Austria Part I – Wachau Valley to Salzburg

I’m flying to Vienna this morning to meet up with my Texas Girls – Renee and Jennifer. It’s been a full two years since our Scottish adventure in the Hebrides so we are ready for another road trip. Today happens to be my birthday so I arrive to this:

After initial hellos and great excitement we load up the rental car and get on the road toward Wachau. The Wachau valley sits on the Danube and it takes me a while to realize that I’ve been around this neck of the woods before! Anyhoo, more of that later. Tonight is all about the birthday celebrations and checking out the local wine.

We are staying in a small village called Unterbergern, in a really cute Airbnb in the hills over the Danube. We’ve heard that we are here at an ideal time as the local wineries open as “heurigers” for just three or four weeks in late August, early September. [Heuriger is the name given to taverns in Eastern Austria at which local winemakers serve their new wine under a special licence in alternate months during the growing season. The Heurige are renowned for their atmosphere of Gemütlichkeit shared among a throng enjoying young wine, simple food]. I’m pretty sure Gemütlichkeit translates into craic because there really was great craic at the local one we walked to.

It’s Gruner Veltliner country here and there’s no less than six Gruners on the menu. Needless to say, we attempt to try them all…

The food is limited to cold food only so lots of cheese, meat, bread and spreads. It’s all really tasty…. and very reasonably priced.

We try a drink called sturm which they refer to as “young wine”, essentially freshly pressed grape juice with a very low alcohol content. Apparently it’s good to get the ole metabolism going, if you know what I mean… we shall see in the morning!! Before we leave we buy, well let’s be honest, Renee buys a mere five bottles for us to take on our journey. It is that good and that cheap you just couldn’t argue!

Next morning, we hire bikes and head out along the Danube toward Melk abbey. The views are stunning as we pass small towns and different ruins on the mountain sides.

Did I mention that we were wearing matching Sound of Music t-shirts…

We stop at a little coffee shop and the patrons are very interested to find out who we are and where we’re from. When we say Texas, New York and Dublin we get quite the reaction and they want to know how we know each other, where did we meet etc. So for any of you who don’t know….. we met in The Dame Tavern in Dublin in 2007. I was officially living in San Fran and visiting home and they were on holidays, both living in Austin at that time. They were watching as my sisters, baby brother and friends arrived one after the other and how excited we were to be having a night out in town and they wanted in on the action….. which just sort of naturally occurred. We ended up swapping contact details and saying we’d keep in touch and low and behold within a few months I was in Austin for a weekend and we sealed our friendship. Since then we’ve averaged about a trip a year which has included Paris, Joshua Tree National Park, Inisbofin island, Scotland, New York, Wyoming, South Dakota, San Francisco, Barcelona and Maine and that’s not them all!! Anyway we get this question a lot so that’s the answer.

So getting back to our coffee stop we had a view of Hinterhaus castle as we took a little rest and regaled the patrons about how we came to be friends….

Along the way we were told of a piece of modern art we should check out… this nose!

One section of the cycle is through vineyards which is just gorgeous….

And they also have the most beautiful looking apples

There are castles and abbeys at every turn…. it would be great to spend more time here and visit them all but we have to keep moving…

So at this stage, as we continue to see more beautiful towns on the other bank, although nothing really looks familiar I know that I’ve cycled this path before. About five years ago I cycled the Danube with my little brother from Passau, Germany to Vienna so we definitely cycled on this path….

It feels like a lot more than 26kms but eventually we reach Melk abbey. It’s beautifully perched on the side of a mountain and quite a climb to get up there. We park our bikes in the main square and off we go..

Melk abbey was built in the 11th century and was home to the Babenbergs and later given to the Benedictine monks. As we are walking through the abbey on the self guided tour I’m starting to recall what’s coming next. As soon as we hit the library I realize I’ve been here before. In fact I’m sure I’ve already taken the exact photos that I take again on this visit!! I can’t believe I’m only realizing this now… of course if I’d kept a blog back then I’m sure this wouldn’t have slipped my mind!! Anyway, we finish the tour and head back to collect our bikes but alas there is a problem. Unfortunately one of the locks will not open with the combination that we were given. We try everything including roping in a passer by to help, but it’s no use. We have to call the hire company and when Erwin arrives he appears pissed off and sure we are idiots and he will get the lock to open. Not so!!! Eventually he has to get a cutters and cut the lock so we can actually get home before dark!!

We get home just before sunset… what an eventful day it’s been…

Once we are all washed up, we head to another heuriger for a similar meal to last nights…. cheese, meat, spreads and bread, and of course more wine in the form of Gruner Veltliner. Just as last night, it is all delicious, although tonight we are much better behaved!!

Our two nights are up so we pack up the car next morning and head for a short morning hike before leaving Unterbergern. This vista is an easy climb for a very nice view…

Next it’s breakfast time…. we are under strict instructions to try the “schaumrollen” and my friend Martina (who I met on the Myanmar trip) has given me a great tip which is to visit Café Maria in Mautern. Mautern is just a stones throw from Unterbergern so it’s an ideal stop on our way out of town. We are not disappointed as the pastries, which have some goey cream filling, are absolutely delicious.

The bakery is across the road from the cafe and fresh pastries are delivered right through the day…

Another short detour before leaving town….. When we first planned this trip the reason for coming to this region was to stay at a winery called Nikolaihof but unfortunately it wasn’t open on the dates we wanted to stay. Well it just happens to be around the corner so Renee pops in (bear in mind it’s about 9:30am) and even though it’s not open, the manager invites us in to take a look around the premises and the cellar.. it’s very impressive:

After purchasing a couple more bottles of Gruner and Riesling to add to our stash, we get on the road. Its time to head west from Lower Austria toward Salzburg, with a couple of stops on the way. First stop is a visit to Admont Abbey which has the largest monastic library in the world. It is stunning:

The abbey grounds are large with a number of different buildings and a main Church which is really bright ….

In opposite chapels at the side of the main alter are two saints in peculiar poses… quite bizarre!!

Our final stop before driving into Salzburg is Hallstatt. Hallstatt is a small picturesque town set around a lake, surrounded by the Dachstein mountains and famous for its salt mines. We take the funicular to the top…

We are not the only ones enjoying the view…

It’s no surprise to us that this entire area has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. We say farewell to Upper Austria and head to Salzburger land… yes that’s really what the region is called!!