h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The small town of Bad Ischl is situated in the Austrian Lake District, the Salzkammergut, and is about an hour by bus from Salzburg. There is no lake at Bad Ischl itself but there are several within easy reach by road and rail, mountain bike or on foot. Ischl is an historical town for it's here that Kaiser Franz Joseph signed his famous 'letter to my people' which kicked off the sequence of treaties and alliances that led to the Great War. You can see the actual letter on the Emperor's desk if you take a guided tour through his summer residence a short gallop from the villa of Frau Schratt and Austrian actress with whom he was romantically 'involved'.
Many notable personages used to holiday in Bad Ischl in the glorious days of old - Alfred Nobel and Johannes Brahms being two of the most famous, apart from the Austrian Kaiser of course. A couple of nearby spots worth exploring are Lake Wolfgangsee, made famous by the song of the White Horse Inn, and Lake Halstattersee one of the most scenic spots in all Austria, flanked by the Dachstein Massif.
As the name implies Bad Ischl is the site of a thermal bath and in winter you can swim outside in a steaming pool and admire the snow all around.

I hear that Good Ischl's even better - sorry

More seriously, I like these little travelogues of yours, Lucky, Could you make them into a Guide Entry? or more than one Entry?

Jab

mmm...it's my reward for a lifetime of stress...I'll have to think about that

glad you're enjoying them, Jab!

By the way Jab, I'm going on a little bus tour to Northern Moravia (CZ) at the weekend. It's near the border with Poland. Should be quite interesting. There'll be an entry on it anyway.

Look forward to it.

Jab

Was in Bad Ischl earlier today and it's really not half bad. Great place for afternoon summer thunderstorms - the kind that echo bangbonging through the cloudy mountains and bring a fresh electronic breeze with them.
I was on my way from lovely Lake Annecy in La Belle France and called in at Ischl to have a pop at the Katrin mountain race - 975mtrs straightish up in 4.5kms length with the first 600mtrs dead flat - and managed to get it all wrapped up before the weather broke; in a reasonable time of just 27 mins off the record set last year by a guy from New Zealand. Mind you he's 30 years younger, and 10,000 pints of ale less than me!