Stories from Bad Kleinkirchheim

Author: Brigitte Kaplenig

If I need a short break, I like going out into the out of doors. And very often I walk a route which, after all these years, has become very familiar to me, but always gives me new impressions, which I scoop up along the way.

It’s a part of what is called the “Circular Tour of Bad Kleinkirchheim” (Rundweg Bad Kleinkirchheim) leading from the thermal bath St.Kathrein up to the Kathreinkirchlein (Kathrein Chapel), then left towards Untertschern until you reach the hotel Trattlerhof and, on the opposite side of the valley, along the small stream back to the spa and experience park, which eventually brings you back to the thermal bath St.Kathrein.

In the course of time, the path has naturally changed. The secret camps we built as children, built in the most solid construction method possible behind “Auer-grandmother’s” house, have now become victims of ravages of time (although nowadays still there are lots of kids, packed with cookies ,drinks and blankets, marching up the “Wildbachweg”…could there be a new generation of secret camps arising?)

Instead of heading to hidden camps, nowadays I look for spots which I find personally valuable, if not to say even “exhilarating”. Every once in a while I pass a wooden hammock when I’m on my way, which beckons me to rest. Needless to say, I can’t resist such a temptation. What I especially like about these literally “moving” moments, is the fact that whenever you relax in the hammock, the view of the mountains and pastures, the smell of flowers and grass, the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves and the lapping of the small stream is always different. And so these exhilarating spots, looking at their scenery and sounds, always appear in a different form.

Every time I lay in my favorite hammock behind the Kathrein Chapel, I notice that my heartbeat slows down, my breathing calms down – and my thoughts begin to soar like a breeze… Sometimes it’s the quiet, secret spots that harmonize your body, your spirit and your soul. Truly exhilarating.

Image and text courtesy of Brigitte Kaplenig for the editorial team of the website www.badkleinkirchheim.at