John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 4 - FREE DAY IN SEEFELD

Seefeld

Today we have a free day. Why not explore Seefeld, take a walk around the Lake and admire the rolling hills which surround us, hire a boat, play some golf or enjoy a luscious “torte” at a local cafe. Perhaps take the local train just a short walk from the hotel and enjoy a picturesque ride through the mountains, or simply experience the spa facilities at the hotel before enjoying yet another delicious meal at our hotel.
 The tourist information is also a stone’s throw from the hotel. Our Tour Manager can also advise on the various options available.

Janet reported in her journal that she had been “restless, but [had a] goodish sleep. [I] heard Mr. Blackbird(s)[i] singing away like billyo at 4.15am. [It was] light at 5.15am. [A] bit later [I] heard swifts and other birds. Fabulous! [I got] up [at] 7.15am.”

[i] Blackbird(s): tentatively plural, because two or more could frequently be heard.

 I got up at 7.35am.… Yesterday, I made a note “8.00am, breakfast tomorrow.” Today was the day of our planned expedition to Untermieming.


Places visited or mentioned are highlighted in yellow (click to enlarge).

This was the “Fahrplan” that Berni had given me:





And these were my own notes, from searches using Google Maps “Directions”:




“09:16” at the top was added today.

I’d planned to get a bus at 10.20am from Seefeld, but it looked as though we’d have time to spare after breakfast; so, before we went down to the restaurant, I looked at Google Maps “Directions” again (08:13–08:17) for an earlier bus: “09:16”. Then we went down. Janet and I took our turn at the “naughty table” today.[ii]

[ii] Naughty table: The following information has been stated before, but here is a summary: There were 48 members of our Riviera Travel party (not including Berni the Dutch tour manager and Mieszko the Polish driver). All but ten of these were accommodated at breakfast and dinner in one room, and these ten (Janet and I; Bill and Lil, who actually lived in Briar Road, Thornton; Val and Mal; Chris and Patsy; and a couple, whose names we can’t remember) were seated at a long table (two tables pushed together) in a relatively narrow room (narrower than my scribbled illustration suggests) next to the first room. The problem with that arrangement was that three of the people (“4”, “6”, “8”) were “trapped” by the wall behind them and by one or two other people beside them. The seating along the walls was on benches. Being thus trapped is loathed and feared by Janet and me, and gives rise to feelings of panic. The problem was exacerbated at breakfast time, when one wanted to be back and forth repeatedly from and to the breakfast buffet. At dinner time, there was waiter/waitress service for all but the salad course, when one had to get up to serve oneself at the buffet. The arrangement was crazy when one considered that there were many unoccupied tables in the blank area below “Breakfast buffet / salad buffet (dinner)”; but the management didn’t want to assign these to Riviera guests.

There was a complaint made to Berni, who arranged for the two tables to be separated, to seat four persons each, and for the remaining two to be seated at the table where he and Mieszko had been sitting. I dubbed this last the “naughty table”.

That arrangement wasn’t entirely satisfactory for Janet at dinner times, for she would only avail herself of the salad course, and would want to leave rather than just sit there; but she wouldn’t want me to be left at the “naughty table” all alone. For that reason, yesterday, we occupied “8” and “10”. Bill and Lil, who arrived after we did, considered it to be their turn to sit at one of the main tables and were miffed to be consigned to the “naughty table”. Val and Mal were “7” and “9” (or vice versa). At dinner time, conversation went very well indeed; and it occurred to me that the next day (i.e. today) Janet and I could occupy the “naughty table”, and then, when she decided to leave, I could go and occupy the end seat of that main table. That was the plan, but see below.

This was the menu for dinner today. I marked my choice with a “1”, making it look, as much as I could, like a Continental “1” with a long upstroke.


This evening’s menu, with my selection indicated by a “1” with a long upstroke. At dinner time, a less “Continental”-looking “1” had been added.

We returned to the room and got ready, then headed for the railway station: I couldn’t quite read what I’d written in my notes for the setting-out location of the №434 bus; but Berni’s Fahrplan had the №434 as leaving from “Seefeld in Tirol Bahnhof”, albeit at a different time. At the station entrance was an information office; so we went in, asked from where the bus would leave, and the clerk pointed to the row of bus stops behind her. So that’s where we went. We didn’t have to wait long.


I’ve highlighted our hotel (“Hocheder”) and the “Seefeld in Tirol Bahnhof” bus stops in yellow, and added the name in English, “St. Oswald Parish Church”, to the church we’d later visit.


Ticket, purchased on the bus at “09:10”

After we boarded and purchased our tickets, the driver got off for eine Zigarettenpause.


Monday 3 July 2023 09:12:38
№434 bus from Seefeld to Telfs outside Seefeld Bahnhof


Monday 3 July 2023 09:15:24
Aboard the №434 bus from Seefeld to Telfs, with an ÖBB train arriving at the station

Everything “went like clockwork” today, and this was greatly helped by clear signposting everywhere: figurative, in the case of transport; literal, while we were walking. On the bus — which, incidentally, was electric, judging by the whine of its motor at a pitch always directly proportional to the speed at which the bus was going — there was an illuminated sign showing the name of the next stop, so we knew exactly where we were. That would not be important on this bus, for we were going to where it terminated, “Telfs Anton-Auer-Straße”; but it would be essential on the next one, for we’d have to get off at a specific location, “Mieming G[ast]h[of] Post”, before its destination Nassereith. At the destination of the first bus, in Anton-Auer-Straße, Telfs, there were illuminated signs listing which buses were due to arrive and when; and so we had ca.¾-hour till the №4176 Nassereith bus would be due. (I hadn’t noted, in my researches earlier today, the time of this bus; but I think I’d ascertained that the №4176 would run hourly.) I can’t remember whether the Café Chocolat next to the bus stop was closed, or just unwelcoming-looking; but ahead of us was a crossroads, with a sign “Rathaussaal” pointing to the right. I guessed that where a town hall was, there also would be shops and cafés; and, indeed, some 220 yards down that road, there was a right turn, with an information office on another street corner just ahead and next door just beyond it a baker’s shop-cum-café.


Bus stop and café highlighted in yellow


Till receipt from “Der Bäcker Ruetz”, printed “09:48:08”


Monday 3 July 2023 09:53:16
Refreshments at Der Bäcker Ruetz, Untermarkt 1, Telfs

We went back to the bus stop to await the arrival of the №4176 Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof to Nassereith bus.


Ticket, issued on the bus at “10:29”

I rang the bell when “Mieming Gh Post” appeared on the indicator.


Open Street Map labels the brook “Lehnbach”, whereas Google Maps and other sources call it “Stöttlbach”. On arriving at “Mieming Gh Post”, Janet and I crossed Mieminger Straße and turned left at “Dr. Maria Strigl”. It seems likely to me that when Chris and I caught the postbus in 1971 from Mieminger Straße, we’d have gone up by the parallel road along the Stöttlbach.


Monday 3 July 2023 10:40:52
Off the №434 Nassereith bus at Mieming Gh Post bus stop


Monday 3 July 2023 10:41:22
About to cross Mieminger Straße, Obermieming, to proceed ahead, then left down to Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:43:12
Just having turned left to go down to Untermieming: ahead, “Obermieming 129”


Monday 3 July 2023 10:43:40
Very clear directions to “Untermieming” and “Georgskirche”


Monday 3 July 2023 10:45:24
Continuing towards Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:46:26
Shrine on the way to Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:49:28
Spring on the way to Untermieming (actually, the second such one that we passed)


Monday 3 July 2023 10:49:38
Passing “Obermieming 124”: note the yellow sign ahead


Monday 3 July 2023 10:50:26
“Untermieming” sign pointing straight ahead


Monday 3 July 2023 10:51:18
End of the road at “Obermieming 121”; from there, a footpath


Monday 3 July 2023 10:52:28
The “Georgskirche”, mentioned on the sign earlier


Monday 3 July 2023 10:52:58
Georgskirche, Obermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:53:38
Georgskirche, Obermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:53:44
Georgskirche, Obermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:54:12
Georgskirche, Obermieming: Stations of the Cross portrayed around the outside


Monday 3 July 2023 10:54:40
Georgskirche, Obermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:55:38
Georgskirche, Obermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 10:56:20
Georgskirche, Obermieming: two of the Stations of the Cross


Monday 3 July 2023 10:57:16
Georgskirche, Obermieming: a peek through a window pane


Monday 3 July 2023 10:59:46
Interesting structure on the other side of the path


Monday 3 July 2023 11:00:30
Flowers in the meadow


The address of “Villa Waldheim” is “Untermieming 3” (see below). I’ve labelled the “Pfarrkirche” in English.


Monday 3 July 2023 11:01:14
Untermieming, with the tower and spire of the Parish Church, in the distance


Monday 3 July 2023 11:04:18
Approaching Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:08:30
Passing “Untermieming 46a”: “Lord, give us today our daily bread.”


Monday 3 July 2023 11:08:42
Ahead: “Untermieming 3”


Monday 3 July 2023 11:09:18
Beside “Untermieming 3”: directions to, among other things, “Gasthof Neuwirt”


Monday 3 July 2023 11:11:48
Continuing into Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:13:58
Parish Church and House, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:15:58
Maps outside the Parish House, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:16:12
Detail from the maps outside the Parish House, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:16:26
Detail from the maps outside the Parish House, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:17:52
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:18:28
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:19:48
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:20:00
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:20:28
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:20:46
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:21:16
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:21:50
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:21:58
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:25:10
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:28:16
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:28:30
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:28:40
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:28:52
Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:29:42
Parish Church, Untermieming

I’d forgotten how close the Parish Church was to Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt.


Monday 3 July 2023 11:34:00
Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:36:48
Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:38:28
Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 11:38:40
Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt, Untermieming: “Hotel business only. Restaurant closed.”

It was disappointing that the Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt was closed for passing trade, so we went to the Gasthof Stiegl across the road for refreshments. This was in the process of having another storey built above it. There used to be a small Spar convenience store near to the hotel, but my mental picture of the layout of buildings in 1971 was different from what presented itself to my eyes now. There were a handful of locals there when we entered, some drinking, some there for lunch — mostly middle aged, as was the proprietress. There was a woman — in her eighties, I’d guess — perhaps the proprietress’s mother — who might have been able to tell me what became of the young women Klara and Vroni who’d been at the Neuwirt in 1971; but I didn’t engage her in conversation. I did show the postcard from 1971 to a pair of men at a table near the door, at the opposite end from where we sat, and told them the story of how it came to be that we were there.


Compare the exterior view of the Neuwirt in this postcard with the similar view in “11:36:48”.


Monday 3 July 2023 11:58:22
Refreshments at Gasthof Stiegl, Untermieming 21, Mieming


Bill from the Gasthof Stiegl, printed “12:08:55”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:15:02
Gasthof Stiegl, Untermieming 21, across the road from Gasthof Neuwirt

We left there just before 12.15pm. I had with me the Open Street Map of the area that I’d printed at home. To get a usable scale, I’d omitted most of the route from the “Mieming Gh Post” bus stop to Untermieming, choosing to concentrate on the way across the plateau and down the steep Inn valley-side. It was a useful supplement to the abundant signposts.


Map, rather crumpled and a bit ripped from the use it got today


For “Lehnbach”, read “Stöttlbach”.


Monday 3 July 2023 12:15:44
Directions to “Hängebrücke” and to “Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:17:08
Just beyond Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt on the way to the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:17:44
Inquisitive little pony


Monday 3 July 2023 12:18:34
Looking ahead: “Untermieming 24”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:19:58
Looking back: Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt and the Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 12:21:40
Looking back: Hotel – Gasthof Neuwirt and the Parish Church, Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 12:23:14
Chapel opposite “Untermieming 27”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:23:42
Chapel opposite “Untermieming 27”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:24:08
Chapel opposite “Untermieming 27”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:27:36
Signpost


Monday 3 July 2023 12:28:10
“Mieming” boundary on the way to “Badesee”, indicated by the signpost; we turned left here.


Monday 3 July 2023 12:30:56
View north: Untermieming


Monday 3 July 2023 12:31:12
View north-east


I’ve marked our route to the “Hängebrücke” and beyond on this map.


Monday 3 July 2023 12:31:52
Signpost at a bridge over the nearer Stöttlbach and the farther Krebsbach


Monday 3 July 2023 12:32:28
Crossing the Stöttlbach


Monday 3 July 2023 12:32:50
Unexpected sight!


Monday 3 July 2023 12:33:54
Unexpected sight!


Monday 3 July 2023 12:35:44
Continuing towards the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:37:12
Continuing towards the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:38:10
Still following the signs to the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:39:36
Proceeding to the edge of the Mieminger Plateau


Monday 3 July 2023 12:41:18
Proceeding to the edge of the Mieminger Plateau


Monday 3 July 2023 12:41:58
Still following the signs to the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:43:10
Proceeding to the edge of the Mieminger Plateau


More detailed map than the previous one, showing, e.g., the stile in the photo below. Like the previous map, it also shows the position of the viewpoint from which “12:59:00”, “12:59:40”, “13:00:08”, and “13:00:42” were taken, and the cliff shown in “13:03:54”


Monday 3 July 2023 12:46:52
Chapel on the edge of the Mieminger Plateau


Monday 3 July 2023 12:47:38
Chapel on the edge of the Mieminger Plateau


Monday 3 July 2023 12:48:38
Chapel on the edge of the Mieminger Plateau


Monday 3 July 2023 12:49:00
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 12:52:06
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 12:54:52
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 12:56:12
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 12:59:00
The Inn valley below, including Bahnhof Stams 


Monday 3 July 2023 12:59:40
The Inn valley below, including Stift Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 13:00:08
The “Hängebrücke”, below


Monday 3 July 2023 13:00:42
The Inn valley below


Monday 3 July 2023 13:01:16
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:02:00
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:02:54
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:03:54
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:05:12
The “Hängebrücke”, below


Monday 3 July 2023 13:08:06
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:09:58
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:12:00
Descending to the River Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:14:20
Still following the signs to the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:19:20
The “Hängebrücke”

Having got to the Hängebrücke, our question now was: Where is the trickle of a waterfall that was in the photo from September 1971 that originally whetted Janet’s interest in meeting me? My printed map showed a feature, some 300 yards off in the same direction as we’d been heading, that was indicated by something looking like a blue underscored “m”. So we continued that way.


Monday 3 July 2023 13:19:24
Continuing eastwards from the “Hängebrücke” in search of the waterfall


Monday 3 July 2023 13:22:34
“Untermieming 33”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:25:28
Ahead: the outfall of the Stöttlbach

And so we found it: not a trickle, though, but a torrent! And there were streams that would not permit an approach so close as in that photo from 1971 without getting one’s feet wet. Janet noted in her journal that when we were in Seefeld in Tirol, “it was cool”, and later, when we arrived at “Mieming Gh Post”, “It was getting hotter”; now, as we were trying to find the waterfall, she wrote: “It was hot by then”. 


Monday 3 July 2023 13:27:22
The sought-for waterfall: “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:27:58
The sought-for waterfall: “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:28:06
The sought-for waterfall: “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:29:40
The sought-for waterfall: “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:29:54
Outfall of the Stöttlbach into the Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:31:54
Outfall of the Stöttlbach into the Inn


Monday 3 July 2023 13:32:14
River Inn

A path nearer the river than the one along which we’d come, seemed to lead in the right direction,—


Monday 3 July 2023 13:32:48
Will this lead us back to the “Hängebrücke”?

—but it led to the outlet of a culverted stream, which we couldn’t cross.


Monday 3 July 2023 13:33:54
No, it leads to a dead end.

Janet recalled in her journal: “We returned to the waterfall to find our original route there. I’d said earlier that it was a pity there was no one there to take our photo. As if— but wait. Suddenly a young woman appeared from nowhere and I asked if she would take our photo in front of the waterfall. So she did — then disappeared! What are the chances?!”
 The unlikelihood and unexpectedness of this encounter, at the time, didn’t strike me as forcefully as it did Janet, but in retrospect— She looked as though she was attired for afternoon tea, not for wandering in the woods.


Monday 3 July 2023 13:36:06
Unlikely photo of us, back at “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:36:06 (detail)
Unlikely photo of us, back at “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:36:12
Unlikely photo of us, back at “Wasserfall Stams”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:36:12 (detail)
A torrent today;…


…but by comparison, only a trickle in September 1971

“We headed back, found the bridge, crossed,” Janet wrote: “it bounced — quite scary!” Janet started across first, and I followed when she was part-way across. I could feel the deck oscillating up and down quite severely with no stimulus other than just walking. At first, Janet thought I was deliberately making it do that. I overtook her and got to the other side first.


Monday 3 July 2023 13:41:38
Crossing the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:42:16
Crossing the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:44:08
Crossing the “Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:44:48
Southern tower of the “Hängebrücke”


This map includes the waterfall, “Hängebrücke”, drinking fountain, “Pizzeria Taflan”, and Bahnhof “Stams”. It omits “Stift Stams”, situated to the south of the running track.

The autobahn and pedestrian-and-cyclist underpass, which we came to next, weren’t there on my visit in 1971.


Monday 3 July 2023 13:45:40
Pedestrian underpass under the Inntal Autobahn A12, completed ca.1990


Monday 3 July 2023 13:46:20
Pedestrian underpass under the Inntal Autobahn A12


Monday 3 July 2023 13:46:28
Pedestrian underpass under the Inntal Autobahn A12


Monday 3 July 2023 13:47:06
Pedestrian underpass under the Inntal Autobahn A12


Monday 3 July 2023 13:48:48
Drinking fountain at the Hängebrücke Commercial Area, Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 13:49:06
Drinking fountain at the Hängebrücke Commercial Area, Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 13:51:04
“Zur Hängebrücke”


Monday 3 July 2023 13:51:46
Proceeding south-west through the Hängebrücke Commercial Area, Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 13:54:24
Turning left, to go under the railway


Monday 3 July 2023 13:54:38
Bahnhof Stams in the distance


Monday 3 July 2023 13:54:58
Proceeding southwards under the railway


Monday 3 July 2023 13:58:02
Continuing southwards; (ahead:) Stift Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 13:59:46
Roundabout on the Tiroler Straße; (ahead:) Stift Stams

We saw the Pizzeria Taflan, which we thought we’d try for lunch, both because one rarely goes wrong with a pizzeria, and because there was no other eating establishment to be seen. But first we went on to the railway station.


Monday 3 July 2023 14:01:36
Going westwards along the Tiroler Straße, about to turn right into Bahnhofstraße; (ahead:) Pizzeria Taflan, Bahnhofstraße 1, Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 14:04:12
Bahnhof Stams

I consulted the posted timetables and made a note of times of trains to Innsbruck:




Times of trains added in blue ink. Presumably, I wrote “HbH” because we wanted trains to Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof.

There was no staffed ticket office at Bahnhof Stams, and the on-screen instructions on the ticket machine were in German, of which I could not make complete sense; but there were some manual workers nearby, who summoned an ÖBB office employee, who helped us to operate the machine. He asked if we had a senior pass or some such thing; I said, “No”, but pointed to the “Senior” option on the screen, the pressing of which brought up the question of one’s age to answer. (The cue for my suggesting that, was that we’d already had a “senior” concession on the train from Innsbruck to Seefeld on Saturday without the use of any such pass, also on the buses earlier today.) Anyway, we got it done and the ticket printed. In retrospect, I realise that I should have specified an earlier train than “16:25”, say the “15:25”, for the ticket would still be valid for two hours afterwards.




Ticket issued at “14:15”: “Valid Monday 3 July at 16:25 for departure within 2 hours.”

Then we returned to the pizzeria. It was very busy. The only hitch was ordering a drink and not getting it; after that, we weren’t waiting too long to be served. I had a Greek salad and Janet a tuna salad “ohne Dressing”. To drink I had that contradiction in terms, a “dunkel Weissbier”. We mistakenly ordered a 0.5ℓ glass of draught Sprite for Janet, when she really wanted Sprite Zero. Anyway, I downed that before drinking the beer. Janet had a Coke Zero instead, and later a second one.


Monday 3 July 2023 14:46:24
Lunch at Pizzeria Taflan, Bahnhofstraße 1, Stams


Bill, obviously not really issued at “13:06:13”


Monday 3 July 2023 15:20:12
Bahnhof Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 15:25:56
Arrival of the 15:25 S5 Jenbach train at Bahnhof Stams


Monday 3 July 2023 15:36:58
Views from the train


Monday 3 July 2023 15:49:26
Views from the train


Monday 3 July 2023 15:52:28
Views from the train

When the conductress came by checking tickets, she looked at ours for a long time, then called a colleague to her. I heard the word “Stunde” (“hour”) in the conversation, and I asked, “Is it the wrong hour?”; anyway, she gave us the ticket back without much further comment.


Monday 3 July 2023 16:00:08
Our destination: Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof

At Innsbruck, we went to the ticket office to buy a ticket to Seefeld in Tirol.




Ticket, issued “16:06”

By this time we were too late for the “16:08” train, and the next one would be “16:38”. We went to the “WC” at the end of the basement concourse, then to the Testa Rossa bistro on one side for a drink. But by the time we’d received menus and were studying them, we thought, “We’re running out of time”, so we left there, and went upstairs to seek the platform from which the train would depart. Janet bought a Coke Zero from a vending machine.


Monday 3 July 2023 16:31:00
Boarding the 16:38 S6 Scharniz train at Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof


Monday 3 July 2023 16:31:00 (detail)
A mendicant sitting on the platform

The train was running a few minutes late.


Monday 3 July 2023 16:51:48
Running late


Monday 3 July 2023 16:58:00
Running late


Monday 3 July 2023 17:04:48
Passing loop at Hochzirl


Monday 3 July 2023 17:05:24
At Hochzirl, just before departure

On arrival, we used the station toilets, then headed in the direction of the hotel. “It was pretty cool,” Janet commented in her journal. On the way, we visited the Parish Church.


Monday 3 July 2023 17:22:54
Proceeding westwards from Seefeld in Tirol Bahnhof


Monday 3 July 2023 17:26:24
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:28:18
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:29:28
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:29:46
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:30:36
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: frescoes


Monday 3 July 2023 17:31:06
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: frescoes


Monday 3 July 2023 17:31:28
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: frescoes


Monday 3 July 2023 17:32:12
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:32:44
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:33:02
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:34:54
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: steps up to the “Blood Chapel”


Monday 3 July 2023 17:36:56
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: “Blood Chapel”


Monday 3 July 2023 17:37:50
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: “Blood Chapel”


Monday 3 July 2023 17:39:00
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: war memorial


Monday 3 July 2023 17:39:00 (re-edited)
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: war memorial


Monday 3 July 2023 17:42:14
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:44:12
Outside the south side of St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol, looking west


Monday 3 July 2023 17:45:22
South side of St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:46:12
Outside the south side of St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol, looking east


Monday 3 July 2023 17:46:52
St. Oswald Parish Church, Seefeld in Tirol: clock and sundial


Monday 3 July 2023 17:48:52
Returning to the hotel: west along Schönangerweg, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:50:18
Returning to the hotel: south-west along Klosterstraße, Seefeld in Tirol


Monday 3 July 2023 17:52:52
Approaching Hotel Hocheder, Klosterstraße 121, Seefeld in Tirol

Back up in our hotel room, I transferred no fewer than 168 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (18:26–18:29), and as a safeguard copied those also to the Samsung computer’s “Pictures” (18:32). We went down for dinner at 7pm, and sat at the “naughty table”. But my plan, to let Janet go when she’d finished and for me to join the others, was ruined because one of the four at the far table occupied the end seat. (I suspect that it was done deliberately…!)

After the first course of fried cheese, I was offered and accepted a dish of fried courgettes with Parma ham. I’d forgotten that the second course was supposed to be “cream of potato soup”. I declined that when the Spanish waiter and waitress started to bring those to the tables. Then there was the salad course, for which we went to the buffet in the next room to fill a plate. After that, Janet offered to stay with me, since I was unable to join the others. By 8.35pm, however, Janet had finished eating, and I was fed up of sitting around waiting. Although I was looking forward to lamb chop, I had no desire for spinach, and certainly not for sawdust — couscous, I should say. I lost patience, and said, “Let’s go.”
 “We were back in our room by 8.45pm,” Janet wrote. “I had a shower, etc., and we were in bed at ca.9.30pm. What a day! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It all went perfectly (thanks to [John]) and, apart from the hotel being closed, we completed our ‘mission’. A marvellous day!”

[Tuesday 4 July 2023]