May Day at The White Horse Inn on Lake Wolfgang, Austria – video

“You know the water in the lake is drinking quality?” I was told by my new friend Wolfgang, as he pressed me to drink another glass of sparkling Sekt, the Austrian version of Champagne. By this time I was starting to feel a bit tiddly, but it certainly tasted better than a glass of lake water, however pure that might be.

We’d arrived at the pretty lakeside town of St Wolfgang, an hour from Salzburg in the heart of the Salzkammergut region, to find the May Day festival in full swing.The cobbled streets with pretty painted houses were filled with wooden kiosks, where the locals were gathering to while away the afternoon awash with beer, wine and the odd Weiner Schnitzel. By the time we’d settled into our lakeside hotel, the White Horse Inn it was well into the afternoon and the crowds were starting to thin. We got chatting to local hotelier Wolfgang and his dirndl clad wife, Carolin who were running a beer stand to promote their hotel just around the lake shore. Before we knew it, we too were awash with the May Day spirit and swaying along to the yodelling trio playing nearby.

I hope you enjoy the video below about our stay at the White Horse Inn and Lake Wolfgang

If you can’t see the video above, view it on my blog here

If you thought that Wolfgang (as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) was an unusual name, you’d be wrong hereabouts. As my new friend told me, he’d been named for St Wolfgang who founded a church here in the 1st century that became the hot destination for pilgrims from all over Europe in the Middle Ages – he was, as Wolfgang joked, the Patron Saint of Tourism in this part of Austria.The story goes that St Wolfgang threw an axe from where he stood and where it landed he built the church, even tricking the Devil himself to help with the building work.

Fuelled with May Day spirit, we returned to our room at Hotel Weisses Rössl or The White Horse Inn, a family run Austrian Inn that has over the years swallowed up the neighbouring buildings and transformed itself into a luxury spa hotel. We threw open the doors onto the balcony overlooking the lake, where I could have sat all day and watched the ferries criss-crossing the sparkling water.

Lake Wolfgang is ringed by mountains with a number of pretty lakeside towns such as St Wolfgang, Strobl and St Gilgen on the shore – and there’s plenty to do at all times of year from swimming and hiking in the summer to ski-ing and Christmas markets in the winter. From the lake shore you can take one of those ferries across the lake or chug up to the top of the mountain on the Schafburgbahn, a miniature steam train that was built in 1893 to take those early tourists up to the top for some breathtaking views and clear Alpine air.

The White Horse Inn is also well known as the setting for a famous comic opera of the same name that was first performed in Berlin the 1930s and later made into several film versions – think Gilbert and Sullivan but in German. It’s a charming comedy of errors in which the Head Waiter of the White Horse Inn is in love with the owner, but her heart is set on one of her regular guests. When the object of her attention arrives, he promptly falls in love with someone else, but it all ends happily with everyone marrying the right person.

Hotel Weisse Rössl at St Wolfgang in Austria

Hotel Weisse Rössl at St Wolfgang in Austria

The setting of The White Horse Inn right beside the lake is just perfect and there’s a spa with saunas, treatments and indoor pool as well as a wooden sun deck with an outdoor pool set in the lake. In May the sun was warm but the water a little cool for me, so I watched my husband and son playing a lovely game in which they swam a few lengths in the outdoor pool (pleasantly fresh) then jumped into the lake itself (freeeezing) to swim a few strokes before hopping out and into the outdoor jacuzzi (blissfully warm).

St Wolfgang in Austria

St Wolfgang in Austria

We also had fun borrowing the hotel’s pedalos to explore the lake shore near the hotel, peering up from the lake at St Wolfgang’s church tower and dodging the ducks. On our final morning we took the Shafburgbahn train up the mountain for a coffee with a stunning view – if we’d had more time, I’d have loved to do some hiking in the mountains around the lake. I’m normally happy to enjoy a place and move on but if you asked me to go back to Wolfgangsee and the White Horse Inn, I’d be there like a shot!

More stories from Salzburg and Wolfgangsee

Riding the steam train – on the Schafburgbahn at St Wolfgang – video
Podcast – Salzburg and Lake Wolfgang in Austria
Bratwurst and Sacher Torte – or what we ate in Salzburg, Austria

 If you’re thinking of visiting (trust me, it’s wonderful at any time of year)

Website for Wolfgangsee or Lake Wolfgang
Hotel Weisses Rössl or The White Horse Inn – Website - find them on Facebook
My new friend Wolfgang Linsmayer’s hotel at Gasthof Bürglstein
For more information about Holidays in Austria visit the Austrian Tourism Website and follow them on Twitter @Austria_UK
Check out this great video about Salzburg, Innsbruck and Graz as well as the other videos about Holidays in Austria

My thanks to the Austria National Tourism Office UK for hosting our trip to Salzburg and Wolfgangsee

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Austria – St Wolfgang and Wolfgangsee photoset

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

Chamonix and the Majesty of Mont Blanc

The two Englishmen who discovered the ‘Priory of Chamouni’, or Chamonix to you and I, in 1741 could have had little suspicion that their visit would create an interest that would continue right through to the present day. So great are the mountaineering and skiing opportunities that the first winter Olympics were held here in 1924 and if that isn’t enticement enough to come try out the activities, then the breath-taking views should be.

Mont Blanc is one of the most famous and most visited places in Europe and one can immediately see why. Arriving in the Alps, the crystal clear sky so blue the shimmering snow on the mountains beneath seemed to take on its colour and the air so crisp I barely notice the altitude. I was so distracted by the natural beauty that I almost forgot to collect my suitcase from the coach. Transferring from Geneva couldn’t be easier with the Sat Bus daily service. Though I have to admit I really wished I could have afforded the helicopter option.

What a view that would have been, swooping up over the peaks and dips of one of the world’s greatest mountain ranges. Still, I couldn’t complain, I was there, in Chamonix. I’ve always loved winter sports, but more to watch than to participate, with one exception, ice skating.

Before my trip I’d assumed all the activities would be aimed at the crazy and the adventurous; those who love to conquer mountains either by climbing them and sliding down them, but I was wrong.

It didn’t take long for me to discover, not only a fantastic ice rink, but paragliding, mountain biking, great spas, golf, tennis and more hikes than I dare count. Now I may not be inclined to try out crampons and a rope to ascend to the ‘roof of Europe’, but a hiking trail or two to explore and I’m there.For me it was spring time, the snow was beginning to ease and the leaves were gathering on the trees so making my way along the mountain sides, looking out of the stunning vistas couldn’t have been more relaxing.

I was also surprised how family friendly the area is. The pretty meadows and hamlets of Les Houches are the perfect place to acclimatise children to the mountains and all they have to offer. One of my favourite touristy activities was Le Petit Train; this cute wheeled train may look like it’s just for kids, but the tour is a great source of local information, history of the town, its architecture as well as the sports and sportsmen and women how have made their mark on the area.

The town itself is almost idyllic in its Alpine construction and as I wandered around the shops I was not disappointed with the variety, there’s everything from the obligatory sporting suppliers to designer stores like Chanel. There are also local handicrafts, as well as some lovely tea rooms and pastry shops to refresh you during a hard afternoon of shopping.

And don’t miss a visit to La Refuge Payot, this quaint delicatessen sells some of the most amazing local produce you can possibly imagine, including wines and hams but it was the array of cheeses that drew me in and who can resist a brandy cake!?

Don’t be fooled into thinking Chamonix is all about the daylight hours either. If sitting by a roaring fire in your cabin isn’t enough for you of cosy evening, then there is plenty of nightlife in Chamonix. There’s the cinema, the casino and British style pubs, but for me, it was the local bars and live music spots that kept my evenings lively and bright.

More articles from Chamonix

Inside the glacier – at the Mer de Glace above Chamonix
Video diary – walking on the Tour de Mont Blanc above Chamonix
What to wear for a trek in the mountains – on the Tour de Mont Blanc

My thanks for this sponsored post, written by Leah S Thorley,  to MyDestination.com – your guide to all things Chamonix

Photo credits: MyDestination.com and Heatheronhertravels.com

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

A walk in the olive groves on Zakynthos – video

In the autumn on the Greek island of Zakynthos, the sun is warm but the evenings are cooling and the miniature pink cyclamen are creating delicate dots of colours under the olive trees. In October we visited my sister who lives on the island, after most hotels and restaurants had closed for the season. This is the time when the Greeks, who have been working flat out through the heat of the summer season are ready for a rest and will close their businesses until December, when the locals start partying for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

This is the season when the Zakynthians turn their attention to their land, as most will own a patch of land near their house, or on another part of the island where they have olive groves or vines to make some local Greek wine. You can smell the woodsmoke in the air as olive branches are pruned and burned in piles. Tarpaulins are spread out under the trees as the branches are beaten to drop the crop of olives to the ground. In each community you may see a shed open up where the locals bring their crop of olives to be pressed for the oil that will keep them going through the year until next autumn.

I hope you enjoy the video below about walking in the olive groves on Zakynthos

If you can’t see the video above, view it on my blog here

This year we walked up behind my sister’s house in Argassi, sometimes on the tracks that are the routes for people to get to their olives and then up a rocky, overgrown area (we’d taken a bit of a wrong turn at that point). It’s best not to go up in the late afternoon as you may have an encounter with a hunter with his shotgun.

We reached the top of the hill where you can see right over the resort of Argassi, over the roofs of the two hotels that my sister and her Greek husband Dennis own (Windmill Studios and Windmill Bay) and across the bay to Zante town where the ferries and cruise ships go in and out. Next time you’re staying in Greece, feel free to take a walk in the olive groves too, especially if you’re going to be rewarded with a fantastic view like we were.

More things to enjoy on Zakynthos

How to make delicious Greek stuffed tomatoes
The cyclamen bring the autumn on Zakynthos
Friday photo – a hunter’s view in Zakynthos

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Zakynthos – around the island photoset

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

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