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25th Anniversary Music and Dance Tour of Austria by Mike Stamford
The purpose of the Fiddlesticks Tour to Austria was to undertake a specific cultural activity, namely, traditional Morris dancing in the style of North West Clog.
Supported by the Otto Harpner Fund of the Anglo-Austrian Society Fiddlesticks danced this special style of Morris Dancing over a period of 4 days, in Salzburg and the Salzkammergut.
An Advance Party of 3 arrived on the evening of 20 May 2008 and the remaining 24 arrived at different intervals over the next 3 days: 21, 22 and 23 May 2008. Several members extended their stay beyond 26 May 2008 in order to take holiday and make the most of the beautiful scenery, rich meadows, freshwater Lakes and snow-capped mountains to be found in this part of Austria in late Spring and early Summer.
Our equipment, clogs and musical instruments were brought overland by minibus and the Famous Five members of the Group who had, not only battled manfully against the sheer weight of duvet to rise early on Wednesday morning, but, had also, mastered the mind-blowing intricacies of the Vauxhall’s Tachograph, arrived at Dover eager for a slick crossing and a fast journey through Northern France.
Their 17-Seater Vauxhall Minibus, equipped with all the luxuries of a Romanian Gaol posed no threat to these intrepid travellers. They were seasoned Dancers and Musicians. But, it was to be home to them for a little longer than they had anticipated. Frustratingly, they suffered nearly a 6 hour delay at Dover as the French Sea-Port Strike hit travellers hard on 21 and 22 May.
Had they not managed to secure one of the 25 slots finally allocated on the Eurotunnel Train, the start of the Tour might well have been delayed with disastrous consequences.
Plans were quickly re-made to overnight at a different Hotel somewhere short of point B and come up with a fool-proof plan to poison a selection of inhabitants of the Northern French ports. Nevertheless, back in the saddle again, they threaded their way through Calais and passed seamlessly into Belgium thinking that the worst was over.
Thanks to the wonders of modern EU de-restricted travel, they only knew they had crossed the border when, through tinted, double-glazed windows, they spotted 3 large Border Guards sitting behind plates piled high with pommes frittes and mayonnaise. They had to be in Belgium now.
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