Sölden is an Austrian village at the end of the Ötztal valley. It has a population of around four thousand and attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. While it is a major ski destination, summer attracts those wishing to hike into the mountains, scream down on bikes or carts and adrenalin junkies who paraglide, go canyoning, white water rafting and rock climbing. I now know what ‘via ferrata’ is or ‘klettersteig’. John and I have outgrown our adrenalin glands and have every interest in enjoying the moments we have left without tempting fate…too much.   

Our first night and we noticed that the village has an incredibly variety of eating places. We chose a Japanese restaurant across the road. It was amazing. Later as we stepped out into the street, we heard a brass band and followed it as it paraded down the street to the music pavilion where we were entertained and later offered schnapps from two charming young women who walked amongst the audience making their offerings and accepting donations for the band. I noticed a few people refusing possibly because the little metal schnapps vial was wiped then reused and after Covid people might be more cautious.

The hotel rate included a ‘Summer Card’ which gave us access to all public transport, lifts, gondolas, and a range of discounts. Our first excursion was to the Tiefenbach Glacier by bus. Not exactly what I was expecting. It was a construction site. A teacher who was leading a group of high school students on an environmental hike approached me thinking I was a skier (don’t laugh- must be my amazing athletic look) and expressed her outrage at the damage they were doing to the environment interfering with the glacier. We had plenty of time to look around as we were abandoned for an hour or two because there had been a road accident. I couldn’t believe how many hikers oozed out of the mountains when the bus was due to arrive. It was mayhem when the first bus appeared, and we stood back while hikers with their backpacks and poles jostled and poked each other and crushed on to the bus. The driver was not happy.  We didn’t have to wait too long until another bus turned up and it also swell with numbers as people just materialized from the surrounding mountains. 

We were in Sölden because John is a James Bond fan…what can I say? He wanted to visit Elements 007 -a high-tech exhibit on the Bond movies set in a sleek museum at the summit of Gaislachkogl Mountain. Using concrete, steel and glass, and cantilevered over a precipice the architecture complements the setting and reflects the harsh mountain terrain. The focus was on Spectre as many of the scenes were shot in the area.

It took two cable cars to reach the summit at 3048m and then there were platforms and terraces that visitors could access to reach just that bit higher. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the museum. It was informative, interactive and very well organised. I particularly enjoyed learning about the stunt sequences. 

Another feature of the Gaislachkogl is the incredibly beautiful ice Q restaurant, a series of glass boxes set together in this spectacular location where we enjoyed lunch and local beverages. It is always very satisfying when you imagine what it might be like to visit a place and then you actually do it. 

At one stage I made a complete idiot of myself having spotted a mountain creature and was curious to know what it was. All this time I was on my mobile to Sue, at home. I overheard someone talking German and thought the woman beside me might be a local. 

‘No’, she said ‘we’re from the UK’. 

‘Oh Northern Hemisphere, close enough. Do you know what that creature is?’ 

‘A Bichon’, she said. 

‘Bichon. Oh Sue, quick look it up and tell me…’ 

‘Bichon? Bichon is a dog!’ says Sue.

Oh, she was referring to the dog her partner was holding as he stood on the other side of me. I was apoplectic with laughter. 

It was a marmot.