We’re In Lake Country

Sunday, September 18, Day 4

Photos by Betsy

We traveled to St. Wolfgang today, one of some 45 lakes in the Salzkammergut region. We checked into our hotel right on the water and met with our contact, Helmut, who gave us the information packet for our walking holiday.

It’s rainy and cold and it’s going to be that way for the next few days. Cold means in the 30s in the mornings and not rising beyond the mid-40s throughout the day, with winds off the lake and lots and lots of rain. We’ve experienced rain on walking holidays in the past, but not to the extent of this forecast. More than once someone has said to us, “There’s no bad weather, just bad clothes.” I’m pretty sure I don’t have the right clothes, but I do have a poncho and we both have good attitudes. We’re going to walk, rain or shine.

We like our room. It’s big and comfortable and the floors are heated, a nice touch. We have a little outdoor space which we may not use, but at least we can open the door and get some cool, fresh air in the room.

After settling in, we went to the hotel restaurant for lunch. It’s kind of fancy and pricey. The clientele is clearly senior citizens, people more senior than us. It is the first time in a long time that we’ve been the youngest people in a room full of people. Apparently all those old people had good taste because the food was really good. Betsy had beet risotto, of course. It had sheep’s cheese, walnuts, beet crisps and beet leaves. I had a chicken roulade dish with snow peas, lentils, tomatoes, polenta and a bacon foam, which sounded off-putting, but was really good.

We were amused by this line on the menu.

Translations sometimes have other meanings!

After lunch, we had a nap. Naps are good and we are on vacation, after all! We were up late last night packing and talking, and then up early again this morning.

Late afternoon, we bundled up in our raincoats and went exploring. We saw a church that anchors the village — the Pilgrimage Church — just around the corner and had to go in for a look. It was impressive. We’ve been to a lot of churches all over Europe and this one stands out for its ceiling and ornamental altars. Legend has it that Bishop Wolfgang was living as a hermit and decided to build a church. The story goes that he threw an ax down the mountain with a vow to build the church where it landed. It appears to have been in a pretty good spot, right in flat land on the water’s edge. The legend also says Wolfgang enlisted the help of the devil to build the church by promising him the soul of the first living being to enter the church upon its completion. However, Wolfgang tricked the devil by making sure a wolf was the first to enter. Bishop Wolfgang was canonized not long after his death and the lake and town took his name.

When gothic art went out of fashion in the Baroque period, gothic artwork was considered not only old-fashioned but even ugly. Gothic art was often removed and destroyed. The altar of St Wolfgang, however, was already considered a masterpiece at that time so it survived. Even so, they wanted a new baroque altar and therefore kept both altars until today.

This town is beautiful. Clearly, it is no longer high season, but it’s easy to imagine thousands of tourists walking and shopping in this village. Everything is beautiful and pristine. The shops are inviting and everything is just so pretty. The lake is huge, the water is blue green and the mountains around it are stunning. Even on a dreary day like today, it looked beautiful.

We came across something we’ve never seen before – a vending machine for alcohol. It’s called a ginomat and you a credit card to purchase bottles of gin, whiskey, vodka and some other selections. The See Distillery is located in the same building as the vending machine (see photo with the handsome guy walking his dog), a beautifully painted structure.

We stopped in a small bar to warm up.

We stopped again in a pretty hotel bar to have a cocktail made with the local gins and sit in front of our first fire of the season. Just a few embers, but it was really nice. The cocktails, however, are likely our last on this trip. One in Munich, one in Salzburg and now one in St. Wolfgang and all have been disappointing and expensive. We’ll be sticking to a glass of wine or a beer (for me).

We wanted something for dinner so we bought a barbecue sandwich from a little place on the corner and shared it in the room. Actually, we shared half of it and saved the other half for tomorrow. It was a big sandwich. I’m not a barbecue fan but it was really good.

We’re going to sleep early tonight so we can be ready for our first rainy walk tomorrow. It involves crossing a mountain, we’ve learned, Mt. Falkenstein, which I’m already calling Mount Frankenstein. Helmut said it was approximately a 40 minute climb. I’m not in the best shape for this trip. I broke my toe in early August and limped around for several weeks. It’s still a little tender, but much better. Of course, I could have been exercising a lot more prior to that, as Betsy may have mentioned to me once or twice. She, on the other hand, is in very good shape. She’s been walking hundreds of stairs six days a week. It’s impressive and, a little intimidating.