Wednesday, August 19, 2015

A tale of middle-aged hedonism

(AKA breaking the code with counterprogramming)

Munich outdoor beer gardens
I’ve just returned to California from a 2-month trip to Europe.  My route was Iceland->Belgium->Czech Republic->Poland->Ireland->Germany->Austria.  Although that seems like the path of a convict trying to escape Interpol, in my case, it was just the route of an American who was not very good at reading maps.

Ryan, who I first met carpooling to 6th grade in Hawaii, crafted an amazing trip for us through Munich and northern Austria.  His plan was ‘counterprogramming’ - which in this case meant, let’s go to ski resorts in the summer when all the Europeans vacation on the coast.  His plan worked flawlessly, we stayed in 4 and 5 star hotels in the Alps at 50-75% below peak rates and the dollar was 40% stronger than normal.

By way of contrast, the first trip I took with Ryan was to American Samoa to represent Hawaii in an all-Polynesian tennis tournament.  In between matches we slept on a pig farm.  The second trip I took with him was in Central America. I had less than a $20/day budget for 3 months of travel.  This time around, we traveled in style … being middle-aged has some advantages after all J
Strolling around the Austrian Alps

We started in Munich and spent most of our time in The English Park.  The park was amazing, it had a river running through it and all the locals were having beer rewarded swimming races, dancing around in the water in swimsuits, and believe it or not, surfing on waves in the river rapids.  At the center of the park was the main Hofbräu (beer garden) that had a Bavarian oompah band playing on the second floor of a 6 story Chinese pagoda.  The pagoda was surrounded by around 1000 park tables were everyone socialized – the Bavarians are particularly friendly, and each time Ryan and I sat somewhere new, we ended up getting to know the entire table and sat with them for hours.  They only seemed to serve beer by the liter, so limiting yourself to 2 beers was not a real act of temperance.

Cycling along the Danube
Fearing for our livers and our lives, we left Munich and headed south to a town named Kitzbühel to start hiking the Austrian Alps.  We originally intended to hike something called the Eagle Walk (http://www.tyrol.com/eagle-walk) and camp along the way, but this plan quickly changed into “let’s stay at boutique hotels and go swimming after day hikes in a semi-private Olympic sized rooftop pool.”  

The Austrian hotels were to die for, they were charming beyond measure, swarmed with attentive dirndl-clad beauties, had wonderful views of the Alps, and were staffed with amazing chefs.  I’m an atheist; however, having tasted Austrian truffled poached eggs, I’m now open to the idea of a supreme being.

Rooftop pools with amazing views
In Kitzbühel, we climbed up the mountains that are usually downhill ski runs and enjoyed a snack at a chalet at the various mountain peaks.  Some of the runs were too steep to go straight up, so we took a gondola to bypass the hardest stretches.  There was a clay-court tennis tournament in town, so we were able to see some great professional tennis matches from fantastic seats.  Lastly, there was an annual festival in old-town where everyone dressed in lederhosen and sang to traditional music all night long … these are my kind of people!

Kitzbühel hotel balcony view
I wanted to cycle in wine country, so we took a two day trip to an area called Melk that was on a beautiful stretch of the Danube river.  We rented power assist e-bikes and did a 45 mile roundtrip trek through wineries and ancient towns that were serviced by a dedicated bike path (no cars) that ran along the river.  This area is cycling heaven.  I plan one day to ship my bike over and ride from Germany’s Black Forest, through Vienna, to Budapest, all along the Danube.  Let me know if you want to join!

No other guests used the pools, it was like a private mansion
As of a few days ago, I’m back in sunny California and reunited with my amazing terrier.  It was a great trip, but it is nice to be back home and catch up with old friends.  Speaking of which, text me and lets catch up, first round is on me!


J Tony






Box seats at an ATP event

View of my outdoor pool from my indoor pool

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