First of all we would like to wish you a Very Happy New Year! Hopefully, despite the doom and gloom in the media, the Mayan predictions of impending disaster and the increasingily strange global weather patterns, we will look back on 2012 as another great year for biking, hiking and generally enjoying the Carinthian hospitality! [...]

Chapter 8 – On This Loveliest Day of Days The title for this comes from “Shelter”, which is billed as the national anthem of the Federal Commonwealth of Sirocco, a New Zealand micronation.  No, I’d never heard of Sirocco either but doubtless there are people out there who have visited it.  The link, if you [...]

Chapter 7 –Tangled Up In Blue Title courtesy of Bob Dylan – Tangled Up in Blue – You Tube.  If you cite your source, it’s not plagiarism.  Technology, despite my avowed Luddite default, does have it’s uses.  The song finishes: “we always did feel the same, just saw it from a different point of view”.  [...]

Back To the Beginning I arrived at Klagenfurt three weeks ago (no that is not necessarily the beginning but you have to start somewhere – see Chapter 4 for the real beginning) to lots of big grey clouds.  Met at the airport by Sandi (short for Alexandra, who is 32, Slovakian, fluent in German, even [...]

Even in paradise it seems ‘the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley’ (Robert Burns). Not so long ago it seemed like we had our staffing situation all under control and looking good. Sadly chickens were being counted well before their time! Our first much anticipated cook turned out to be great [...]

Just thought some of you (well maybe a few?) might be interested in some feedback about today’s route. We went west from Malta, through Lienz and Ost Tirol into Süd Tirol (which is technically Italy but culturally German and they have NO problem with road signs in 2 languages!), then onto the Autostrada 22 and [...]

Apparently it’s Monday, although we are really not quite sure! 3 days at a trade fair does that to you – brain becomes mush, feet and back ache. Thankfully there are good friends who will provide you with a comfy bed, late breakfast and a couch where you can sit and recuperate for a day [...]

In the spirit of professional research, good customer service and improved international business relationships (and nothing to do with taking a bit of time out to have fun, of course!), we called in on several of our hotel-owning colleagues on the journey to and from here. We have already told you a bit about our [...]

Today we drove over to the HQ of the National Park to collect a few last minute brochures and stuff for the Bike Show. The NP administration is based in Großkirchheim, an hour’s journey from here and almost to the Großglockner. The route through the lovely Möll River Valley is wonderful at the best of [...]

It being Saturday – and the only day this week that has NOT been one of clear blue skies and warm temperatures – it seems like a good time to blog a bit about what we have achieved in the last few days and what is coming up next. It still puzzles us that so [...]