On Friday evening at 18:30, we met at the marvellous Schloss Gabelhofen accommodation. After a champagne reception and a marvellous dinner, we fell into our beds after a cheerful chat. The next morning, after an extensive breakfast from the sumptuous buffet, we were fully motivated and on our way to the first stop, Grosssölk Castle. A guided tour of the lovely little castle, a visit to the herb garden and the small church were a source of enthusiasm for all participants.

Now hungry, we made our way to the rustic Schrabachalm, where we all ate our rustic lunch together at a huge table in the parlour and were then able to purchase home-made bacon, butter and Steirerkas cheese in the in-house ‘shop’.

In a good mood and in bright sunshine, we reached the car park after just a 5-minute drive to visit the mountain pine distillery on foot uphill. After we had all been introduced to mountain pine distillation – for medicinal mountain pine oil, mind you, and not for high-proof alcohol – we made our way back to the hotel after a coffee and cake break.

An interesting guided tour of the castle awaited us there, followed by a wine tasting in the former dungeon, which we enthusiastically took part in in view of the reasonable price of an Achterl (Euro 10).

After a late and once again brilliant dinner, we fell into bed, probably all exhausted. Sunday morning we set off at 8.30 a.m. for the Piber stud farm, which is really worth a visit, and not just for horse lovers.

The weather gods continued to be merciful and gave us glorious sunshine.

A hearty lunch awaited us at the Stoakoglhütte, which we visited afterwards. Fully motivated and invigorated, we then had fun on the summer toboggan run in St. Corona, despite the light drizzle. The little bit of rain didn’t dampen the good mood and after the rest of the group had a small evening meal in the hotel restaurant there, we all set off on our journey home at around 7 pm.

All in all, a wonderful trip in bright sunshine, picturesque routes through beautiful areas with lots of bends, varied sightseeing and refreshment stops.