Friday, June 23, 2023
Lechweg Day 4 – Holzgau – Elbigenalp
Step Count: 36,694 Anika, 33,285 Nathan
Last night, I again donned my dirndl for dinner. We were meeting Pat and Andrew at our hotel’s restaurant, so we only had to go downstairs. At reception, I asked about our Fedex, and the possibilities of taking a bus back to Holzgau when it arrives. They kindly offered to drive it to our next hotel, or the one the day after, when it shows up. When you walk from place to place on foot, by car, each town is really quite close. She insisted because it was only a 10 – 15 minute drive. So I gave her the names of the next two hotels and hoped the Fedex would make it in time. When I called for the tracking number a few days ago, the gal from Schwab did say that they usually send the international cards via DHL, because the Fedex’s tend to disappear into the ether, so if they arrive within two days, I think we’ll be fine.
Dinner at our Posthotel Lechtal was wonderful. They had a great glassed-in dining room with operable doors and windows so that you could be protected from the elements but still invite the fresh air in. They had no English menu, so the waiter went through it, item by item for us, and suggested local specialties. I had a local fish that was ‘swimming that morning!’
Our waiter was also the fellow who helped Nathan pick out a bottle of wine to bring up to our room while we were relaxing in the afternoon. Nathan had asked him if there were glasses in the room, and the waiter had replied that there were glasses in the bathroom, but they would be unacceptable. Love it! He provided Nathan with both the bottle of wine and the appropriate glasses to serve it from.
After dinner, Nathan did some washing in the sink and we set it out to dry on our travel clothesline, set up on our penthouse terrace.
This morning we woke up and it was really quite wet outside. Rain and cooler temperatures were in the forecast for today, and the forecast was correct. The bad part of the wet, cooler weather was that Nathan’s socks did not dry overnight. Plus we have some climbs today, and I’m hopeful that they are not too slippery.
Breakfast was a grand buffet and there is a gigantic tour group of some kind here. All of the tables are assigned, and we had to ask where ours was, since it was off hidden in a side room. There are maybe only three tables here that don’t belong with the tour group!
We managed to make a packed lunch from the breakfast buffet and squirrel it away upstairs to our packs. We did it kindof sneakily, but Liz the Australian had said it was ok and the hotels don’t have a problem with it. I hope she’s right.
We finished breakfast and finished packing, leaving our big bags with reception for the transfer. I double-checked with the front desk to make sure they knew we were expecting a package and that they knew where we were headed. It was still raining or misty, so we put on rain jackets and pack covers, and set off. First stop, Simms waterfall.
After the waterfall, we stumbled upon Cafe Uta, and stopped for a coffee and bathroom break. Within minutes of leaving the cafe, we were at the Holzgau suspension bridge. Our path did not need to cross it, but we did for photos and to say we did.
Today’s path kept changing – down towards the water, up towards the ski hill, through forest, near waterfalls, past wildflowers, and chapels, and down into town again. The amount of critters on the path and wildflowers in the fields and pastures was really quite amazing.
By 3 pm, we managed to find our next town and check in to Hotel Stern, where the front desk gal rewarded us with two Fedex’s! Wunderbar! Our luggage has also arrived, so we settled into our room, complete with terrace. From our terrace, our view includes a wonderful green mountainscape, and two donkeys, both of which are wearing bells!