Western Austria Part 1 - June 2010

We arrived late Monday morning in Zurich after a very pleasant flight from Toronto.

We picked up our car at the airport (a beautiful new Audi) and made our way into Zurich. We were headed to the Jewish neighbourhood to pick up kosher supplies for the next week. After a few wrong turns, we found the Jewish neighbourhood and Kosher City, which is a totally kosher supermarket. We stocked up on some bread, meat and cheese (most of the canned stuff we brought with from Toronto) and were off to Lucerne. 

Arriving in Lucerne in the afternoon, we were headed to the Hotel Sonnenberg, high on a hill with a magnificent view in front of us. We checked in and then headed downtown to explore the old city of Lucerne.  Lucerne is tucked into a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains; with an arm of Lake Lucerne jutting into the downtown area of the city. 

There is a very famous picture postcard of the old wooden bridge that spans this area of Lake Lucerne. You can walk the bridge from one side to the other. Swans and ducks are floating on the lake; it is quite a beautiful sight. The downtown area seems very old with chalet like buildings on the narrow winding streets. Very picturesque.

In town  we saw examples of famous Swiss desserts in a store window...looked good...but another time, perhaps!

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the local supermarket and armed with our list of kosher products of Switzerland, we spent some time familiarizing ourselves with the "food" landscape. 

Hotel Sonnenberg is a combination hotel-school. They teach people how to work in the hotel industrey. So the prices tend to be a bit lower than other Swiss hotels, but because the staff is supervised and they wish to graduate, the service tends to be excellent. It was clean, comfortable and being high above Lucerne, the air was amazing! The doors were very interesting....they had the room number in multiple languages!

And the view of Mount Pilatus, where we were headed Tuesday morning was great. High atop Mount Pilatus in the distance was the chairlift station. 

The view from our window.

Zooming in, we see the chairlift station 7000 feet above us

We had an early night; prepared for the ascent of Mount Pilatus the next morning.

Early Tuesday morning, we headed a short distance down the hill to the chairlift station. The touring of Mount Pilatus is an interesting experience. You ascend the mountain by chairlift. 

On the way up we heard cow bells and looked down to see cows pasturing in the beautiful green fields below.

As we continued up, the terrain moved from green to brown and we wondered, who built that church on the cliff and more important how does anyone get to it?

The chairlift is a two stage process; first to a height of about 5000 feet and the second takes you up to the top of the mountain. It is a total of eight miles to the top of the mountain!

When we arrived at the top, we found a swiss man with the traditional Alphorn. The alphorn  is a labrophone, consisting of a wooden natural horn of conical bore, having a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece, used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland and elsewhere. 

We hiked at the top of the mountain. The views were magnificent. The air was amazing, the weather cool but warmed by the bright sunshine; in short, an ideal day. 

I now knew what Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch meant.

It was said about Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch that when he was well into his 70’s he decided to travel from Germany to Switzerland for a vacation. This was in the late 1800’s when cars and airplanes were unheard of. The trip was an arduous trek by train and coach. He was asked, ‘Rabbi, you’re an old man. Why are you taking such a trip?’ Replied Rabbi Hirsch, “After 120 years, I’ll meet my maker and he will ask me, ‘Raphael, did you ever see my magnificent Alps?’” I have to be able to answer that question.

The world is truly a magnificent creation filled with all of God’s beauty. And we want to be able to answer the same question when we are asked: Fran, David, did you take the time to see my amazing creations?

After hiking at the top of the mountain, you then descend by cog railway, which places you on the other side of the valley from where you started, directly on the shore of lake Lucerne.

There is only one track with trains going up and down; so halfway up, the conductor moves the centre ramp to line up with the track that will allow him to continue down

The view on the way down

Entering Lucerne

The famous hotel that looms above Lucerne

Could not resist...it means Jewellery and Watches!

 You cross the highway and take a water taxi back to downtown Lucerne,  where you then take a bus back to the chairlift station where you parked your car. It is a 4 hour process that allows you to experience 4 different modes of transport (chairlift, train, boat and bus) with amazing views all around. Thank God, it was sunny, clear and warm. 

We checked out of the hotel and headed eastward into Austria. We had a 5 hour drive ahead of us and spent the night in the Hotel Maxmillian in Mayrhofen. We were now in Austria and in the midst of the Austrian Alps. Most of the "hotels" in the area, are more like Bed & Breakfast places, built in the ski chalet style, with the owner/family occupying part of the home. The one thing that ties them all together is that they are immaculately clean and very organized. 

Wednesday morning, we left early for our ride thru the Alps and some of the most picturesque drives anywhere in the world. All around there were waterfalls and mountains. Being early June, there was still snow melting on the tops of the mountains which meant that waterfalls and streams below were full and flowing strongly.

Our first stop was at Krimmel Falls which we reached by driving through the Gerlos Pass.

 The falls were amazing. After walking at the bottom of the falls where you had to get wet from the large and constant mist, we hiked up the side of the falls; uphill all the way and all the while being passed by elderly Austrians equipped with their hiking sticks, hiking boots and occasionally their lederhoisen.

There were amazing flowers everywhere. 

We continued on to our major destination of the day, the GrossKlocknerStrasse; The High Alpine Road of Austria. This very famous alpine road leads you into the heart of the Hohe Tauern National Park, to the highest mountain in Austria, the Grossglockner (3,798m) and its glacier, the Pasterze.  

You pass through a unique world of mountains with blossoming alpine meadows, fragrant mountain forests, massive cliffs and eternal ice to the foot of the Grossglockner, the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe. 
The construction of the road began in 1924 and was finally opened in 1935. You pay a toll to travel the road and it is well worth it. 

By the way, there are discount cards that drastically reduce the cost of tourist travel in Austria. We used the Salzburgerland Card which allows you entry in a specified number of days to any of the many attractions listed on the card. Many chairlifts are included and there is usually no limit to the number of times that one may experience a particular site. In one case, we rode up the side of a mountian on a chair lift and returned on a wheeled toboggan and enjoyed it so much that we did it three times; no extra charge. This card also gives you reduced entry to the GrossKlockner and to a number of other toll roads. Highly recommended.

Back to the GrossKlockner...you begin driving in the valley and begin to climb. You will have a driving and nature experience of a special kind on 48 kilometres of high alpine road with 36 bends, and an altitude ascent to 2,504 metres!

Every once in a while, a cyclist would pass us....GOING UP!!!! Showoff!!!!

The area where you begin is all green; halfway up it turns to brown and then it turns totally white as you are surrounded by immense quantities of snow and the temperature goes from short sleeves and shorts to freezing!!!!. It is amazing.

We made our way back down the mountain and continued on to our self catering chalet in Kaprun and a well deserved salmon dinner! 

Not bad for a home cooked meal on the road!

Tomorrow...the Kitzloch Klam Gorge and the Werfen Castle.

All the best

Fran and David

Australia Part 6 - January 2010

It was now Wednesday morning and we had made an appointment to visit the Hobart Synagogue. It is right downtown next to the main police station.

The shul was founded by a Brit Judah Solomon over 165 years ago. He came to Tasmania when he was sent as a convict for stealing goods in his hometown, leaving his wife and 10 children behind. There is a long and strange tale as to how he ended up founding the shul...you can read all the history at the following site:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080829215011/http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=143

We had made arrangements to have the shul opened for us by David Clark, who is sort of the President/Gabbai/Guide and KOLBO at the Hobart Shul. 

As per the sign above, the shul is shared by the Reform (Progressive) community and the Orthodox community of Hobart. There is rarely a minyan and David and his wife Penina are the only Shomrei Shabbat in Hobart. In fact, David told us that there are three Shomrei Shabbat families in Tasmania; one other in Launceston, and the third in Queenstown. They all get together for chagim and have their kosher supplies sent in from Melbourne.

The following excerpt is from an article written about the shul in the Australian Jewish News about the time that we visited Hobart.

Much of this enthusiasm is derived from David and Penina Clark. Their house is at the core of Hobart’s Orthodox community. Every Shabbat they open their doors to countless guests who enjoy a meal with them.

They recently bought a double bunk so they could accommodate more visitors.

 Their house has become popular as a haven for Jewish travellers and many young Israelis come to stay with them — they have hosted more than 40 guests in the past three months.

“When another Jew arrives in Tasmania, the excitement of David and Penina is overwhelming,” said Rabbi Gordon.

“Their hospitality is literally like Avraham Avinu.

There are people coming and going from their house all the time and they are literally the centre of Yiddishkeit in Hobart and all of Tasmania.

”Indeed, the Clarks have listed their house in the phone book as an unofficial Jewish community centre.

On Saturday mornings when they’re not at shul they hold improvised services in their house. 

They have an Aron kodesh (holy ark) and a Torah in their dining room and a library containing several hundred Jewish books.

Their home is kosher to the highest standards, despite the absence of kosher shops, and they host simchas for both the Orthodox and Progressive congregations.

Because of the origins of Tasmania being so closely tied to prisons, it is quite understandable that there should be a prisoner's dock in the shul; for when convicts would choose to come and pray! Here are David Clark, Fran, Ruchama and Irving sitting in the Prisoner's Dock!

We left the shul and headed up to the top of Mount Wellington for a bird's eye view of the city. 

We spent the rest of the day strolling the downtown area and the waterfront before heading to the airport for our flight back to Melbourne, where we would spend Shabbat.

We flew to melbourne and checked into the Kimberley Garden Hotel, right in the heart of the Jewish area. It was originally built as a totally kosher hotel and has since been taken over by one of the large chains. It has self catering units and being right next door to Australia's replica of Chabad 770, is in a very convenient location.

We spent the entire day Thursday touring downtown Melbourne which is quite pretty and modern. We went to the Queen Victoria Market, one of the largest markets in Australia, and stocked up on gifts and souvenirs. 

Friday, we shopped and relaxed. 

We had a wonderful Shabbat, davening at the Mizrachi on Friday night and at the Kollel on Shabbat morning. We ate Shabbat lunch at Sara (nee Abramoff) and Moshe Schrek's and had a great meal and great company!

Sunday and Monday were quite interesting days and were a good way to wind down our trip.

We left Sunday morning (after a breakfast at the Famous Glick's Bakery and stocking up on kosher food at Coles for the two day drive) and began our trek along the Great Ocean Drive. It follows the coast for about 200 km on the south coast of Australia and is a very picturesque drive. Unlike the California version, this one occasionally goes right thru little seaside towns and resorts and serves to break up the trip.

We stopped at one of the villages along the way (Appollo Bay)  and slowly made our way to our B & B in Lavers Hill. It was a beautiful home high on a hill overlooking lush rolling hills below.

After checking in and meeting our hosts, we went out to see the Twelve Apostles which are a series of massive limestone pillars that jut our of the ocean off the coast. There are only 7 left as the rest have fallen to erosion. They are quite a sight! 

We returned to the B & B (a gorgeous 15 acre site high in the hills overlooking the rolling plains to the coast) on which the owners have planted thousands of flowering plants...beautifully maintained...and ate dinner there.

At 10 PM, we went with our host into the dark rainforest nearby to see the glowworms. It was like being in the enchanted forest...pitch black with glowing lights all around. It was amazing but sorry....no pictures!

The next morning we went to the Otway Fly which is a walkway erected high above the treetops in the rainforest. Some of these trees are over 150 feet tall and you are literally walking up in the treetops. Beautiful views and magnificent trees. Some are larger than the Douglas Firs in the Westerns States.

We drove back to Melbourne and caught an early dinner at one of the restaurants before heading to the airport for our last internal flight of the trip. The first, btw, that was delayed...but we arrived into Sydney late in the evening 
and checked back in at the famous David hotel. The Davids, Ruth and Ivor have been amazing. They are the example of the highest standards of Hachnasat Orchim. We have felt so at home with them and hopefully have established a long lasting friendship with them. Here we are all practicing for Purim...

Our last day in Sydney was really relaxing. We walked the length of Oxford Street (one of the main drags) and then Fran and I drove down to Bondi Beach. It was quite cold with humongous waves, so we just sat in the car with the windows rolled down and enjoyed the refreshing breezes while Fran read and I caught a quick nap.

We ended our trip with a visit to one of the local eateries where we had grilled lambchops (awesome).

We got up this morning at 5 AM and were at the airport at 6:15 AM. Ruchama and Irving caught their flight to Hong Kong (on their way to Israel) and we waited another hour till our first flight of the day to Auckland NZ.

We expected to go into Auckland during our 6 hour layover, but were cautioned by the Air NZ people here that there is a horrendous rush hour at that time and therefore what seemed like a 6 hour window was really no more than a couple at best. So we stayed here and we are bored to death. We have looked at all the stores and we played bananagrams and ate alot of fruit and veggies but there is not much else to do...so I am off to take a shower and try to refresh myself.

Our next flight to Vancouver (13 hour leg) leaves in couple of hours and then we have a 3 and a half hour  layover in Vancouver till our flight to Toronto to arrive home at about 11:30 PM. All in all, from the time we left the David's home in Sydney, that will be about 33 hours...no jetlag for us tonight....(we hope).

All the best ...see you all in Toronto or in Israel

It's been a great trip...

Fran and David