Sankt Johann im Pongau

We are back from a long weekend in Sankt Johann im Pongau, a town about an hour south of Salzburg. It is a big ski area, and has many more restaurants and bars and shops that a normal town its size. We stayed at a hotel just on the outskirts which made it convenient for buying picnic lunches at Spar and eating them in the town square, but was rural enough that the hotel had lovely green space and terrific views. We were upgraded from a regular room to a junior suite because of a tour group of elderly visitors from Berlin who needed to use the elevator. Our room was all the way up at the top of the hotel, one floor further than the elevator went, which was fine for us. It had more space, and a city view from the balcony rather than the open landscape we had been imagining, but since we spent most of our time outside, it didn't really matter what room we were in.

The hotel had a nice playground in a beautiful grassy garden, in the center of which was a little house built in traditional Austrian style where activities were held. Next to this house was a small stable for four ponies, and each morning pony rides were given. Behind the little house were beautifully manicured animal pens, with an enclosure for goats and another for rabbits and guinea pigs. Anyone was allowed to visit the animals whenever they wanted, and Nikolas found this to be a great treat. He especially liked feeding the goats!

Upon arriving at the hotel, the first thing we saw were the swimming pools, which looked to be a great disappointment. On the website, they had looked quite large, but in reality they were very small. But, as it turned out, they were just fine. There was an outdoor pool in the middle of a grassy lawn that was quite warm, and an indoor/outdoor pool that was very warm. Even on Saturday afternoon when there were a lot of people out and about by the pools, they never did get overly-crowded and so we had a good time in them after all.

We didn't really do much exploring other than heading to the next village of Alpendorf. To call it a village is somewhat of an exaggeration as it is really just a cluster of hotels with a ski lift cable car at the bottom of the hill. It felt a little strange to be there in almost-summer as most everything was closed, waiting for next winter's ski season to begin. Our destination was the Alpendorf Kinder Paradies, a playground and fun park at the base of the cable car, which Nikolas adored. While there were huge play structures and loads of swings, the amusements that cost money (1 Euro each) where his favorites: mini race cars, mini golf, funny boats on a lagoon in a wooden frame, trampolines....It most definitely was a child's paradise!

A beautiful area, a nice hotel, and busy days made for a good weekend. You can see more pictures here or in the photo albums in the right side bar.