the view. We can see the peaks of tbe alps from our very own window.
family friendly
room with a view, Bryns finger
After we accidentally gatecrashed a party - or so we assumed - whilst going for a walk and drink in the town, we ended up back in the hotel having some food. A quick game of cards outside before back to the room to get ready for tomorrow's exciting adventure.
it's her party and she'll cry if she wants to
(Lloyd)
Getting into the German lingo today, apparently I am fahrter, but in years to come I will possibly become a gross fahrter.
Beautiful nights sleep in our club room, much needed after a full on day yesterday, but the absolute luxury appreciated. I heartily recommend the club room experience to one and all. Yes, you pay a little more but pretty much wall to wall food and completely looked after for not all that much more than room only #toptraveltip in city breaks, particularly the Sheraton.
sleeping beauty
Location chosen today (Westpark Sheraton) so we could stroll down to Westpark for our first parkrun of the tour. The troops assembled at the meeting point, when the run director asked newbies and tourists to follow her for the pre race run briefing, there was no-one left, so she made the decision to go for the combo approach :)
run briefing for the local
Met runners from Oz, South Africa, Druridge Bay, Bath and many other places as the parkrun community had their usual Saturday morning get together. Bryn shot off on the 2 lap (mainly paved) course with a couple of sharp hills on each lap, and plenty of recovery slopes and flat in between. My form a little hampered by 24 hours gluttony and beer but a respectable international parkrun PB (that is now a thing) knocking off around 50 seconds from Crissy Field last year. Not sure the next 2 weeks will see much in the way of improvement, this was a good course to run on.
A bit of a chat afterwards, and usual photo opportunities, and then back to the Sheraton for their full breakfast buffet, which would pretty much get us through the rest of the daylight hours, food wise. Much needed shower and then check out and over to central station to collect car from Avis.
Must say the service highly efficient from Avis, car all ready, albeit 6 storeys up a multi storey. Perhaps I was having flash backs from last car park experience (see Spain blog) but not 100% happy with the driving and couldn't find the clutch biting point. A couple of stalls on the city centre roads, and pretty much ready to call it a day as it just weren't happening in a manual, right hand drive car, and no opportunity to get much familiarity. Fair doos to Chrissi, stepped up to the plate, and with my as co pilot and Carys/Bryn the eyes in the back, we navigated out of Munich and onto the autobahn.
superwoman
autobahn ... and relax
One stop in a very chaotic service station to pick up the essential Austrian vignette, a pre requisite for driving there. Chrissi pretty comfortable behind the wheel, could get used to this, documenting the border crossings and taking in the scenery. Well that will be the case until I can find a supermarket car park to practice my clutch control.
Just before Innsbruck we headed up ... and up ... and up to the ski resort of Tulfes. Quaint family run hotel where we will be now bunking down for 3 nights. Right next to a church, that will be interesting.
the bells the bells
Took a stroll through the resort, most things closed, but the sound of an oomp pah pah band in the distance meant only one thing. A bar? Turned out we might have gatecrashed someones private party, but our lack of language skills and perhaps brazen cheek meant we joined them on the lawn and listened to the band they had kindly booked. Hints of the Griswolds again?
Carys mortified at the trouble we seem to get in the most innocuous situations, and we have ridden our luck today, so quit while ahead, and back to our little hotel to sample some of their produce. With a big running festival tomorrow, we found some pretty wholesome food and beer to get the body right, schnitzel in my case seemed to do the trick. All will be revealed tomorrow. If you haven't heard from us over the next 24 hrs, we will be somewhere up an Austrian Alp. They are pretty high!
We took a flight today that looked something like this, all other travelling was via the S bahn to our hotel Sheraton Westpark and U bahn to see some of the Munich sights. What a great day ...
Just to set the scene ...
We chased the music today ... and found it, and accompanying refreshments. We watched the sun rise over Heathrow airport and saw the sun set over the Fraunkirche Dome in Munich.
Limited sleep and the caught the hopper to Heathrow Terminal 5. Early starts synonymous with the holiday feeling. With the check ins just stirring into life we got in the business class queue by mistake. They still checked us in fortunately but ignored my cheeky upgrade request.
you don't look business class
So we were straight into the Wetherspoons rather than the business class lounge, but the bloody mary and bacon buttie much more in keeping with our chavtastic take on life.
usual routine
All ready for take off so took 40 winks near boarding gate. Woke up in a dream like state to see the last people going through the gate and the rest of my family hypnotised by their devices. For a moment I thought they had left me there, but quick smart we ducked under the last call and boarded last but not least. Flight pretty much on its way pretty quickly and made a jerky and sharp ascent hitting all sorts of weather patterns as the recent hot air mixed up with all sorts to assure some bumpy moments. What I didn't do was press the air steward service button and ask if we were about to crash like some clown a couple of rows in front. Although I might have thought it :)
all in one piece
nice to get off
On landing in Munich we strolled through the various checks and baggage pick up, and sorted ourselves with a tidy little family day travel card. This got us on the S bahn to the city, where we picked up the U bahn to the hotel. Felt like a little sleep, but fearful that might have meant we might continue into Austria quicker than we planned, I held it together.
one day pass
riding the S bahn
Sheraton Westpark, which we stayed in last November was brilliant again. Checked us straight into our bit of luxury, adjoining club rooms. And with the extra hour that meant it was lunchtime so a snack and a beer in the club lounge. Perfect way to set ourselves up for an afternoon of sightseeing and activity.
a whole bryn
Caught the U bahn to Karlz platz so that Bryn could feel like it was home from home and spend an hour looking at all the sports casual stuff in the various shops. You can take the boy our of Newport ...
bayern shop
Gave us chance to revisit some of the old town highlights, and show the kids a few of the places we visited last November.
calm down, calm down
We then caught the train up to a stop near the Englishgarten so we could have a really good stroll in the mid afternoon sun, it's what you do isn't it? To be fair, the gardens were beautiful, and the haunting sounds of a brass oomp pah pah band drew us to the centre and what turned out to be the popular beer garden Chinesischertuem, playing out of the 1790 originally built Chinese Tower. Trestle tables and steins, what's not to like? Carys went for apple juice but the rest of us had a beer and plenty of banter in a pretty busy place. Best chat we have had with Bryn for a while, a legal pint with his parents, and hear more about his life than perhaps we have done in months. Be a shame of this is our last full family holiday.
upper body training
cheers
bryns hand, job done
all muck and brass
Strolling through the park after that felt like a min glastonbury in the sun, with most of the local university out on the grass and in the associated river, which has quite a current. Both the surfing at the top end and then a rapid (un)lazy river for a few hundred yards that people were throwing themselves into. I was tempted, but was a young persons game, so encouraged the kids to have a go, which they duly did!
festival atmos
surfy dudes
responsible parenting
Made our way back to our little piece of luxury, a planned launch point for the trip which may not be emulated in terms of quality from here on in, although between the 4 of us, eating all the food they had on offer in the exec lounger, along with ample liquid refreshment, I think we've had our moneys worth!
-Carys-
I have a lot more to write about today since we had a day full of adventures and fun, but I'll keep it a moderate length.
Early start, of course - around 3:30pm we started to wake up and crawl from our beds. We didn't have too much to pack up, but what we did was stowed in the suitcases and we got ourselves ready for the day ahead. Following a short shuttle bus journey to Terminal 5, we had a smooth ride through customs and baggage dropoff and we were in a Wetherspoons having breakfast before we knew it.
grubs up
Feeling tired, but full from a vegetarian traditional breakfast, I went for a wander around a couple of the shops, as I always do at the airport, and then it was time to board the flight. We had a little incident where we went to sit down in the seats for a different gate to the one we were boarding because the seats in our gate were quite full. We all felt quite dozy so we didn't realise that the sign was saying 'now closing' for our flight. We hopped up after realising, and had a laugh about it afterwards, but that could have been a disaster if we'd missed the plane.
funny, not funny
The flight was simple - I felt a bit queasy but that's normal for me when flying. WE were on the ground very quickly and it was lovely to be having such a short flight - it was only an 1 and a half or so. We picked up our bags and jumped onto a train. Hopping on and off a few trains, we made our way to the hotel.
wide awake club
I was delighted to find out that following a booking mishap we'd been given two adjoining rooms so the parents and the children could have their own rooms each. We sat in the club lounge for a while, enjoying ourselves in the gorgeous hotel and indulging in some bread and cheese snacks that had been left for guests.
so cheesy
Then we went out adventuring, looking around the shops, stunning architecture of Munich city and using the train station system again. Dad and I went inside a huge church, with beautiful arches and a long aisle.
shop til u drop
for historical purposes only
Once we found it, we sat in a large beer garden, listening to live played music and drinking - beer for the others, sparkling apple juice for me, which was very tasty. Beer is too bitter anyway. We had a laugh together and the lovely weather made the time even more enjoyable. I chose to buy a huge pretzel too, just because its quite a classic german delicacy, and IT actually tasted really good.
the sensible one
the ... well, you know ///
We went to see the surfers ride the difficult waves which were carried y a strong current on the waves of the river. They looked really cool. Bryn and I turned into a pair of adrenaline junkies then and went for a 'swim' in the 'lazy river'. The current sort of takes you along, and you can see that from the many people diving into the river and riding along the river. It was so much, and really exciting, though it took a lot of strength to pull ourselves up onto the side of the river when we needed to get out - we didn't want to be taken too far down the river...
swim little fishies
happy endings
Once we'd dried off and calmed down from our 'extreme water sports' we got the train back to the hotel and spent the evening winding down after our exciting day.
Most things went to plan today, took almost everyone in the family to contribute to make it so though. And not always in the ways they nor...
What we doing?
3 Parkruns in Germany, Italy and Poland;
6 countries so above plus Austria, Slovenia and Czech Republic;
2 birthdays, mine and Chrissis;
1 Mountain run in the Alps;
1 Running tour in Brno;
.....and so much more hiking, cycling and somethings in the water ....
