Late Summer/early Fall in Bad Mitterndorf 2011

The area around Bad Mitterndorf is our not-so-secret little hideaway from daily life. It is ideal for small trips, Bad Ischl, Salzburg, St. Gilgen and many other places of interest are close by, the landscape is just beautiful, and it is a great place to relax and feel, smell and see the wonderful nature around.

We also enjoy the view from our balcony, when the fogs of the night dissolve in the light of the mild September morning sun...

Past weekend we decided to take a trip to Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, which is a market town and one of the many picturesque little villages in the region. The weather was perfect! At the moment we have this very special kind of weather which is called "Altweibersommer" in German (which is roughly translated "Old hags´ Summer" in English) - it describes a period at the end of regular Summer/beginning of Fall, where the weather is extremely nice and mild, the light is golden, but the sun does not burn down anymore as it does in High Summer. You could compare it with the Indian Summer in New England - a little later in the year the leaves of our trees get the same beautiful colours as the ones in Maine or Vermont.

One of the top hotels in the area is the "Im Weissen Rössl" ("At the white steed"). It is a 5* place and offers lots of luxurious amenities, but this is probably not the main reason why zillions of tourists go there and take photos every day. Das Weisse Rössel has become very famous because it was the main site for an Austrian film from the Sixties - "Im Weissen Rössel am Wolfgangsee", basically a funny love story around the head waiter (Peter Alexander) and the female owner of the hotel (Waltraud Haas). Like "The sound of music" this film has done much to spread the sometimes naive sometimes amiable clichées of Austria worldwide. So even today people - us too - go there and visit "Das Weisse Rössel"! And we all hope to hear some echoes of Peter Alexander singing there, catching a little glimpse of the ghosts from the past, when life was maybe simpler, more colorful, more charming...

Right next to the hotel you find the little church of Sankt Wolfgang. The tiny lane leading there offers a grand view onto the lake. Human beings like to pose there, little kiddos are picked up and positioned on the window sill without being asked for permission. And then comes the command, "Look at mommy!"

And the bigger kiddos have to hop up all by themselves with the order, "Try to look happy!" Which does not work all the time, as you can see.

The church of Sankt Wolfgang was built in the year 976 and very quickly has become a famous pilgrimage site since then. Most definately it is also one of the very busy tourist places around.

Inside the church it still is very quiet inspite of the many visitors. Take the time if you feel like it and light a small candle there. Maybe it does not help, but it is pretty and has a festive touch to it.

Afterwards, this is my advice, do a little bit of shopping. Walk down to the lake where you find lots of nice shops, I am sure you will be successful and find yourself some souvenir from the Salzkammergut. - I got a little something to be opened on my birthday. Now definately counting the days!

And don´t forget to have a look at the lovely town houses, many of them with lots and lots of flowers. How do the people there tend them?? My flowers never look like that!

There are less flowers at the bakery, but great wall painting and yummy cakes and pastries. If you feel like coffee and cake - that is the place!

The next day it was time to amuse our canine friends. No dog has ever walked a city happily, and no dog ever enjoyed sightseeing.

  

So this was better. LOTS better.

Indy even confronted himself with the great mysteries of life. If a dog jumps into a little creek and carefully puts his stick down on the surface of the water before he relaxes and is very distracted by many other things.... 

... he won´t be able to find his stick anymore when he wants to pick it up again. What the heck happened, and where did it go???? This mystery kept him busy for quite a while. And Stefan was busy documenting this glorious expedition.

Dessa and I, on the other hand, preferred to chill and watch the tragedy (the stick was never seen again) from a dry place in the sun. "Girls just wanna have fun" - and sometimes it is darn funny to see the guys run around!

Wavies, Mitterndorf and lovely area, we will be back soon!