Day 41 - Terra Firma & the poshest campsite ever

Friday 24th August 2018We kept our feet firmly on Terra Firma as we headed to Innsbruck for the day. Capital of the Tirol in Western Austria and the 5th largest city in the country. We Love Innsbruck...We have visited Innsbruck a number of times but NEVER on a budget. We usually spend an idyllic day visiting all our favourite outdoor shops like Sportler and Intersport, where we blow huge amounts of cash on outdoor kit and clothes.This time, while we still got to visit the outdoor shops (because I have a sock issue. Meaning: I didn't bring any useful socks for my mountain boots) we couldn't look around. If we had "looked around," our 4 month trip would have been reduced by 3 months and we would have had to leave for Calais the following day. Back in Blighty we would've been the most colourfully dressed, mountain ready inmates ever to grace debtors jail. So, we were good: In to shop; avert eyes; look at socks; buy socks, leave store. Don't touch ANYTHING! Don't look back.GRIPE ALERT! - You just can't buy colourful outdoor clothes in the UK. A visit to ANY outdoor store on the continent is a joy to the eye. Colourful, functional, hugely expensive items as far as the eye can see. A visit to 99% of UK outdoor stores sees the discerning shopper met with drab shades of mud coloured clothes reminiscent of some of my worst cooking. I strongly believe that all buyers and manufacturers of outdoor kit in the UK should be dragged, by the ear or any other painful appendage into continental stores and told, "Look! All trousers do not have to be black, brown or beige." The ONLY shop in the UK I have come across that knows how to do it is Needle Sports in Keswick. Yay for Needle Sport. Do pop in. Tell them I sent you. (They will of course say, "Mr. Who?") - GRIPE CONCLUDES.In order to visit Innsbruck we splashed the cash and stayed at by far our most expensive campsite; Natterersee. All the shower rooms have chairs and washbasins! There are no dead moths sharing the room with you and, if you look up you can't see the rafters that give the building away as an old barn. It's more like checking in to a 5 star hotel than a campsite. The owner collects models of campervans, caravans etc. which are displayed in glass cabinets all around the washing, shower and reception area. It is beautifully appointed and entirely unnecessary. All Mrs P, Gandalf and I need is a farmers field, a functional toilet and shower and a drinking water tap.The price did I suppose include a free shuttle to and from Innsbruck but blew our previous most expensive site out of the water!