Bad Ischl

We have had a nice day here in this small spa town. Breakfast then did some laundry in our room. The Headwater folks were surprised that our suitcases were so small and said a couple of times, you came to Europe for 5 weeks with these? Yup, but it does mean we have to do laundry (more like freshening the clothes up a bit ) in the sink in our room. When we saw this room we realized we could do a bigger wash!! Two loads, dark and light! Because in the large walk in shower there is a pull out laundry line, now that is worth 4 stars for the hotel right there. But there are many more reasons that it has 4 stars!!

We headed out after our wash was hung up, with the towel warmer turned on for faster drying, and walked over to find Kaiser Villa. Took a few wrong turns but did find it. 

This was the summer home of Kaiser Franz Joseph I and his wife Empress Elizabeth, also known as Sisi. Theirs was a love story from the mid- to late- 1800's. Remarkably there are many parallels to Princess Diana. She was a beauty but was unprepared for court life when she married at 16. She hated being followed by agents protecting her, loved being outdoors in the mountains and was a very accomplished horsewoman (owned 150 horses and always took 40 with her when travelling!).  

 The Kaiser was a VERY keen hunter, a pursuit he followed avidly when in Bad Ischl. The house contains 50,000 trophies from the hunt - mostly chamois (type of goat). This is another contraband photo of front entry stairway - only a very small part of the collection. Each item is identified by date and the place of the hunt. Quite amazing!  I kept thinking of the servant whose job it would have been to find a blank spot to put the latest addition!!

We've visited lots of palaces filled with baroque gold and ornate statues, but this one, being a summer home and hunting lodge, was quite different.  A lovely park surrounds the house, but it was raining so we chose to move on. 

Went back into town to a sporting goods store and both bought rain pants - so that should ensure good weather in the coming days!!

Then off to Zauner's - THE place in town to have coffee and cake. How could we possibly miss it??

A lovely classic tea room style, with very efficient waiters (no chit-chat with them!). 

What a choice. The drill is to chose your cake first and the clerk behind cake counter gives you a number chit. You then find a table and sit down. When waiter comes he takes your order for coffee, tea or drinks and takes the chits. Your order arrives all at once. This apparently speeds the process up because you have already made your choice and the server doesn't have to twiddle his thumbs waiting for you to choose. 

We both selected chocolate items and Marion's cappuccino came with a mountain of milk foam. As is usual here, coffee is served with a small glass of water. 

You will note both cakes have chocolate as main ingredient.

After this we returned to hotel to test the pool. The rules insist on tranquility and serenity so we probably disrespected this rule by giggling away when we tried out all the different jets around the pool. It was hilarious - not like any pool we have been in before. There is a spot with an area shaped like lounge chairs and you lie in it, all but your head under water and you rest your head on edge of pool. Turn the jets on and it bubbles away like a kettle and fills your bathing suit with air. It's very funny. Although no one else in the pool was laughing. Hmmmm

Tomorrow we go to Halstatt on the lake, Hallstattersee. It's an UNESCO site and it was on our list to visit. We will take the bus there then visit the town and possibly go up the funicular before hiking back to Bad Ischl.