# Traveling to northern Austria and western Germany



## Lucky Larry (Apr 7, 2011)

We're going to stay at the RCI resort Mondi Holliday Bellevue in Bad Gastien Austria in July and travel onto to Koblenz along the Rhine.  We like Austria (we've stayed at the Mondi Holiday Grundlsee several years ago) but we've never been in the Bad Gastien area. We were at Koblenz during a Rhine River cruise and, liking the area, decided to return for more than a couple hours stay.  

 We were wondering what advice we could get as to things to do and see in these areas.  We will have a car and will be driving to Austria from Nuremberg Germany and afterwards will be going up to Koblenz.


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## Laurie (Apr 7, 2011)

From Bad Gastein: first thing that comes to mind is drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, if you haven't ever done that.

We've been to both those 2 Mondi Holiday resorts - I wasn't quite as wowed by Bellevue as by Grundlsee, but it was still a good location, there was plenty to do and I'll try to dig up my journal in the next few days to give you some more touring ideas. The town itself is very pretty as well.


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## Lucky Larry (Apr 7, 2011)

Laurie said:


> From Bad Gastein: first thing that comes to mind is drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, if you haven't ever done that.
> 
> We've been to both those 2 Mondi Holiday resorts - I wasn't quite as wowed by Bellevue as by Grundlsee, but it was still a good location, there was plenty to do and I'll try to dig up my journal in the next few days to give you some more touring ideas. The town itself is very pretty as well.



Thanks, I'll check out the Grossglockner.  we like alpine driving.  We were really wowed by Grundlsee.  Did you take the tour through the three alpine lakes there - ending up at a deep but small lake where the Nazi's did underwater testing and supposedly hid gold?


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## Laurie (Apr 7, 2011)

Yes, we did that one. They were actually doing some excavating at the time in the middle lake, searching for Nazi stuff hidden underwater. That little lake at the end had a very weird, creepy feeling, didn't it?

Speaking of, right after Bellevue week we went to the town of Melk, and then to the concentration camp at Mauthausen. I wasn't sure I was quite ready for that, in fact I thought I might have to wait in the car, but decided to go ahead and see it.


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## abbekit (Apr 7, 2011)

Would love to hear your reviews.  Both of those Mondi Holiday resorts are on my to-do list.  Just booked the Mondi Oberstaufen for 2013.


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## Lucky Larry (Apr 8, 2011)

We went to Mondi Oberstaufen right after going to Grundlsee.  We found that Oberstaufen was not as good a location as Grundlsee, probably a good place to ski but not to sight see.  We went to Lake Constance one day and drove over to Fussin to see the castles of Mad Ludwig.  

It probably isn't fair to Oberstaufen to compare it to the Alpine majesty  of Grundlsee with the lake surrounded by the Alps and the balcony of our room looking right out at it.  We had breakfast each morning on the balcony and really did not want to leave.

We thought the unit was very good, better than Grundlsee but we go to sight see.


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## Lucky Larry (Apr 8, 2011)

Laurie,  the lake did have a weird feeling but I conquered it by drinking a beer in the beer garden that was there.  Did you eat at the little restaurant down the hill from the resort at Grundlsee.  It served fresh fish caught in the lake.  We were sitting with a couple from Serbia we had met that spoke English (because they had worked for Westinghouse in Serbia) and soon we were speaking with many people from Germany and Austria that were there.  One women related how she left East Berlin just days before the wall went up.  We had a great time with all.

We've visited the Abbey at Melk but not the concentration camp.  We went to Buchenwald where they crucified Christians- actually crucified.  They did much worse and it was tremendously saddening, especially as I consider myself Christian and I wonder how people can become so cruel and inhuman.  

Buchenwald is where the nearby town was forced to march through the camp and then to help bury the dead.  I believe it was Patton who ordered it.


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## Passepartout (Apr 8, 2011)

Lucky Larry said:


> (snip).....We've visited the Abbey at Melk but not the concentration camp.  We went to Buchenwald where they crucified Christians- actually crucified.  They did much worse and it was tremendously saddening, especially as I consider myself Christian and I wonder how people can become so cruel and *inhuman*.



I have been following this thread with interest as this is an area where I was stationed in the Army some 45 years ago and want to return to- hopefully on a TS exchange.

I feel the need to comment- which may fall to the mods. 

Back then, I visited Dachau and Buchenwald and wondered much the same as you. How could 'civilized' people do this? Then it dawned on me- people cruelly killing other people with whom they disagree IS human nature. Looking back through history, what you describe is exactly the way humans have behaved as long as there have been humans. Right back to the 1st family. Feel free to read Genesis. I prefer to look on evidence of man's inhumanity to man as historical fact without putting theological spin on it. It would be worthwhile if showing places like the above and Auschwitz, and Rwanda would prevent the repeat of that sort of behavior, but it hasn't done it yet. 

Jim Ricks


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## beejaybeeohio (Apr 10, 2011)

I echo Laurie's suggestion to drive the Grossglockner but would like to add that you do a circle and take the autotrain that goes from Malinitz to Bockstein, which as I recall, is on the same road as Bad Gastein. Also, plan on spending time in Heilegenblut at the southern end of the Grossglockner.  Wander thru the cemetery behind the picturesque church and check out the graves of Alpine climbers.

Also consider a drive to Wattens for the Svarowski crystal headquarters and vistor's center, Crystal Worlds. There are fabulous sculptures made from the crystals that delight the eye and the shopping is great!


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