Last time we were in Austria, I bought some new desert plates at Gmunder Keramik to use on holidays. I just love them, and have been hoping to add to my collection ever since. The factory was about 30 minutes from where we were staying, so we called ahead to book a tour, and spent a very happy morning there.
My pattern is the red swirl on the right.
The tour was really informative, but not too long or too boring, which was perfect for the kids. After the guide explained a brief history of the factory, and how the different pottery pieces are made, we got to go on the actual floor where the artists were working.
Look at all those piles of dishes waiting to be painted!
And then lying out on a table was these cute Christmas patterns.
I LOVE the reindeer with the bows! I have Chris mostly talked in to them for our next trip. heehee
Each piece is hand painted. Some don’t turn out, which they sell as seconds on site. They are still gorgeous, they just aren’t perfect. My collection consists of these. 🙂 
An outline of the reindeer are first stamped on, and then painted in. The kids all got a reindeer stamp on their hand, which they thought was pretty cool.
At least now we know exactly why they are so crazy expensive!
There are three different areas where you can buy plates, as well as the factory itself. And in the middle of them all is a lovely playground, perfect for children who are tired of being very careful not to break stuff. 🙂
The girls really loved these fun plaques on the bathroom door and took several photos of them both. They are rather charming.
I left the factory a very happy girl with my new dinner plates and two serving dishes. Happy birthday to me!
By now we were getting pretty hungry, so we drove to a local shopping center that had a grocery store to get some lunch. The kids and I ate at the food court, and Chris went and bought himself things to make a sandwich. (food allergies bite) We walked around the mall a bit, and ended up buying a bunch of new school clothes for the kids, since the prices were so much cheaper than in Switzerland.
On the way back to the rental house, we passed through Bad Ischl, so we stopped just to have a quick look around. It was hot, but very charming.
I love that in Austria, people still wear traditional costumes in every day wear. I hope that never changes.
Noah kept complaining about being hot, so Chris was a good dad, and did what he could to cool him off.
That looked great and all the kids started splashing themselves with water. I am sure the natives were shaking their heads at the “crazy tourists”, but at least we felt better!
We had no idea where we were going, we just picked a street and started walking. Isn’t that the most fun way to explore a new city?
I loved all the pretty colored buildings and fun little shops.
There was also this gorgeous fountain.
There is a reason this place is called Bad Ischl. It was built on healing springs, and there are fountains celebrating them all over the place. This large building in the background is the Kongresshaus, built in 1875.
But it was really too hot to care about that. It was time to splash some more of that water on ourselves.
Only this time there was a slight complication; Noah’s crocs floated right off his feet! So of course, he had to wade in and get them. Hmm, I wonder….:)
We also found this crazy chain dog waiting to be pet.
That post office is painted, what I believe is, Kaisergelb, or emperor yellow. It was a color made popular by the use of it on the facade of the imperial palace, Schoenbrunn in Vienna.
During our stroll we stumbled on this really fun dirndl store. Everyone who was shopping inside, as well as the ladies working there, were wearing a dirndl. I picked up some fabric and a pattern to make the girls dirndls, and naturally had help picking out some matching buttons. I can’t wait to get started!
Just as we were about to go home, we saw this neat little church and decided to go in. 
See the sign on the right, dedicating the church to St. Nicholas? Well, that inspired the children to search every painting in the place, to find the one of St. Nicholas. And they continued to do it at every single church we visited for the rest of the trip. I thought they were just developing an appreciation and reverence for religious art. sigh
At least it kept them quiet and interested. 🙂