It would seem that after writing the last blog entry about the superb weather we had experienced in May that I well and truly jinxed the next fortnight as we barely saw the Sun. Instead we were deluged with unusually persistent and at times torrential rain, so much so that in the first weekend of June many rivers around Austria and Germany as well as Eastern Europe broke their banks and flooded all unlucky enough to be nearby. As damaging as these events were, the many volunteers and the outstanding firemen and emergency services put things right so quickly that it was hard for our guests to believe that so much chaos had been unleashed.
Whilst the Sun was a welcome return initially, we have just had another unusual week weather wise with a heat wave reaching 35C and staying at 25C even through the night. At the risk of jinxing things, we are getting back on track now to warm sunny days and the occasional spectacular thunder and lightning show in the evening, perfect for activities during the day and entertainment at night!
With everything returning to normal and time to enjoy the warmer weather we decided to hop on our bikes and take a day trip to St. Wolfgang, a beautiful village situated on the shore of Wolfgang lake. From our door we cycled along the river Traun heading towards Bad Ischl, an easy flat 15km ride, but nevertheless we felt we’d earnt a stop at Konditorei Zauner for a lovely cake and refreshing Radler.
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| Cake at Konditorei Zauner and a beer! |
Having enjoyed our pit stop and the view of the river by the cafe we were back on the bikes, cycling along the R2 cycle path out of Bad Ischl alongside the river Ischl. We then got to know the gears on our bikes quite well(!) and continued on the next 20km through scenic rolling countryside, often surrounded by alpine meadows which were still hanging onto the last of the Spring flowers (our cycle ride was in early June after all), before reaching our destination at St. Wolfgang for another well deserved Radler or two and then a bite to eat by the stunning viewpoint from the park set by the lake and also near the Schafbergbahn.
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| Some Spring flowers still in bloom |
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| Recharging station! |
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| Cycling through the beautiful Alpine meadows… |
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| …surrounded by incredible vistas and scenery. |
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| Wolfgangsee with St. Wolfgang in shot on the left taken waiting for the ferry with the Schafberg behind us. |
This time round we didn’t make the journey up on the old cog railway to the top of the Schafberg mountain as it was nice enough just relaxing with the incredible panorama of the lake and mountains that surround it, accompanied by the peaceful sound of the lake water lapping and water fountains in the park. Before it got too late we decided to head back on the ferry to Strobl to save our legs a few km before hopping back on the bikes and making our way back to Bad Ischl. Before long we had made it to the train station at Bad Ischl where Catherine decided she’d let the train take the strain and gave the bike a rest.
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| Cycling back to the Rosenhof (on the right of the photo) |
After a quick train ride and one last short cycle ride from the local train station in Ebensee, we were back at the Rosenhof enjoying the sunset on our terrace, appreciating what a beautiful part of the world we are lucky enough to live in.
