Semmering Trip

I recently took some time off to travel to Semmering to consult with my case supervisor. The following represents both a travel adventure story as well as a success story, (buried down in the middle somewhere).

Exit the plane

As you exit your plane, you should find an international bookstore in the terminal’s shop area. If you are into maps like I am, you will find a good many titles in a variety of languages. Maps are recommended as well as some tour books and news magazines. Maps good. My wife is fond of telling me, repeatedly, that you can never have too many earrings. It isn’t true. The truth is: you can never have too many maps. Trust me on this one. The maps are in the red stand on the left of the picture. Enjoy.

Map Store

Exit the plane, (go ahead, buy a map), then follow the "Exit Vienna" or "Exit Wien" signs that will lead you down to the baggage claim area.

Following the exit signs

Follow the blurry yellow sign with the down arrow.

Exit the terminal

Exit baggage / customs area and turn right. Here you have to make your choice of a taxi, a bus or a somewhat challenging train ride. Buses / taxi, straight out the door; train - straight, then right and down.

Deciding - train or taxi

In the middle of the sign there is a picture of a train with a red “S” that looks like a little smudge in this picture. The arrows point down, meaning, straight then turn right and go down to the underground train station running below the airport. For the women and cowards, I believe if you walk straight out the door you may find a bus or taxi to take you to the Sudbanhof or Semmering, but I wouldn’t know much about either of those choices...

Logistical Information

If you choose the taxi, you will pay about 130 euros and get to your hotel in about an hour and a half. Be very sure to say Semmering and not Simmering. Simmering is a suburb on the SE of Vienna. One taxi driver offered to do the return trip from Semmering for 100 euros. If you are into bargaining you might try producing a 100 euro note and indicate your disinterest in the use of the meter.

The train ride from Sudbanhof to Semmering is about 15 euros, a little under 2 hours and easy as pie. The tricky part is getting from the Flughaven, (flight haven or airport), to the Sudbanhof, (south rail station, Vienna). Your choices are: train, bus or taxi.

Personal, highly irrelevant, information

I’m one of those mid-western, self-reliant plow boys at heart, that would rather do it myself, without any help or instructions, (most especially from my wife), and would only stop and ask for directions on pain of imminent death, (also, usually from my wife). I know in my heart that only a real man can walk off a plane and set foot in his hotel lobby without ever having set foot in a taxi or stopped to ask for directions. Even if it does take 5 or 6 hours instead of 2.…

Flughaven to Sudbanhof, (airport to south train station)

Descending down to the train platform

Follow the yellow down arrows for “Exit Vienna” and keep going down, and you will eventually end up on a train platform.

Train scheduling background information

So here is how this works. The trains used to just go straight to Sudbanhof every half hour. Problem was that all the Wien, (Vienna), tourists ended up well short of their downtown area destinations. So sometime around the end of ‘02 they changed the trains around so they go straight to the Nordbanhof, (north Vienna train station), which has better access and proximity to the downtown area. Bummer for you, because you have to go toward Nordbanhof, get off, change trains and tracks and come back to the Sudbanhof where you catch the train to Semmering.

Train ride to Sudbanhof

Ok, so you are standing on the train platform beneath the airport feeling brave and intrepid, (and slightly lost). As you came down the stairs there was a little red ticket vending machine. You can buy your ticket here - all the way to Semmering. 17.70 euros. Touch English, other destinations, S-E-M will bring up Semmering, put 20 euro note, (if you have one), in and you get a ticket and change. The machine doesn’t take 50 euro notes. If you can’t figure out the ticket vending machine, or don’t have a 20 euro note on you, then get on the train to Nordbanhof, and when the conductor comes through with a little portable ticket vending machine, asks you for your ticket, just shrug you shoulders a lot, look like a stupid tourist, say “SEMmering” a few times and next thing you know he will print you out a ticket and make change for your 50 euro note. Tourists.

Now you are on the S7 train going toward Nordbanhof. There are diagrams of all the train stops over each door. Checking the diagram you will notice that you pass through Mansworth, Grosswechat, Kaisersaherdof, Zentralfriedholf, Geiselbergstrasse, St Marx, Rennweg, Mitte Wien, and finally, Nordbanhof. Get off at the Mitte Wien station. You will save all of ten minutes by not going through to the Nordbanhof station. (Unless it is the same train you would have caught at the Nordbanhof, depends on how frequently they run.) Anyway, getting off the S7 train, go upstairs, cross through a shopping lobby, back downstairs, two tracks over to catch the S1 train to the Sudbanhof. Ok, I admit it, I said: “Sudbahhof” and he said: “Sure, you go upstairs, cross through the shopping lobby, back downstairs, to that platform over there and catch the S1 train to the Sudbanhof”. “ugh” I responded.

Catching train from Sudbanhof to Semmering

So heading south on the S1, most of the adventure is behind us. There is only one stop, Rennweg, and then you pull into the Sudbanhof. Take three escalators up to the main floor or pavilion area.

Pavilion area in the Sudbanhof

Between the black arrows is the destination city. Semmering is the station right before Murzzuschlog. Find the entry for Murzzuschlog and note the track number listed below the red arrow. Now you will note that it is now 2:07. The trains leave for Semmering or “Murzzuschlog” every hour at 38 minuten after the hour. I spent only a half hour here trying to take pictures, make notes and speak to a Slovakian girl that was trying to help me read German train schedules. So, get this, her English is terrible, so she whips out her cell phone and calls her Slovakian girl friend to come over and read the Austro / German into English for me. (note to wife - she was hideous, uh, friend too, just awful). Oh, and it really doesn’t count as asking for directions, because it was a translation difficulty I was having, not a directional problem.

Now it is 10 or 15 minutes before the 2:38 departure time. Go upstairs to the designated track. The “Murzzeschlog” destination and departure time show up on the sign next to the track number which is posted above the entry to the track platform. Board the train down near the mid to front section of the train, (as the last half of the train is left in Weiner Neustadt somewhere, and you, of course, wish to go all the way to Semmering). Conductors are usually walking around in the five or ten minuten just before departure, check with one just to make sure.

In the train to Semmering

The train takes about 2 hours to get to Semmering. Quite a few stops. Some trains are express trains that will take 20 minuten less, but it doesn’t really matter because if you are in the first 5 or 8 cars you’ll get to Semmering without much worry.

Weiner Neustadt is probably a little over half way there. From Weiner Neustadt, (translates to Vienna New City or Town), the train angles SW to Neunkirchen. After Neunkirchen the train starts to climb up off the valley floor and switchback up into the mountains. Sit up and pay attention, there are 6-8-10 station to pass through, depends on the season and station as to whether the train stops or not. Keep looking at the station names. When you see Wolfsbergkogel go by, pick up your gear and go wait by the door. Trains don’t like to stop for long. A few minuten after Wolfsbergkogel the train will stop at Semmering.

Semmering Station

It’s cold. I brought a down lined jacket, ski gloves, a beanie and walking shoes with a ½ inch rubber sole that kept me off the snow. I was quite comfortable.

Straight ahead is a clock. Next to the clock is a heated lobby with a train schedule for departures back to Vienna. Note down the departure times for the day you want to leave.

In the next picture I have walked toward the other end of the train station and am looking up the hill I am about to climb. Against the wall behind me is an A-frame sign with a phone number for a cab service. There is a pay phone on the wall in the lobby. Good luck trying to use it. If all else fails you can go knock on the door near the lobby entrance and ask one of the train switching engineers to help you out. I don’t think they have a lot to do in there anyway.

Of course a real man unzips his carryon baggage, pulls out the shoulder straps, throws it on his broad shoulders and sets out purposefully for the hotel lobby about a mile off.

Starting long walk from train station

If you are going to stay at the Belvedere it is about a mile up, angling off to the left a bit. Straight up this road, turn right, first left, then up a small street, then up a woods path, finally back onto a small street where run straight into the Belvedere.

If you are going to stay at the Panorama Wagner, you go up this road and turn right, then just stay on the road, S turning to the left, then finally switching back and running right into the Panorama. (Don't be fooled by the "Panoramaloipe" signs, it seems to be a cross country ski area going straight on up hill, just before you switch back left for the final trudge to the hotel Panorama.)

Looking back over building next to train station

View overlooking the roof of the building in the last picture.

Early evening - half way

18 min later. About ½ way.

3rd best picture

Finally, about a 50 minuten walk, fairly mild incline, the Panorama Wagner.

Panorama Hotel

Panorama, hotel library

Hotel library, I hope you’ve brushed up on your German.

Room 45 was a single, 79 euros with breakfast, you get a bed, desk, decent closet space, TV if you ask for one. And no, those aren’t my unmentionables on the radiator drying - you are imagining it. And no I’m not - I brought sweats.

Single room - Panorama Hotel

Single room - Panorama Hotel

C-Meters rule!

Breakfast view - Panorama Hotel

View from the breakfast table. Breakfast is a decent buffet spread of fairly healthy foods - generally low fat, low sugar. Cold meats, cheeses, breads, cold and hot cereals, juices, fruit. Buffet closes at 10am. Sort of. I always managed to sneak a snack into my napkin for later. Smoked cheeses were really good.

Panorama Hotel

Leaving the hotel and walking backwards towards Ralph’s, I immortalized this local citizen.

View, walk to Ralph's - Left frame

10 minutes into the 30 minute walk to Ralph's.

Right frame

Panning to the right a bit.

Belvedere Hotel - back

After my interview I walked down past the Belvedere.

The Belvedere is a bit older, more repaired, less modern. The rooms were clean and comfortable, the breakfast fair was second to none, and the price for Room 37 is 42 euros a night with breakfast.

Belvedere Hotel - front

Belvedere Hotel - side

Room 37 is the top left room. Great balcony, excellent view, very comfortable, quite roomy, bathe in a tub. Room 36 is on the right. Lunch is 1130am to 230pm Dinner 530 to 9pm. Did I say, 42 euros with breakfast? - unbelievably good deal. When I e-mail Mr. Wagner, showing him this web site, we shall see if he comes up with a Ralph discount.

About 50 yards behind me is a small market. Deli, some sandwiches, small selection of fruit and vegetables. Closed all day Sunday.

Success Story

On Sunday I had a really good time. Ralph doesn’t start till 2pm on Sunday so I took my assigned Time Track of Theta tapes, circa 1952, rode the gondola up to the ski lodge, (picture below), then climbed the observation tower that you can see the square shadow of, in the foreground. Listening to the tapes, about an hour after I took this picture, I had a significant shift in viewpoint. Now I own and have listened to these tapes maybe 8 or 10 times before. This time I really understood what he was trying to communicate. Sad but true. What I got this time was that LRH had the awareness characteristic of a solo NOTs completion in 1952. So, apparently, do I, by the way.

Anyway, it has forced me to reconsider some assumptions. I always knew the bridge was developed backwards but I never realized that LRH was that far out ahead of the rest of us. What took me 26 years with a pretty well paved road under me took him a very few, maybe a couple of years, with no tech except that which he ad-libbed as he went along. Rather extraordinary. And this, coming from a guy who doesn't like taking directions, would rather figure it out for himself, and never really liked clapping at busts and saying ‘hip hip hurray‘. I guess we all have to drop a little of our conceit and accept some help if we expect to make it.

THE most interesting picture - read text below it, then enlarge

Ok, back to the picture. This picture has a lot in it. Notice the railroad tracks coming out of the tunnel. The tracks lead toward the Semmering train station, (yellow smudge on the left side of tracks). If you follow the ridge line up from the train tunnel there is a rather prominent yellow building with some reddish sort of roof. The Panorama Hotel is right behind it. The Belvedere Hotel is almost dead in the center of the picture, maybe a little to the left of center.

Murzzuschlag view

This is looking off to the west from the observation tower. I believe the little town down there is the fabled Murzzuschlag, last train stop from Vienna. If you keep going down this valley you will end up in Italy. That according to the very fine map I bought at the International Bookstore.

Room 23 at Panorama

Ok, time for fast forward. Changed hotel rooms to #23. Nice view out the full height windows. Same price.

Room 23 work space

Nice room, nice work desk, C-Meters rule!

View from window

On more of the view out the window. Looks like a computer wallpaper candidate to me.

Updated March 3 2003