Yoga in Austria
At the end of May 2001, spent a week at the Sivananda Yoga Retreat at Reith, above Kitzbuhel in the Austrian Tyrol. It was the first time I'd ever done yoga, but I really quite got into it after the first couple of days. Accomadation was in an Austrian Chalet called Hotel Florian, below, half a mile outside Reith. All wood floors inside, food was provided by the hotel, twice a day, almost vegan style, lots of rice and vegetable stews, lentils, cauliflowers, and the odd surprise like focaccio bread and granola for breakfast once.
The day would start at 6am for two hours Satsan - silent meditation, chanting and a lecture. At 8am the first yoga class would be held, normally on a large wooden platform overlooking the valley. The class would last 2 hours, and breakfast would be awaiting for you at the end. There was normally free time from then till 4pm when the second yoga class was held. Dinner was at 6pm, followed by Satsan at 8pm.
The location is excellent for hiking, and it has a very fresh clean atmosphere. It really does feel like a retreat, being far away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It can be reached easily from London, by air to Munich, then a minibus which drops you outside the retreat after a 2 hour drive.
I visited the Chateau Sivananda Loire Valley Yoga Retreat outside Paris in 2003, which offers a similar program, except you get forest and sunflower fields to walk through instead of the Alps, and the Chateau of the Loire to visit instead of mountains and alpine villages.
From the front of Hotel Florian, there was a glorious view across Reith and it's valley. Below is a close up of Reith's main church, the tall slender tower typical of the Tyrol churches
You just had to step outside the retreat and you were immediately into the meadows. We visited late May, and the meadows were in full bloom, really a wonderful time to visit.
There were plenty of walks around the yoga retreat, down to lakes (the Gieringer Weiher and the Schwarsee), across meadows, up and down hills. The landscape held lots of farms on top of their own little hill with meadows all around, feeding graceful cows, with woods separating one farm from the next.
One day we took a lift into Kitzbuhel - pleasant town, and caught a cable car up to the top of the Kitzbuhelerhorn. It's around 2000m, 6000ft, noticably colder up there. Thankfully it was a great day and we could see for miles all around, including southwards towards the Alps.
Halstatt
Leaving the Yoga retreat after a week, I caught a taxi to Kitzbuhel,
then caught a train and 3 hours later was at Halstatt, the most picturesque
town in the Lakes district of Austria, the Salzkammergut. Halstatt was
a wonderful place to visit, sat on a ledge between the lake an fjord-like
mountains. You arrive by train on the opposite side of the lake, and catch
a ferry across.
The hotel I stayed in for 10 pounds a night, wonderful lakeside location. If only it had been slightly warmer I'd have gone for a swim in the lake.
The view from above Halstatt, looking across to Obertraun. Above Halstatt are the salt mines, a worthwhile diversion for an hour or two. The climb up is around 45 minutes, giving great views of the lake, then there's a further 10 minutes to the entrance to the mine. The mine goes into the hills for around a mile.
