Andelsbuch and Schwarzenberg

Wednesday, the 2nd of September, was one of the few times we used the car during our stay in Bizau.

 Kanisfluh from our room, just after 7:00 am

None of what we did that day was a repeat from 2023.

We had read about the "werkraum" in Andelsbuch in a magazine in our hotel room, and since we are interested in architecture as well as in craftmanship and design, we wanted to see this rather unusual place.

It only takes about 15 minutes by car to reach it. Werkraum literally means work room in German, and here in Andelsbuch, it is the name of both the building and the association of craftsmen and -women in the area who take pride in their work. Many of them work with wood as joiners and carpenters, but there are also painters, designers and makers of furniture, textiles (clothes as well as other items), crockery, lamps and much more. Part of werkraum is a school for apprentices in those crafts, and another important feature of werkraum is a festival plus contest called "Handwerk + Form" held regularly in and around Andelsbuch, showcasing contemporary design and craftmanship from the Bregenzerwald.

When we arrived there just after they'd opened for the day, we were told that we could join a guided tour which would also allow us a glimpse in the building's cellar, where many prized objects from past festivals were stored, normally not accessible to visitors. Of course we joined that tour, which was really very interesting. We also had the opportunity to check out their shop (of course!) and the current exhibition, and had a refreshing cold drink before we left.

After another short drive, Schwarzenberg was our next stop. 

Schwarzenberg

I had found a tour described as "easy" around Schwarzenberg in the booklet in our room, and although the tour was short enough at a mere 7.5 km, it took us about 2 hours and was anything but easy! 

It was a long uphill slog from the village through woods to St. Ilga's spring and chapel, and another hour easier to walk back to the village. 

A whole meadow of autumn crocus!

St. Ilga's Spring (which was dry)...

...and her chapel, which was open.

St. Ilga, painted by a local woman

Back in Schwarzenberg

We enjoyed the walk in spite of my puffing and panting on the uphill part (I must admit I was dressed a little too warm for the weather) and had a good rest at the hotel before dinner.

At 7:00 pm on our balcony

Afterwards, of course we went for another sunset walk of about an hour around the village, seeing many cats and taking in the beautiful evening light. My husband took this photo looking west just before we went back inside:

Bezau Revisited

Not to confuse Bezau with Bizau ("our" village for the duration of our stay in Austria), here are a few basic facts: 

At about 2,000 inhabitants, Bezau is larger than Bizau, almost a little town but still proudly calling itself a village (click here for their offical website in English). 

As you can see on the map, while Bizau (red marker on the map, below right) is at the end of a valley, Bezau sits more or less at a point where several valleys and the roads leading through them meet:

Also, while Bizau has only one church, one elementary school, one mini supermarket, a community building where the village administration is housed and two hotels with restaurants, Bezau boasts quite a good array of shops, cafés, restaurants and places to stay as well as a proper village hall with offices for the civil servants, schools and more.

You can also see on the map that between Bizau and Bezau there is a long narrow wooded ridge.

On Tuesday, the 1st of September, we decided to walk to Bezau "the long way". We left the hotel after breakfast, walking to the far end of the village (where it says "Hilkat" on the map, far right), cross the ridge and walk along the narrow valley on the other side of the ridge into Bezau.

From our balcony that morning

We had done this same route in 2023; click here if you like to compare the pictures from then with the new ones.

Bizau church

A bit further on, looking back towards the heart of the village

View of the village from Hilkat, just before the path leads into the woods and down the other side of the ridge

The narrow valley framed on both sides by high ridges is very quiet and has almost a dream-like atmosphere. A handful of houses are dotted along its length, but they are only lived in at times when the people who own them work on the fields or in the woods or with their animals, and there was nobody about on that day.

Entrance to one of the currently empty houses

Autumn crocus - it is September!

Bezau

Arriving in Bezau, we took the funicular to the mountain top overlooking the village and the surrounding area, just like we had done three years ago.

We follwed the panorama path again, and unlike last time when it was all very mysterious with the fog and clouds, it was sunny and warm, bringing out the crowds. The many other walkers took away a bit of our enjoyment of the otherwise beautiful path, and we sort of rushed along, trying to avoid the "processions" of groups of walkers in front and behind us.

You can see Lake Constance from here!

Still, we appreciated the views and many a detail along the way, just didn't stop for photos and to admire everything as much as we would have done otherwise.

Silver thistle; a good weather indicator, as it opens with the sun and closes when rain is near.

The modern chapel we remembered from our previous visit.

The light inside is natural light coming in through narrow glass panels.

Back down at the bottom of the valley, we followed the picturesque path through Bezau along the beck that runs all the length of the village. We had an ice cream while waiting for the bus to take us back to Bizau and arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon - the perfect time for a little nap after our 12 km walk.

Having dinner a little earlier than the day before, we had more time for a sunset walk afterwards.

Kanisfluh - what else :-)

Schnepfau Revisited

Don't worry - not ALL my posts about our recent holiday will be some place or other "revisited"! We repeated some tours from 2023, but other hikes were new to us. Still, it was interesting to notice how our memories were triggered by things we didn't even know we remembered until we came upon them.

On Monday (31 August), after a sunny morning it was mostly cloudy at 21C/70F but felt warmer because of high humidity in the air, and of course even more so during the steep first uphill part of the hike we'd decided upon.

View from our balcony at 7:25 that morning.

Looking the other way, along the valley.

The car was safely parked by the hotel, where it would remain for almost all our stay, and we left after a sumptuous breakfast directly from the front door, walking through part of the village until we reached the edge of the wooded ridge separating Bizau (our village) from Schnepfau (at the bottom of the next valley).

We had done this hike back in September 2023, and clicking on the link will take you to my post and photos from that time. I remembered how much I loved the view from Schnepfegg past the Kanisfluh across the valley and wanted to see it again.

As before, the first part through the woods was steep, but I managed well.

We arrived at St. Wendelin's Chapel to find it locked just like in 2023, but were able to see inside from the unlocked ante room.

Schnepfegg was very quiet with the hotel-restaurant (Berghaus Kanisfluh) closed for the day, and although it was a much cloudier day than what it had been like three years ago, I still found the view into the valley beautiful.

Downhill from there is the small village of Schnepfau with its Baroque church; I went inside before we started on the long straight walk at the bottom of the valley into Mellau.

The river is the Bregenzer Ache (sometimes just called Ach), and now at the end of a long, warm summer with little rain, it doesn't carry much water:

From there, we took a bus to Reuthe, a settlement at the entrance to "our" valley, and opted to walk the rest of the way from there, stopping briefly to visit the small church with its medieval murals. This time, I didn't take any pictures of the murals; you can see them here.

Back at the hotel with about 15.5 km under our hiking boots' soles, we rested for a bit, then showered and changed for dinner.

For the first time this season, I spotted autumn crocus on a meadow and found the first horse chestnut on the ground - a sure sign of summer quietly slipping into autumn.