Austria / Germany

Windau Valley

One of our day trips was to go into the Windau Valley which is only about 10 km from Westendorf but harder to get to as it is further off the main roads. We lucked out in that the town was hosting a Day of Traditions event for the “regular tourists” at two of the Windau Valley restaurants and we managed to hop in one of the many taxis that was shuttling people there.

The big highlight was to go to the secret “Schwammerl” place (Schwammerl being chanterelles… good chanterelle picking spots are highly guarded secrets around here!). Unfortunately we couldn't find the spot anymore and we only got enough Schwammerl to make a meal for two.

The two restaurants were packed with tourists so we didn't get a chance to eat there, but we checked out some of the local traditions that were being demonstrated.

A zither player adds to the traditional atmosphere.

Kasnockerl are a cheesy dish that looks good in this picture but Rubby found the smell quite nauseating!

At the Steinberghütte restaurant there were wood demonstrations including the making of a “Glockenstuhl” which is a dinner bell mounted on the roof of a farmhouse to call the workers in from the fields in olden times.

 
Some boys dressed in Lederhosen and girls dressed in Dirndls.