Australian Gourmet Traveller - (04)April 2019 (1)

GOURMET TRAVELLER 141

Trip

notes

• and drinks to passing pleasure seekers. There is

beer, four versions of homemade cider and, as always
in Austria, schnapps.
The shingled spire of Bürstegg comes into focus
first and then its cluster of thatch-roof buildings.
Hikers, some in lederhosen and hatbands stuck
with flowers, sit on benches outside one house
admiring the cowbell symphony and precipitous
outlooks over the Lechtal Valley. Inside, Franziska
and Norbert Bitschnau greet me in fashionably
cuffed jeans, skivvies and cardigans. Both in their

eighties, they look like a pair of elderly beatniks.
The Bitschnaus have been coming up here for
26 years. They usually arrive around mid-May to
mend fences and then, in early June, they bring their
livestock. This year they have 45 cows with them.
Franziska takes me into the stube, a basic wooden
room with a tiled kachelofen stove and six windows
framing serene valley views. Her 10 grandchildren
all visit over summer, and her nine-year-old grandson
loves nothing more than staring out the windows.
When school friends ask if he gets bored up at Bürstegg

without television or internet, he tells them: “No,
I’m not bored at all. I have six channels.”
Franziska loves her time in the mountains – “every
day, through my heart, I discover new things”– but
there comes a time when she longs to return to the
valley. “My washing machine’s calling me,” she jokes.
My wanderführer and Norbert discuss how they
feel ready for autumn. In spring they feel drawn to the
heavens but now they feel it’s time to return to their
earthly lives in the valley.

Back at Rote Wand, chef Natmessnig is also looking
forward to autumn, when the hunting season is in full
swing. Next week at the Schualhus he’ll launch a game
menu of deer, elk, pigeon and other unlucky creatures.
“We are going to make a deer schnitzel,” he grins.
“It’s mind-blowing!”●

Getting there

Emiratesflies from all major Australian

cities to Dubai with connections to Zurich,

which is much closer to Austria’s Arlberg

region than Vienna. The drive to the

Arlberg takes about two hours, or take

the train from Zurich to Bregenz, the

capital of Vorarlberg state. emirates.com

Stay & eat

Rote WandThis 53-room “gourmet

hotel” lends a chic edge to the sleepy

village of Zug, with a choice of family

apartments and suites in six buildings,

a sophisticated main restaurant and bar,

the 1,500-square-metre Red Spa, and the

Schualhus’s impressive chef’s table run

by Max Natmessnig.Zug 5, Lech

am Arlberg, rotewand.com

Hotel Gasthof PostElegant rooms,

an indoor-outdoor pool with stunning

mountain views, full spa, organised

activities and fine dining are highlights.

And tremendous hosts in Sandra and

Florian Moosbrugger.Dorf 11, Lech am

Arlberg, postlech.com

Hotel TannenhofOwner and host Axel

Bach has created a discreet and indulgent

seven-suite hotel with superior dining by

British chef James Baron, a spa, sauna

and Maserati guest cars. Helicopter

transfers on demand.Nassereinerstrasse

98, St Anton am Arlberg, hoteltannenhof.net

Arlberg HospizThis historic ski in-ski

out hotel has a stellar wine collection,

a legendary restaurant, and 87 rooms

and new, ultra-glamorous apartments

for families and groups.St Christoph 1, St

Christoph am Arlberg, arlberg1800resort.at

See&do

Kulinarik & KunstThe Arlberg’s premier

summer festival brims with cultural and

culinary events from mid-August until

early September.kulinarikkunst.org

For details of Arlberg activities year-

round, as well as hiking itineraries

and routes, seelechzuers.comand

stantonamarlberg.com

For other regional events see

arlberg.net/#events

More

austria.info

Au

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Vienna

Slovenia

Italy

Adriatic

Sea

Austria

Zurich

Lech

St Anton am Arlberg

Switzerland

Germany