Hotel-Pension Wagnermigl - Kuchl (Austria)

(Recommended by QueenAn2 and Drsmom)

Hotel-Pension Wagnermigl
Family Seiwald
Markt 61
5431 Kuchl
Tel - 6244/5159 ~ Fax - 6244/51394
Email - wagnermigl@kuchl.com
Rooms with shower, toilet, cable TV, telephone, safe, (some with balcony), breakfast buffet
Half hour drive from Salzburg or Berchtesgaden

(QueenAn2) ...we drove to our home for the next three nights - Pension Wagnermigl in Kuchl. Maryann (Drsmom) and Bill had discovered this lovely place three years ago. It is truly my favorite hotel on this trip! It has been run by the same family for a couple of centuries, and the current innkeepers are a young couple who have two young girls. Maryann brought Barbie dolls for them and they were thrilled! We had a quiet evening. No shops were open. We ate early and headed for bed. I called my son’s girlfriend’s family who own the Hotel Selbach, near Schladming. We will visit them tomorrow.

Rise and shine at 7:30. They have a wonderful breakfast buffet at the Wagnermigl. The breakfast room is in the new part of the hotel. Guest rooms as well as entertaining areas have been added since Maryann stayed there three years ago. It is SUCH a pretty hotel. I had asked about Mass times, since the church was literally right around the corner. Herr Seiwald, the young innkeeper, said it usually starts at 9:30, but today is the special day to give thanks for the good harvest, and there would be a parade through town, beginning at 9:00. So, armed with two cameras and in my best Sunday clothes, I was ready at 9:00. This was an unexpected treat for me - Catholic pomp and ceremony at it’s finest. Apparently, all throughout Austria on this day, there were similar parades. We saw several on the evening news. Kuchl, being a pretty small village, had a relatively small parade. The town band led the parade, followed by ladies in local garb, the local army (I think - they were in uniform), then the altar boys, then various church officials and what looked like the church Youth Group - all in local attire. Horse-drawn wagons came along with beautiful displays of the bountiful harvest, all beautifully arranged.

There was a young boy, about 9 years old, riding on a donkey, by one of the wagons. I’m sure that has some significance. His dog was following him & would try to climb up on the donkey whenever he stopped. Finally, he gave up (the dog, not the boy) and fell asleep in the middle of the street, during all the (lengthy) prayers. The video I shot of this is wonderful! Then we all went in to the ancient church for High Mass - band and all. They sang some songs that were familiar to me, so I sang along - in English! Seeing all the local people, young and old, in their traditional attire, and being able to participate at Mass with them was truly a blessing for me.

I met up with the gals back at the Wagnermigl and we hit the road.