April 30, 2022
Today was a transition day. We left Salzburg by a private van and were driven to small town of St Wolfgang, which is located on Wolfgansee Lake.
The drive was quite remarkable as you could see the Alps coming into view as we arrived in St Wolfgang. As we entered the center of town, the road was blocked off as they were preparing to raise the May Pole!
We found our hotel, checked in and headed off into the small town as they were having their annual May festival which included bands and beer stands throughout the town.
We befriended “Michael”, who is the trombone player in a band that’s been together for over 40 years. He was very nice noting he went to the US 35 years ago for his honeymoon – to Idaho and that is his view of the United States!
It was a sunny and warm day which allowed us to have lunch outside overlooking the May Pole construction. The townsman recreated a tradition that dates back centuries as they hoisted the large trunk of a tree into position. Men are only allowed to hoist the maypole up, and at the end, cannons are fired! It was a site to be seen by the probably the only Americans in town!
Having been exhausted by watching the townsmen efforts, we wandered back to the hotel and had a beer on the hotel patio overlooking Lake Wolfganzee.
We met Helmet, our travel advisor, at 5 o’clock, to walk through all the trails, the vouchers for connections, the hotels, and the many highlights will face as we hike the Alps. He noted that we are some of the first tourists as the spring season starts tomorrow.
Our room is lovely, it’s smaller than Salzburg but we have a spectacular view of the lake. The rain arrived as scheduled while we were having dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow, we begin our hike from St Wolfgang to St Gilgen, also known the” Pilgrim’s Way”.
