Have YOU done the Grossglockner drive?

Hello! Sarah here, it's a while since I've written - as you know, I try to stay away from the internet on holiday but Anthony has convinced me that blogging is a good idea this time - so I leave most of the postings to him. But sometimes I just have to write to recount some of the experiences we've had, and this is one of those times.

So, two days ago we found ourselves needing to get from Austria to Slovenia, and it just so happened that the best route for us included one of the most famous drives on earth - the Grossglockner mountain highway. So, of course, we took it! I wasn't convinced that the SnuggleTruck would make it up and down all those mountain passes and round all those hairpin bends, but hey, we decided it was worth a try! So with some trepidation we shelled out the entrance fee to this National Park and hoped it was worth it. And, it was.

This was definitely the scariest drive I have ever done. We experienced many, many hairpin bends and switchbacks, with stunning mountain views on either side, and reached heights of around 2500 metres above sea level (6000 feet? for all you imperials). Mostly I was very, very scared but Anthony helped me through by providing reassuring comments and helping me count the bends to see how close to the end we were! Having a British-side-drive vehicle was not ideal, as I got the scariest views of all when taking bends round to the left, but at least Anthony was protected as he's the one who's scared of heights! We stopped for a brief lunch stop (when I could find a reasonably level parking space, as I was scared of having to do hill-starts in addition to all of this) and enjoyed a slice of good old Austrian bread with some cheese (me) and ham (Anthony), and took in some mountain air. Mostly, however, I was just scared. So we continued on up and eventually started the downturn, and all the while Anthony was snapping away and taking in the views. I was glad that he, at least, could enjoy them! On the way back down we stopped at a roadside restaurant to explore a bewildering display of stuffed animals and have a reassuring drink of Almdudler local lemonade (me) and beer (Anthony). Finally after a good couple of hours we arrived back on level ground and headed through several beautiful valleys on to Slovenia. More about Slovenia later.

What did I learn during my Grossglockner experience? Well, how to use the gears in an automatic, for one thing! We read in the advice leaflet given to us at the park's entrance that it was best to use engine braking on the descent and to only use brakes 'in an emergency'. 'But, Anthony, how do we do that? We have an automatic!' I asked in probably a scared voice... However it seems that below D there are 2 other gears, called 2 and L, which on reflection we remembered the rental agent telling us we would only need 'if we were going down a very, very severe gradient' or something. So it turned out that the Grossglockner was the perfect learning curve! - straight up, and then straight down...

To summarise, we had a great day driving the Grossglockner and now we are convinced that Austria's scenery is particularly spectacular. Note to M&D Ford and to Grandad Lamb: you are correct, we are sure we won't see a more beautiful country.


More photos of this brilliant mountain drive to follow, courtesy of photographer/navigator/all-round excellent co-pilot Anthony. :)