27 May 2019 Lake Bled to Salzburg

"Rain started during the night and we drove for most of the day in the rain. Stopped at Jesenice for shopping and coffee and then crossed into Austria while in the 7864 metre long Karavanke tunnel. We stopped in Gmund and went to the privately run Porsche museum and walked around the lovely old town under our umbrellas. We also had coffee at the Backerei-Konditorei Döller. Then we drove through to Salzberg in heavy rain to find a conveniently positioned camper standing place."

It started to rain during the night and was very wet when we woke up. It looked as if some of our fellow campers who were in tents were in for a damp day if the puddles of water on ground and flysheets were anything to go by. I sincerely hoped that last night’s noisy people had been flooded out, but it seemed to be their neighbours who had come short.

We got going at 9h00, but stopped at the entrance to empty the toilet. As not all campsites had good facilities we made use of opportunities when they arose. Twenty minutes later we were on our way in steady rain. We got to the A2 direction Austria and after about ten kilometres turned into Jesenice to do some shopping. It was quite a bleak looking town, looking very much part of the communist past and the grey, rainy weather did little to improve that impression. The only positive was that what were obviously old industrial buildings were being reused and recycled. An enormously tall chimney served as a signpost for the Spar Hypermarket . We did our last shopping in Slovenia, found a local coffee shop for morning coffee (at affordable prices) and then got back onto the A2 and continued towards Austria.

Soon we were approaching the Karavanke tunnel. We were relieved that we could pay the toll in Euros. This 7864 metre long tunnel was opened in 1991 and we went through the Slovenian border post before entering and the Austrian border post after exiting. There was no need to stop though. Quite an experience.

Not surprisingly, it was raining in Austria as well. We were driving through what must in good weather be a magnificent route. Every now and then a castle popped up through the heavy rain and mist and even a peak or two all covered in snow, would remind us that we were driving through the Alps. We made a toilet stop at a garage with a very American sixties style diner called Maria’s Diner, totally out of character and very expensive. Around 13h00 we stopped at shopping centre just before Spittal an der Drau and found a McDonald’s for our standard coffee and burger lunch, which was now quite a bit more expensive.

The rain was still coming down steadily and we left the motorway as we had decided to stop at Gmund and visit the Porsche museum which we had missed in 1994. We found the museum quite easily thanks to Google Girl and were able to park right next door. It was in Gmund after the war that Ferdinand Porsche’s son Ferry started building Porsche cars. The first 52 were built in the town. The museum was very low key and privately run, but really very good with a number of very early examples of the Porsche marque.

After the museum we walked into the town and found the delightful Backerei Doller in the town square and shared an apple strudel. The coffee was very good and the locals very friendly. Gmund is a lovely town, quite touristy, although not many were around. We stayed under our umbrellas and took photos when possible. It was such a pity that it was so grey, as pictures of the town with blue skies and snow-capped mountains would be marvellous. It was also surprising to see the old city walls and castle keep above the town. Marianne remembered the place where we had previously put out our tent to dry while we were having lunch and where some of the town folk came to tell us we could not camp there!

Our destination for the night was Salzburg and we were laughing about the fact that all I remembered from our last visit was umbrellas. The rain was very heavy as we drove on the motorway and we went through patches of mist. Most drivers slowed down and I had to drive very carefully. There were more tunnels and we made another stop at a very fancy “farmstall” type shop which was very expensive. The cloud lifted for a while and we did get to see the very high mountains we were driving through. The rain continued to pour down and we passed a massive castle just before Salzburg, but it was hardly visible in the rain. Getting into Salzburg was quite straightforward, although the city is quite big, and we quickly found the camper standing place. It was very convenient, right at a bus stop, and had good ablutions. The manager was very helpful and we were happy to be safely parked. We picked a spot away from most of the campers – it was more spacious and as we had a wall facing our door we were quite private. The rain eased a bit as we had supper, but it did not look as if we would be cycling into town tomorrow.

Geschreven door Leartravels