Good Bye Czech Republic (České Budějovice) - Hello Bad Ischl, Austria

České Budějovice early this morning

České Budějovice early this morning

Well what a day it has been. I was up earl in České Budějovice and it was so beautiful outside my windows with a view of the town covered in snow but fortunately after I finished breakfast and got my self packed and ready to go by 9:00am it was warmer and sunny and just perfect for traveling.

I took the public bus #5 to the train station and was able to get a ticket to Linz, Austria and within 10 minutes was on my way and about an hour later I was taking my last pictures of the Czech countryside and was happily crossing over to Austria.

České Budějovice train station art work

České Budějovice view from the train

České Budějovice Train Station Art work

Czech Republic view form the train

My well over a month and a half visit to the Czech Republic is certainly one of the highlights of my whole trip and I feel abundantly grateful for having been able to truly immerse myself in the culture and meet some remarkable people of not only Czech decent but German, Russian, Romanian, Mexican and even American.

The last train station before crossing to Austria - Horní Dvořiště Station

View of Czech Republic from train

View of Czech Republic from train

View of Czech Republic from train

Last picture of Czech Republic from train

Cloud in Austria above train - It looks like a winged Unicorn to me.

I arrived in Linz, Austria around 12:15pm and stayed only in the train station. I visited Linz with mom 5 years ago when we were on our river cruise and it made a stop in the very lovely town. There is a great deal of industrial businesses surrounding the city but the center of town where we explored back then is really worth a day visit and I remember we went to mass in the cathedral and downstairs they had a group from Africa who had immigrated to Linz and held a wonderfully engaging, music oriented mass in English.

Altmünster, Austria from the train

Altmünster, Austria from the train

Altmünster, Austria from the train

AAltmünster, Austria from the train

Royal Hotel, Bad Ischl, Austria - Lobby with all the guests having their afternoon tea in bathrobes

So I met with a man at the Austrian train system off and he spent a half hour with me going over what I thought was going to be my plans for the next few days. I had been planning for weeks now to come through Austria and do a day visit to Liechtenstein and most likely stay in Innsbruck for two nights. But when we tried to figure out the train/bus plans it was coming out just for the day trip to Liechtenstein's capitol city a over 200 dollars and for a 3 hour visit to a city that really doesn't have so much to see it just didn't make sense and it would have meant a 6 hour train ride going and coming. So although it's the only country in Central Europe I haven't been yet it was just didn't make sense to squeeze it in now. Maybe some day so the young man recommended a small town about an hour and half outside Linz and with a connection to Salzburg where I get the train to Slovenia and he said it is the quintessential Austrian town and I would most likely enjoy it. So I took his advice and he found me two great deals on trains so that worked out great and off I went 10 minutes later after a very quick potty break.

Royal Hotel Swimming pools from my room's balcony

Man in traditional Austrian Nickers - I love that!

Store window with Traditional Austria dress

In this small town there are several car dealerships including a Chevrolet

Large rock in the park in the center of town

I had no idea where I was going to stay when I got to Bad Ischl but he assured me this time of year there wouldn't be a problem getting a hotel. And this is where an adventure like this is different from a vacation because you just never know where you're going to find the next incredible place to visit and often a place you never even knew existed until a local informs you of it's virtues.

Well Bad Ischl has lots of virtues including the scenic train ride from Linz going past Lake Traunsee and the town of Altmünster which is a market town located about 3 kilometres south of Gmunden in Upper Austria.

It's spectacular and as I was told this is "Sound of Music" country. I believe the whole area lies between the Alps but I'm not 100% sure all I know are the mountains are incredible and Bad Ischl is a beautiful village nestled snugly at the base of a lot of different mountain peeks.

Statue in the center of town

I arrived in Bad Ischl around 3:00pm and walked outside the train station to find myself right at the start of the town center and directly across the street was a sign for the Royal Das Hotel so I headed over. The front desk associate spoke perfect English as most people here do and he arranged a good rate for me to stay one night and with it, because it turns out this is a spa town (I should have guessed from the word Bad in the title) afternoon tea, dinner and breakfast and full use of the spa which includes several indoor and outdoor heated pools, saunas and steam rooms. Well that pretty much clinched the deal and afternoon tea was being served until 4:00pm so I had just enough time to drop off my bags and head down to the lobby again.

Calvary Church

Interesting water drainage spout on the shrine near the Calvary Church

Cheese and meat vendor near the river

Now one other hint that this was a spa was when I first walked into the lobby everyone was sitting around in bathrobes. I mean just about everyone. So although I hadn't had time to open the large orange bag I was given when I checked in that supposedly hold my bathrobe, towels, etc.  I sat with the robed ones and had after noon tea consisting of a yummy soup, fresh rolls, cabbage salad and lots of delicious sweet treats including an array of ice creams.

They really do a nice job here with food and you get to sit in the warmly lit lobby which, like the dining room is partly decorated with sold bricks.

This ominous statue (it looks like at one time the head was cut off and then glued back on) stands in the main square park and is a bust of  Dr. Franz von Wirer who is honored here as the discoverer of the healing effects of brine baths which I discovered from going to the spa tonight is a main attraction here with several of the pools of water highly saturated with salt. It's helpful for skin diseases and ruhmatic complaints.

So after having had my tea break I went out for almost two hours to explore the town and breath in all this incredible fresh air and the intermittent sunshine certainly was a bonus.

It's also very warm here like spring which is great. One thing I noticed even during the train ride was that although we made a very slow accent upward we are very high above sea level and even the clouds that floated slowly past as we zoomed along on the train were so close it seemed that if I could have reached up I would have put my hand right through the fully cotton balls and because of our altitude it is very dry and therefore, like when you visit Colorado, you need to drink extra water. I was so parched by the time I returned to my hotel because I hadn't prepared myself for the dryness.

The town itself is charming and filled with lots of pretty small buildings and encircled by The Traun River which is a 153 km long right tributary of the Danube in Upper Austria.

I walked up the small hill to the Calvary Church which seemed so large from the outside but is very small and dark inside but still really beautiful and peaceful and it has above the alter one of the most unique crucifixes  I've ever seen. Coming from Jesus' hands, side and feet is blood  spurts made possibly from red metal and pour out into chalices that are being held by four different angle sculptures flying near the crucifix.  It took my by surprise but it's certainly memorable.

Very pretty post office building

The Saint Nicholas parish church was first mentioned in a 1344 deed.

I walked back through town and to the hotel taking pictures of the town as I went. There are lots of little shops and some chain stores, even a McDonalds. And I loved seeing some flowers  coming up, spring is truly on it's way. One of my favorite things about NYC and something I know I'll miss this year is when, after months of cold and dreary weather I would walk along Park Avenue to work and without remembering the year before's events I would turn and see the bright yellow daffodils peeking up from the hundreds of beds all along the center parks going all the way up the famed avenue. It always made me beam and glow that first glimpse of spring in NYC and just thinking of it makes me smile so I hope all the wonderful New Yorkers will be beaming soon!

Bad Ischl is so worth visiting if you're in the area, it's just beautiful and this hotel alone is a real draw. I am looking forward to getting in the water soon, I just wanted to finish the blog first.

Dinner was phenomenal to say the least. The Austrians have these incredible dips and I guess it's normal to start the meal off with a huge antipasto bar with meats, fish, breads, salads and these different dips, incredible. I was so full before they even brought me my vegetable entree and then a yummy dessert.

And the staff at the Royal hotel are superb, friendly and attentive so you feel like a princess with all this pampering. It is a totally different kind of spa experience than I've ever had and would highly, highly recommend it for anyone in the area who is looking for rest and fresh air and great food. It's not about dieting or health here but clearly that's not what the guests want and the place is packed considering its a Tuesday in March.

So off I go soon to the pool!

Update from the pool.

So it was a very relaxing evening for about 3 hours. The spa is really remarkable with a large pool with salt water and a lazy river pool outside where you just let the current push you slowly around in a circle going through a beautifully tiled salt grotto and a room they call a wreck where there is a space to sit while bubbles massage you. And there is another outdoor small pool with a very high salt mixture. It was wonderful to float around outside with the cool air above and the warm, warm water below. The moon was shining brightly and even a few stars were visible.

Outdoor pools at Eurothermen spa

In the distance we could see the lights that illuminate the path that leads up to the tower on one of the hills.

The place is called the Eurothermen Resort which is attached by a walkway to my hotel, Royal das Hotel and since they provide you with a warm, cozy bathrobe, slippers and two large, fluffy yellow towels it's so easy to leave your room and head straight to the spa area and then back without having to dress or worry about the cold outside.

Indoor pool area at Eurotermen spa

Inside there is also a large whirlpool with massaging jets. It took me awhile to discover that in on the first floor in the back there is a special entrance you use you key for and it leads to a relaxing room with lots off lounge chairs and then several rooms where there are two inferred saunas, a small high salt brine pool, an inhalation room which is like a cold steam room, a few wet steam rooms, a few dry saunas, a small whirlpool and a cold plunge pool. There are also foot baths in the middle of it all. It's a massive complex and I liked this area because it had the sauna but for those shy people this isn't for you because the whole area is co-ed and naked. I'm so used to this now that I expect anyplace with a sauna or steam-room to be a naked area. I'm told it's just more hygienic then wearing a bathing suit in there and sweating.

Because it was getting late there were only two of us in there me and another women who moved here 17 years ago from Moscow and is a translator for Austrian to Russian and vice versa. She's so sweet and she lives in town with her son and husband and comes each night to the spa to relax and shower and such. It sounds like me with the Vanderbilt Y. I think I showered at home only twice in one year. I just preferred doing a sauna/steam and then showering.

So that was the fabulous evening and I so recommend this place to anyone who lives close enough or is looking for a place to spend a relaxing week. And they really want you to relax here and provide so many lounge chairs all throughout the spa area and several large rooms for quiet resting times.

Eurothermen Resorts it turns out has two other spa complexes like this as well, one in Bad Hall and one in Bad Schallerbach sort of in a similar spa triangle like in the Czech Republic. Europeans really do love their spas, people after my own heart!