Week 35 of Waltzing we spent for Salzburger Land at the region Altenmarkt-Zauchensee.
We stayed at the Hotel Barbarahof. A hotel right in the centre of Altenmarkt. For lunch and dinner we went to different huts or restaurants. As we arrived late in the afternoon after 5 hours of driving, we did not see much of the village on our arrival.
Monday we had a first meeting with the tourism board and after that explored a little bit the surrounding to search for possible photo motifs.
Tuesday we met the Flying Coach. That is a very nice idea. The Flying Coach is a Cross Country Skiing Teacher who gives a 30minute lesson in skiing and after that spends two hours on the slopes to give skiers tipps and hints. A really nice idea. We saw during the last weeks a lot of skiers who looked not very happy and might get along more easily with some tipps.
After that we went to see the church from Altenmarkt and visited the well known Maria from Altenmarkt. In former times your sins have been absolved in case you stood in front of her. Well…
Then we tried different positions for photo shootings for Altenmarkt from “above”. Of all things we found the right place on a private ground. But the nice family allowed us to take the pictures (Thanks a lot for that!!). We were lucky!
On Wednesday it startet to snow so that we went right into winter wonder land. There is a combined hiking , skiing and snow shoe trail from Altenmarkt to Zauchensee. There were some very nice photo motifs. We also walked through Altenmarkt city. Here you can also do some shopping – if you are not waltzing and don't need to buy anything.
We also visited the museum of local history that day which is very nicely designed. There are some interesting exhibits like a Rauchkuchl (a kitchen with an open fire) and a class room. A must see! There you can experience some light bulb moments. You can also get explanations there if you wish.
On Thursday we made a trip to the Hochkönig area because of the amount of snow. There were really impressive winter landscapes and enormous snow depth. Awesome! Later in the afternoon we went up on a mountain with a stunning panoramic view to wait for the sunset at Hochkönig. Kindly enough a snow cat driver picked us up afterwards because the cable car had already stopped the service at that time. A once in a lifetime experience. A big “thank you” to the local tourism board for organizing this trip for us.
Friday morning we got up very early to watch and photograph the sunrise over Altenmarkt. The rest of the day we spent at Zauchensee and visited some slopes and huts. Unfortunately the possibilities are limited for non-skiers, because some cable cars will bring you up to the top of the mountains but they are not allowed to bring you down again. What a pity that pedestrians are cut out from some nice views and possibilities to relax. But the view from the Rauchkopfhütte is also very nice. While enjoying the view there you might as well try our their culinary arts: Handmade and diversified.
That was again quite an impressive week with nice experiences and it also included some culinary arts this time. There are always some surprises like alpine skiing huts that offer really good handmade food apart from the usual Schnitzel-French-Fries offers.
That was our week at the Altenmarkt-Zauchensee region. And now we are looking forward to be a present for the first time..
Winter Hiking Trail from Altenmarkt to Zauchensee
Altenmarkt and Surrounding
A Trip to the Skiing Area Hochkönig
Ski Area Zauchensee
Culinary Art at the Huts
