St Martin et Lofer, Austria - the village surrounded by mountains

30 April 2006 – We had arrived from Munich the day before in very rainy conditions. The meeting was set up at the Munich Airport, Debbie, Ronnie, Heong, Pat and Lionel. The Lees stayed at Schloss Grubhof in Lofer, a mansion built on the 14 Feb 1887. Ronnie and Heong stayed at a B&B, a farmhouse of Maria and Josef Hagn in Windertal just 5 minutes drive away. This was the view from the patio that greeted us the next morning. The fields were covered with snow! It snowed the nightbefore and there was a dusting of snow everywhere.
Schloss Grubhof is between the villages of Lofer and St Martin et Lofer. Lofer is located at the foothills of the Austrian Alps in an area called Saalachtaler, known for its naturalistic surroundings. It is a place for skiing in winter and walks in spring. The whole week after that first day was springtime! We enjoyed the nature walks most of all. The two villages were very picturesque. The scene is usually that of a small village situated among green fields and almost always a stream is nearby to add the sound of running water. There is a small church in every village. This is a panoramic view of St Martin et Lofer

Ronnie and Heong stayed at a valley in the mountains, shown on at the background of this picture. Josef Hagn, a farmer was absolutely thrilled with the idea that Pat who is from so far away in Singapore could locate his house which he had posted on the Internet. Josef turned out to be very chatty. After the Gohs had completed their day’s sightseeing he would engage them in conversation, practicing his English until very late into the night.

May Day in Austria

1 May 2006 Krimml Wasserfall Today is May Day and the Austrians celebrate by raising a may pole and having competitions in which teams of young people would race to see how fast and how high they can climb up the pole. This is also the day when the local Oom Pah Pah Bands would go around to individual houses and shops to play in return for a donation.
It was fun for all. We missed the May Day celebration at Lofer but the whole village was drinking beer at the tail end of the festivities and we joined them.
We visited the Krimml waterfall. This series of cascades at 380m are Europe's highest waterfalls. We walked up the slopes to the second group of cascades. The path was covered with ice. The Alpine walking sticks which Farmer Hagn loaned Ronnie came in handy. At Krimml we met up with a Oom Pah Pah band who happened to stop at the local pub for their free beer. We had great fun with them. The band master even stole a dance with Pat and the young trumpet players make pictures with Debbie.

Austria - Caves, Ravines and Water

2 May 2006 – The Eishohle. We visited a Ice cave 1570 metres up a mountain. This was in Werfen. Again it was a good climb half way up a mountain side to the opening. It was very dark and cold inside and we were led in teams by guides with several of us carrying acetylene lamps. It is really a "glacier" that has formed inside the cave, water and ice finding a way from the exterior into a huge cavern inside the mountain. The view of the valley below was indeed panoramic. The ice cave was a very unique experience.

3 May 2006 Seisenbergklamm. Ripples, swirls, whirls resonates the air. All we hear in this gorge is the sound of “many” waters. The entrance to this gorge is very misleading being nondescript. We did not realize that we will be climbing up steps and wooden planks at the sides of a ravine. With every turn we were greeted with waterfall upon waterfall. Cascades of water kept pouring down with eddies and pools by the side – a truly natural water park. The Saalach Valley is at the foot of the mountain ranges and 5 km from where we stayed. Within a 2 km radius are hidden three remarkable natural monuments – the Seisenbergklamm, Lamprechtshöhle and the Vorderkaserklamm. These are raging waterfalls, gorges and ravines and bizarre rock formation. We visited 2 of the three. The Lamprehöhle is actually a 51 km hole dug out by a raging underground river. It is series of cavernous tunnels.The Saalach is a river in Austria and Germany.It follows the broad valley to Saaifelden, and meanders

further on through the narrow valley towards Lofer. The melted snow from the Austrian Alps ensures that this valley is refreshed with much water

Dubrovnik and Croatia

Dubrovik Morning

On a Balcony facing the Adriatic in Dubrovnik, Croatia 20 Sep 2005. Each morning, the Adriatic Sea beckons us as we sit on our balcony enjoying the breeze and the view. It is blue and gentle. Here is the place where there is a placid view of the sea whilst behind us lies sun-baked homes scattered on the high cliffs. This picture of Dubrovnik, in the morning, captures some interesting colours of the city from the colours of the clouds painted by the rising sun. In the night, the walls of the old city of Dubrovnik is lighted up. Bright lights shining from this fortress city, inform us of the hive of activity within the walls.

On the parapet of the city walls

From our hotel, the Excelsior, it is a 5 minutes walk to the old city . We could also walk on the parapet of the city walls which encircled Dubrovnik. There are churches, galleries, restaurants, concerts and museums, all contained within about one square mile. Dubrovnik dates from the 7th Century. The city has about 50,000 inhabitants. It is one of the most charming cities we have been to. This was special shot because the colours at the time of sunrise was I thought worth capturing.

Visovac – A Place for Quiet Reflections 25 Sep 2005. An island in a lake in Croatia's KRKA National Park, Vivovac must surely be the choicest place on earth to have a quiet retreat. The Augustinian monks colonized this piece of rock in the 15th Century. It is right in the middle of a lake. The lake itself is surrounded by mountains and wooded hillsides. They brought soil and built a monastery. They vacated the place when the Turks ruled the Balkans. However in their place the Franciscans came. Today only 8 Franciscan monks and novices lived on the island tending the gardens, chapel and monastery. Visovac is reached by boat from Skradin But. One cannot help but feel that for these monks seclusion is medicine for the restive soul. Here the monks live and work, pray and meditate. It is the perfect place to recede from our busy, crowded world towards a contemplative study of faith and theology. For here is where one can visit with God often, where it is still enough to hear the quiet whispers of God’s clear injunctions and leading. Here is where moments of insights reaches someone open enough to receive them.

Island Hopping

The Dalmatian Coast. There are 1185 islands and more than 4000 km of coastline in Croatia. On the 23 Sep 2005, Pat and I went island hopping visiting Sipan, Lopud and Kolocep. They are called the Elaphite islands. among others. The yacht we travelled on is called the Astral. The water of the Adriatic sea is very blue and clean. There are very quaint villages on these island and several would have fortresses, forts and castles. The resturants serve delicious seafood meals. With the cool breeze and entertainment an island hopping cruise along the Dalmatian coast is not to be missed.