We were ready and able to leave by 9 AM. Ron climbed the stairs six times to take all of our bags and luggage. The two large suitcases were the biggest challenge. He climbed one last time to leave the key in the door rather than ring the Hausler's bell. I wasn't able to help him load the car, and felt bad.
We took the slightly longer, but more scenic route through Innsbruck in order to miss the Munich traffic. The Austrian autobahn came back into the Munich-Salzburg autobahn near Rosenheim. Ron thought that for "nostalgia" we should have lunch at the Landgasthof Karner in Frasdorf. We have enjoyed dining there, and even stayed there once or twice, over the years. Frasdorf is also the infamous site of the ski mountain where Ron skied over a little girl. It was his first (and last) time on downhill skis about 60 years ago, and he had set out without a lesson! The angry mother chased him, and when we'd be in the area in the early 1970's, we'd always keep an eye out for her just in case!
Alas, as I feared (and couldn't check without Internet) the Karner was closed on Sundays (and Mondays). We remembered eating in two other locales nearby, and not caring for either one.
We drove into Aschau, and came upon the Residenz Heinz Winkler where we had lunch with Ron's sister and niece in 1998. At that time the restaurant held three Michelin stars. When Winkler died suddenly a year ago, it had two stars, and since his death Michelin has stripped them both. His estate is apparently in total chaos with ex, ex wives, girlfriend 40 years junior, the son and other family members all at cross purposes. What a mess! I hope to find a short biography of his interesting life - he was the youngest three-star Michelin chef of his time back in the early 1970's as head chef at the Tantris in Munich (another restaurant we tried a few times).
Anyway, with or without stars, it wasn't the kind of place we were looking for. "Light" set lunch menus started at 125 EU per person (sans alcohol). Think the prices were as bad back when we had our repast there, which none of us enjoyed enough to warrant the price tag.
When we were ordering, the waiter said my "appetizer" (gebackene camembert and mozzarella) was very big, and seemed to question if that was a good choice. We then said we would share it, and he continued with the order. Ron had kurbiscrem-suppe and schweinebraten.( roast pork) I had felchen (small white lake fish). The waiter was right that the appetizer was too big, especially since it included a huge salad. We didn't care for the fried cheeses. I expected a more delicate presentation like we've had in France, but what was I thinking? This was Bavaria and they were plain old, fried mozzarella sticks and camembert patties.
After lunch we walked a short way to take photos of the nearby beautiful blue and white Bonnschloessl spa hotel, as well as the May pole, weeping willow trees and small war memorial. The exterior and gardens of the hotel were beautiful, but later read reviews that the inside is dated and needs major improvement.
We drove on past Salzburg into the "Lake District". We found St. Wolfgang with no problem, but then, as usual, had a problem getting tangled up in the traffic area of the town where we weren't supposed to be to begin with. We drove all through town down to the very end of a lane, where a man asked what we were doing. Ron explained that we were trying to find our hotel and gave him the address. He said it was on the other side of town and we had to go back. He then went back into his garage without offering to let us turn around there. It took about 10 minutes to get the car headed safely in the right direction. Ron does get into some tight squeezes, and the maneuvering to get out is amazing. As Ron was jockeying the car, he kept backing up against a small pole and to avoid hitting it he had to keep inching back and forth. By this time his attempts were gathering a large crowd of observers. A man finally helped him out by showing with his hands how close to the wall in front was the fender. Just as Ron was finally able to execute the turn-around, another man moved the pole out of the way. The entire crowd burst into laughter at this turn of events. We laughed too.
Eventually made our way to our hotel, which, although it had a Sankt Wolfgang mailing address, was actually in the small village just beyond, Ried. We made our way there, and parked opposite the hotel. I was quite perturbed because of the STAIRS. The owner, who made my reservation, knew I had issues with stairs. When I made the booking I knew there was no elevator, and stipulated no higher than first floor (that is the second floor in US terminology). She made the reservation, but failed to mention you had to climb 15 stone steps to enter the building! I find that a bit deceptive. I was also annoyed that it was slightly out of the tourist area, but was later glad, as there was so much less traffic, and it was immensely tranquil and soothing.
Ron told the owner's daughter that the front stairs were very upsetting. He asked if someone could help with the few, but heavy, bags we were bringing into the hotel. She quickly volunteered which went a long way to soothing our distress. The owner came out and explained that the house was her mother's and had been built in 1929 and there was no place to install an elevator.
Once we finally climbed the stairs, we went out to the balcony for wine and Scotch and to enjoy our new view of beautiful Wolfgangsee.
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| View from Buchingerhof Wolfgangsee |
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