20 - 26 May 2013

The month of May has four bank holidays in Austria, celebrating National day, Ascension, Pentecost and Corpus Christi. This year each one has had the kind of weather we have always associated with bank holidays in England. On Justine's birthday weekend we walked in the rain and picnicked in the cold with some threatening cows, who are plainly annoyed that their summer holiday in the mountains is postponed.

13 - 19 May 2013

The Maria Alm swimming pool opened this week and then closed again a few days later, if you blinked you would have missed the Summer. We should have looked at the long term forecast before we enthusiastically bought our family season ticket.

6 - 12 May 2013

One of Simon's pupils is planning an exchange trip to England with her school class. The pupils will be living with English families, and to prepare them for the experience, their school teacher has warned them to expect poor levels of hygiene and terrible food.

29 April - 5 May 2013

The Maria Alm Schnalzergruppe is 10 years old. One would think that men and boys from this village had been cracking whips for years but the group is a lot younger than the tradition. Naturally many whips were cracked in celebration, the band played, the vicar blessed, the speeches were interminable, the awards were plentious, the procession was long and included about 40 horses, and only one man with a wheelbarrow and shovel. He should have got an award.