Tuesday 23rd September 2008 – Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, Austria

The clouds clung around the mountainsides, obscuring the peaks and rain was threatening. Over breakfast we listened to the bells of the cows grazing in the field next to the campsite. Today was about exploring Zell am Ziller and, after doing chores in the morning, we set off on the short walk into the centre of the town. We had stayed in Zell am Ziller twice before but both visits were over thirty years ago. We thought that we would remember parts of the town but neither of recognised anything. We did however remember that it was very tidy and very pretty and that was certainly still the case. The impressive main church is surrounded by an immaculately-kept churchyard that is full of flowers. The interior is also very pretty with a beautifully painted dome. The town centre is very compact and the wide river Ziller, less tan 100m from the church, marks the edge of the town. The green and white icy-looking water, nearly 2m deep, rushes past – there must be a large volume of water passing and during the spring snow melt it must be huge. As always in Austria towns and villages, there are flowers everywhere and in the central park we found an army of people digging up the flower beds in order to plant different flowers. The old flowers were still in bloom and looking pretty, but everything had to go including bushes three and four feet high. Looking at the quality of the public buildings, facilities and parks, and the immaculately maintained roads, footpaths etc., I wonder how much the Austrians pay in tax. I can remember our hosts 30 years ago bemoaning the fact that they had to pay a considerable proportion of their income to the Roman Catholic Church in order to ensure that their children got a good education and I wonder whether this is still the case. I am sure that he cost of living in Austria is high but the country is very beautiful and seems to be very well organised. Voting in the Austrian General Election is taking place on Sunday and BBC Radio 4 reported this morning that there is another upsurge in support for the Austrian far right parties with their ultra-nationalistic, anti-immigration policies. There is a danger that they will get power as part of a coalition in the new parliament. Last time that this happened, it caused a real fuss in the rest of Europe, reminding many of the strong Nazism in Austria before and during the Second World War. End of rant!
We went to the tourist information office when it reopened at 14:30 and obtained a map of the town and the surrounding area together with details of local walks. This is another thing that the Austrian's are very good at – tourist information and marked walking trails.
The campsite has got WiFi Internet but at €5 per hour it is expensive so we decided to look for other options in the town. We went to the only Internet/gaming shop in the town and used their WiFi at a cost of ...... €5 for an hour – I think that there is a cartel operating in Zell am Ziller!
Photos: This farm is right in the centre of Zell with the cows in the pasture behind. This is typical of Zell and many other Austrian towns and villages, houses interspersed by farms and fields.