Beautiful Styria

On our trip through Styria we went hiking near Semriach, came past the Rechberg, visited Frohnleiten and Leoben and ended the day near Liezen – a beautiful region with nice towns and fantastic mountains.

We always work in the mornings, which is a nice routine to get up early, have a nice cup of tea or coffee and open up the laptop to see what needs to be done. Afterwards I do some yoga, which also works indoors with only some restrictions, but of course, if I can do it outdoors with a nice surrounding it is even better.

This day, our first stop was at the mountains near Semriach, where we already had a fantastic view from our parking. (47.206116, 15.383438 – from here starts the Tanneben circular route)

The next morning we decided to visit Frohnleiten, which still has its city walls with towers and gates surrounding the central market place.

This lovely couple produces fine Schnaps, but also had fresh walnuts for us.
Kletzenbrot – made with dried pears, nuts and dates
It was Saturday, which is market day in Frohnleiten
Mariensäule

The interesting fact about this monument at the market place was, that it was errected in 1732 on the occasion of a couple of influenza pandemics which had caused many deaths in the region. What will be built for corona? Should be occasion enough for a nice monument, don’t you think?

Late rococo interior of the church

We read that this lovely pavilion next to the cloister was used by the rope maker to store his ropes.

From Frohnleiten we drove north to Bruck an der Mur and soon reached Leoben at the same river. We found a parking and walked into town to have a look at the famous mushroom tower and the beautiful houses at the main square. What we didn’t expect was to run into a anti corona demonstration.

Medieval tower at the entrance to the city, called Schwammerlturm (mushroom tower)
Hackl house from the 16th century
People listening to tirades against the corona measures

From Leoben we drove North as we had to be in Salzburg soon. We came past this amazing castle: Burg Strechau near Rottenmann. We read that it houses a collection of Steyr vehicles, something we would like to see, but of course all museums are closed at the moment.

Burg Strechau

Another place we passed was the Brandlhof. We came past this historic restaurant in the mountains of the Rechberg before, just that it was summer, and we could sit under the big trees and enjoy a lovely lunch. I don’t know if it would usually be open in winter, but due to the lockdown, all the restaurants had to stay closed anyway. We just stopped for this picture and drove on. Next time it will hopefully be open again. (47.268599, 15.415100)

Tomorrow we will continue our way to Salzburg, exploring a lake in the beautiful Salzkammergut before we will reach the town of Salzburg.

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