Wednesday, August 6-- A trip to the Wolfgangsee

The 3rd day in Salzburg, we both felt the need to get out of town - to get to greener places.  On the train to Amsterdam, I had chatted with a British couple who mentioned that The Wolfgangsee was a must see, so saw it we did.  We walked a half hour to the main bus station and caught the 150 heading West and up into the Alps to the Lake District. 

The scenery grew amazing - sheer granite cliffs with thick pine forests and fresh air, lovely fresh air.  We figured out how to read bus stop signs, but still managed to miss our stop, which turned out to be a fortunate circumstance.  We got off at Strobl, a small town at the end of the lake with a dirth of tourists but an abundance of charm.  We went to the local market, had them build us some tasty sandwiches and enjoyed our lunch sitting on a park bench and watching watercraft of every description plying the waters of the Wolfgangsee.

Welcome to Strobl

Dad would love this place....lots of deer horns

Beautiful parks

Add a delicious sandwich

And you have happy travelers

Panorama of our lunch spot

So lovely and peaceful

We took the boat out across the lake, stopping in quaint villages, offloading and loading folks of all nationalities and persuasions and just enjoying the whole experience. 

Panorama from the back of the boat where we were sitting

View of St. Wolfgang, one of our stops

And the picturesque church

Novice windsurfers

The water was so green

Next time we'll rent this place

St Gilgen from the water

We got off at St. Gilgen, the place we actually should have got off at in the first place and realized that the way the day fell together was just perfect.  St. Gilgen is very nice but with a high incidence of tourist types.  St. Gilgens main draw are gondolas which climb a 1000 feet of mountain.  We opted out of the vertical lift and chose an ice cream cone and a nice hour conversation with a British couple we encountered.

We boarded the bus back to Salzburg.  We were cruising East, fearing the dining experience in Salzburg and another dose of salt, when on the spur of the moment, we jumped off the bus and had a wonderful dinner at a lakeside resort. We dined outside next to the lake, weather balmy, conversation easy and food tasty - kismet squared!

View from our table

The Sea Rose Hotel

We got back to the hotel and made plans for departing in the morn for Switzerland. Kat took a stroll to one last garden - Mirabell while I just unwound from a long, wonderful day.

Mirabell Garden