The Austrian lake and mountains are wonderful to visit!
From the video:
If you’re visiting this part of the world you’ll probably want to see some mountains, and maybe a pretty alpine town or two.
So when we had friends over from the UK, we took them to one of our favourite areas, the Traunsee lake.
This is where the Upper Austrian Prealps begin.
And with Traunstein rising vertically out of the water, this place is a visual treat.
First let’s revisit Gmunden.
Even though it’s a relatively small town, there are always nooks and crannies awaiting discovery in Gmunden.
And we found this, the Arkadenhof.
It’s a beautiful arcaded courtyard hidden away behind a traditional hat shop called the Haas Hüte.
This traditional house is about 800 years old. In summer and at Christmas, the courtyard is open to the public and it’s well worth a peek.
And on the street outside there is a plaque which tells us that Gmunden had a horse-drawn railway as long ago as the 1830s.
Now, last year, I fell in love with the old trams running from the railway station down to the lake.
The town’s single tram line has been extended and it now runs across this bridge.
Now, turning our attention back to Traunsee,
Gmunden is well-known for its castle-in-the-lake,
which is accessed via a 123-metre long footbridge.
It’s one of the oldest buildings in the Salzkammergut region of Austria.
And it owes much of its fame to a German-Austrian television series:
for 8 years up until 2004, this was "Schlosshotel Orth”.
Well, all that exploring did make us hungry and thirsty, and Gmunden had the solution.
We had a great lunch at Naschmarkt am Graben, which is a cosy café and delicatessen a little way back from the lakeside.
It’s well worth seeking this place out.
My pasta dish was delicious.
There was also time for coffee at Café Schubert right by the lakeside, where we observed a large-scale game of chess.
And then, a little bit later, there was also time for cake nearby, at a the more traditional Konditorei Grellinger.
You can eat a lot in Austria.
It seems to me that cake is like a national religion here.
Now, for this trip we stayed at See 31, which is a small group of apartments perched on a hillside overlooking the lake.
A feature of theses apartments is the large corner windows which allow for a fabulous view right across Traunsee.
Traunkirchen is an easy walk along the lakeshore from where we were staying.
And Traunkirchen is difficult to miss because it sticks out into the lake!
With fewer than 2000 inhabitants, it’s a lot smaller than Gmunden.
But people have lived in this area since the early Stone Age.
The mountains and lake views here are simply stunning.
It’s easy enough to drive here too, following the lakeside road from Gmunden.
And there’s also a train from Gmunden to Traunkirchen, which goes on to Ebensee and Bad Ischl.
Or you can arrive by boat.
We enjoyed walking around Traunkirchen.
It’s relatively peaceful in October but the weather can be quite cool and changeable.
Which is a good enough reason to head into a café for coffee and cake. This is Seecafé Johannisberg, and it’s just a stone’s throw from the lakeside.
When you’re walking around the town, the Pfarrkirche Mariä Krönung or the Parish Church of the Coronation of the [Virgin] Mary
is hard to miss.
It has a small but immaculately kept cemetery overlooking the lake.
And it also has a richly decorated baroque interior.
A special attraction here is the Fischerkanzel or fisherman's pulpit. It was carved in 1753 by an unknown artist.
Outside, if you look up you can see another church, the Johannesbergkapelle.
And nearby, we also found this lovely little art gallery as we walked around.
It’s the Erlas Gallerie on Klosterplatz, it’s just couple of minutes walk from the parish church.
And just off the main road and up from the church is a museum of needlework, the Handarbeitsmuseum.
This fascinating museum is run by friendly volunteers.
I’m so glad that we took the time to visit this amazing gem of a place.
Of course, I loved seeing the traditional costumes, but I also found the old machines fascinating, including the traditional spinning machine, this ancient Juwel sewing machine and this somewhat less ancient knitting machine.
We also saw a fine example of the Golden Bonnet, a part of the women’s traditional costume.
The original wearers belonged to the high-status scythe-maker guilds,
which were industrial royalty at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.
So that’s it - another visit to Traunsee, and it amazes me just how much there is to see in this small corner of Austria.
We always find something new to enjoy in this part of the Salzkammergut region, and that’s why we’ll coming back!
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