Liz Truckle – Landhaus Lilly

Early morning cycle ride to Hallstatt …

Totally inspired by one of our lovely guest's amazing pictures - there followed a VERY early () pre-sunrise cycle ride to Hallstatt, the very next day!!

Here are a couple of pictures from this wonderful early morning adventure

It can be pretty busy in Hallstatt - but, pre-dawn, the crowds have not yet arrived - and you can 'almost' have Hallstatt to yourself.

There were a few other dedicated / early photographers (including a professional photographer with a bride in her white gown, and her groom in front of the famous Hallstatt church view) - but it was peaceful, relaxing and altogether a worthwhile trip!

Getting to Hallstatt from Landhaus Lilly

by Liz Truckle

There are a number of options to reach Hallstatt (5 km away) from Landhaus Lilly
(all timings are approximate)

Car 5 minutes drive to Hallstatt. There is no direct vehicle access to the village centre, so use the local car parks, which are all payable. P2 is the closest to the village (not open in the winter months). Parking in P1 and P3 are also available. In the summer, with many tourist visiting Hallstatt, you may wish to go earlier or later in the day if you want to get a parking space … or try out one of the options below …

Bus (7 minutes walk to bus stop + 6 minutes bus journey) *

Walking option 1 (1 hour) walking on the pavements at the side of the road

Walking option 2 (50 minutes) walk to Hallstatt train station, plus ferry (10 minutes) from Hallstatt train station to Hallstatt village

Walking option 3 (20 minutes) walk to Obertraun train station, plus train (3 minutes) to Hallstatt train station, plus ferry (10 minutes) from Hallstatt train station to Hallstatt village

Bike (25 minutes) on the bike pathway at the side of the road (we also rent bikes during the summer and autumn months)

Taxi approx 15 Euros one way for a taxi (up to 9 people)

* NB there are no buses late in the evening and during the summer months, the later buses bring you back to Obertraun Traunbrucke (20 minutes walk from Landhaus Lilly)

Keeping Obertraun Tidy!

by Liz Truckle

To encourage tidyness in the village there’s a tradition in Obertraun … which means that anything with wheels on, that is left outside overnight on Easter Sunday, may be removed and let’s say – ‘relocated’ – all in order to remind residents to ‘keep Obertraun tidy!’

Fortunately kind neighbours alerted us to this tradition when we first moved here … when wheelie bins can be carted off, and as you can see, bicycles manage to get to the top of lamp posts and wheelbarrows are hung from street signs …

All in good fun and just another interesting tradition!

20 Photos to inspire you to travel to Austria!

by Liz Truckle

Photo Opportunities in Austria

Guests and visitors to our region are overwhelmed with stunning photo opportunities. And of particular interest is nearby Hallstatt. Many guests from the UK have not heard of this ancient, picturesque village clinging to the hillside – and yet for guests from further afield, it’s a ‘must see’ location, along with Vienna and Salzburg.

Click below and take a quick look at the following photos / article – showing what’s photographically possible during the month of October!

Byrne Photography – Austria – Resource Travel

Hallstatt replica in China

by Liz Truckle

Hallstatt, our local picturesque lakeside village, is located 5km away.

Click here to see your options of getting to Hallstatt from Landhaus Lilly

Here are a few lovely pictures – and the experience of some travellers to Hallstatt.

The article also speaks about the Chinese who created a replica village of Hallstatt!

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8868814

Bad Ischl and Hallstatt

by Liz Truckle

An interesting read by the Telegraph about Hallstatt (5 minutes away) and our local town of Bad Ischl (about 25 minutes away) … World history on the doorstep …

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/austria/10991094/Bad-Ischl-heaven-and-heartache-in-the-hills-of-Austria.html

Balcony flowers

by Liz Truckle

Finally the weather has warmed up and the snow has stopped falling on the local mountains … and we have planted our balcony flowers – the first at Landhaus Lilly …

I’m not sure how large they will all grow (and hopefully I’ll remember to feed and water them) – but for now I’m delighted and look forward to them blooming all summer long (with a bit of luck!)

Flower Power – a nature walk on the doorstep

by Liz Truckle

Various flowers have been emerging recently – in the undergrowth, around the trees, alongside the river and pathways near our house and around Lake Hallstatt. As we take Leo on his (at least) twice daily walks, it’s been interesting to notice the subtle changes in the surrounding woods and pathways from one walk to the next. Now, I’m sorry to admit that I do not know much about flowers – especially the Austrian varieties that could be emerging at this time of year in the Salzkammergut area. So – how fortunate we were to have a lovely guest who happened to mention that she saw an abundance of flowers on her walk at the weekend. We chatted for a while about her walk and then she kindly volunteered to write down the names of the flowers … and as a bonus, she added a little picture and description too, so I would know what to look for …

So armed with this knowledge I felt a bit like a mini-adventurer on our next walk … I had a purpose of not just walking the dog and moving a bit – but to see if I could track down some of the flowers as well. Admittedly we did not go on exactly the same route as our guest – but we did come across some of the flowers and I started to photograph them. As time when on, however, it was not only the looking for flowers that made the walk so special…

We are pretty familiar now with the route that we took … and the scenery is absolutely spectacular (we have to pinch ourselves regularly to remind ourselves how incredibly fortunate we are to have such dramatic scenery on our doorstep!) But during this walk I was looking both at the stunning scenery, appreciating the warm sunshine – and also keeping an eye out for things I could capture in a picture. I started just looking for the flowers that we had spoken about – but there were so many other interesting things that I wanted to capture as well! So … our nature walk started with a search for flowers – and ended up being about just noticing (and often capturing on camera) anything that seemed potentially interesting.

I’m still on the hunt for the other varieties of flowers and look forward to exploring again soon on future walks. But a big thank you to our lovely guest for this gift of knowledge about flowers … it’s amazing what a little chat over breakfast can lead to!

Glöcklerlauf

by Liz Truckle

As we’ve only been here for 6 months, we haven’t yet gone through an entire year of the festivities and traditions … so this evening was a new experience. In spite of some rain, the village celebrates the eve of the visit of the Three Kings (or Epiphany) on 6 January with the Glöcklerlauf. The aim is to help banish the evil spirits and welcome the good. Firstly a group of children appear with the small lantern headdresses and then, as the next taller group joins the parade, so the lanterns get larger and larger! Different sized bells tied around their waists are constantly clanging as they parade and jump around. The beautiful and colourful lanterns are made by the villagers over few months leading up to the parade. They are lit from the inside by candles and carried on their heads around the village square for all to admire. The parade then divides up and heads off around the village … an incredible sight to see in Obertraun this evening!