We had a cold light lunch, including about half of the cheese we had made the day before, said good-bye to O.K.'s parents, put our luggage in the car, got the cottage ready for our absence, and at almost precisely 2:00 pm started on the drive to Austria.
The distance from Hofweier to Bizau is given at 253 km, and the satnav estimated it would take us 3 hours 40 minutes. We had a good drive with a quick coffee break and a short hold-up because of roadworks, and arrived at the hotel just before 5:45 pm. You can click here for the hotel's website (in English - although not everything has been translated; it should still give you a good impression of what it was like).
Bizau is a village in the Bregenzerwald, a region of Austria that (as the name "Wald" suggests) is rich in woodland, mountains and mostly small towns and villages, often showing the typical wooden houses of the area, old and new.
The wikipedia entry about the area is here, giving you a good overview and an idea of what you may get to see over the next weeks (I estimate it will take me at least three weeks to post about our ten days there, what with work and so on).
We unpacked and then had an excellent dinner in the garden under large horse chestnut trees - it was still warm at 27 C/80 F.
A first quick stroll around the village followed, to familiarise ourselves with our surroundings. Sunset came soon, and we were still tired from the lack of sleep between Friday and Saturday, and so it was an early night for us.
Here are the first few pictures we took on that day:
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| Bizau church, separated from our hotel only by the hotel's garden and parking lot. |
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| This yellow armchair in the lounge was my main reason for wanting to go there! :-D |
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| Sunset |
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| Kanisfluh, as seen from near the hotel (we had the same view from our balcony) |
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| Bizau church again, upon returning to the hotel |
By the way, this was not our first stay in the area. Back in 2016, O.K. spent a week in another village nearby, and I joined him for the weekend. I posted about it in September 2016, starting here.
That yellow chair would have been a magnet to me too (ood job we didn't meet the same week in the same hotel!)
ReplyDeleteYes, good job we were not there at the same time, Pat!
DeleteFunnily enough, there was one couple who often were in the lounge at the same time as us. When they were first, one of them always sat on the yellow chair; I actually did not get to sit in it very often.
Reading all that the thing that stuck in my mind the most was the chestnut tree - underneath the spreading chestnut tree. I've always loved them from the local woods of my childhood. I remember there was a song when I was very young. I can't remember anything at all about it except the chorus which was something like:
ReplyDeleteUnderneath the spreading chestnut tree
I loved her and she loved me.
There she used to sit upon my knee.
‘Neath the spreading chestnut tree.
Sigh.
My hometown is full of large old chestnut trees - they are even part of the nickname for Ludwigsburg residents (Kastanienbeutel, meaning chestnut bags). The trees in the hotel garden were beautiful, and the only ones around that showed any sign of the approaching atumn.
DeleteI love that hotel's website. It looks like a great place to stay! And of course you had to try out the yellow chair!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the next few posts about your holiday!
We enjoyed our stay there; only the "spa" area was not quite what we are used to from other hotels. But it was certainly good enough for us, especially since we had it all to ourselves when we put our names down in the list.
DeleteLooks nice, Meike! Can't wait to here about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ellen! More (much more) will appear as/when I have time to post, now that work has started again.
DeleteGreat photos, and I do like the chair! Is that a cemetery next to the church?
ReplyDeleteIt is, Steve. Church, school, a small SPAR and a few other buildings make the core of this village, and we were right there.
DeleteNot sure whether you have ever seen my own yellow armchair; it appears on my blog occasionally.
The chair suits you! (and the other way round...)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Monica :-)
DeleteThe excitement of arrival.
ReplyDeleteIt's always special to open the door to the room that will be our home-base for a certain length of time, and even more so to explore the surroundings on that very first walk.
DeleteThe hotel website talks of "WILD WOMEN AND TOUGH GUYS" so that's why I thought that you and OK were drawn to this particular hotel... but then I discover it was because of a yellow armchair! I hope you are going to make me seethe with jealousy as you describe your walking routes.
ReplyDeleteI saw the yellow armchair before I read about the "wilde Weiber und toughe Typen" - but I must say what attracted us most of all was its location. Remote enough but still easily accessible for us.
DeleteThis post and your last has been like a virtual holiday. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteKanisfluh is something to behold, and wonder about.
And the name will be on my mind all week. I must look it up.
You are welcome, Jack. You are of course free to look it up, but my next post will be all about Kanisfluh - with many, many pictures.
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