You only see what you know (Goethe)
At the Kaiser-Josef-Markt – the oldest farmer market of Graz – I saw this offer for McIntosh apples. The spelling on this label is wrong, but the story of these apples is interesting. I was told the famous computer model Apple Macintosh is named after this apple, but for legal reasons, they had to add an ‘a’ in the Mc.
While staying at Landhotel Martha I took a lesson in working with clay. The lesson took place in a former farmer’s house called Waldwerkstatt. Well, what should I create? A pot? A plate? A heart? A locomotive … That’s it!
In an exhibition at Stift Geras (Geras Abbey), I saw this steam-powered fire pump dating back to 1911. The fire brigade of the Austrian city of Horn used it many years ago.
At Geras Abbey, I visited a workshop for creating handmade paper. While having a break, I discovered this sundial in the abbey court. I wonder what the name of the depicted castle is.
The hotel is split in two buildings. One building used to be the granary, the other one the dairy farm of Geras Abbey. Actually I had an excellent view of Geras abbey from my room at the former granary. The hotel is also linked with Geras Abbey by offering a lot of workshops in the rooms of the abbey.
In Geras Abbey (Stift Geras), I visited an exhibition about the history of fire brigades. There, I saw this Volkswagen Type 181. It was built in 1974 and was used as a service car for the fire brigades in Lower Austria. Reading the history of this car makes me smile: Was this car really called “The Thing” in the US?
This view from my hotel room in Geras shows Geras Abbey (Stift Geras). I stayed on the first floor of a former ‘Schüttkasten‘. A Schüttkasten is a building for the storage of corn in earlier times. Inside the abbey, I took a lesson in producing hand-made paper.
The family hotel Egger (Familienhotel Egger) is situated at the edge of Hinterglemm. The hotel is well prepared to deal with a lot of children. Besides the pools, there are even several rooms dedicated to children only.
The hotel stands near the centre of Saalbach. The owner is not only a good chef but also a good art teacher. The hotel offers packages for people interested in improving their skills in painting. The classes take place in a dedicated atelier next to the hotel.
This mural in Saalbach dates back to 1810. It shows an odd funeral procession. The body in the coffin is a hunter (German: ‘Jäger’), and the mourners of the funeral (German: ‘Begräbnis’) are animals. Therefore, people in Austria call this kind of picture a “Jägerbegräbnis”.
Villa Excelsior has already hosted famous guests. For example, Sigmund Freud spent several summer holidays here. My tour guide told me it was here where the Austrian neurologist was thinking about the concept of Eros and Thanatos.
The hotel is situated next to a biking route at the northern beginning of the Gastein Valley. The place is fine as starting point for biking, hiking, skiing and collecting mushrooms. Actually I had a delicious mushroom dish while staying at the hotel.