Climb every mountain...
Trip Start
Aug 20, 2010
1
4
5
Trip End
Aug 23, 2010
Krems, Lower Austria, Austria
Sunday, August 22, 2010
This may well be a little short, so apologies if I end this entry a little abruptly. If you remember we had to hire an ethernet cable in order to use the internet and since reception is only manned until 9.30am, we only have the internet until then. That gives me about 40mins to let you know about yesterday. I didn't write about it last night, as by the time I got to the end of Saturday reliving the events of the day had tired me out (nothing to do with the fact is was past 1am, honest!).
Yesterday was another incredibly hot day. It was hotter than Saturday. We had breakfast al fresco, and the Browns joined us. We sauntered into town after breakfast, following the Danube way (cycle route along the length of the Danube & surrounding area). There was no pausing for a cooling feet in the river moment, as we weren't walking along it this morning. My feet missed it though. The scenery round the Danube is very postcard-esque. I don't think we've been to a place before where the reality of the landscape is exactly how it looks on the postcards.
We came to a river cruise jetty and since there was a cruise to Durnstein leaving very shortly (and since this is where we were wanting to visit) we got on the boat and sailed up the Danube. A fair better way to travel than our original walk there and sail back plan!
We sailed past vineyards, villages, stretches of greenery, cliffs & hills. Each area as picturesque as the other. After 30 minutes of gently cruising along the river we reached Durnstein. We disembarked, as did the rest of the boat (full of American & Japanese tour groups, and lots of families – we hadn't been around so many tourists during our stay, so it was a little weird being with so many other people).
Durnstein is prone to flooding. From the banks of the Danube you have to walk uphill in order to reach the centre of the small town (village?), and by the marked levels of flood levels, you can see why they all live so far up the hill! Strangely, it being a Sunday & Austria being a Catholic country and all, the shops were all open. They obviously work to the tourists, with there being plenty of small souvenir shops (all of which sold anything made of apricots) and wine tasting going on. There was also a path that led up the hill to the (presumably) ruined castle at the top. We thought a stretch of legs would be enjoyable, so armed with only a half bottle of water each, off we set. The steps were as even & user-friendly as the Great Wall of China, and soon they and the heat, and the lure of a large rock overlooking Durnstein, persuaded us to sit, drink & enjoy the view. It also allowed us to stay out of the way of the Japanese tour group that was also climbing the slope, as they were in the habit of blocking the narrow path in order to speak very loudly and take lots of photos. Our little rest point was much quieter. We eventually left our place & headed back down the slope (mainly because we didn't have that much longer until the last boat of the day left). Then it was back on the boat & back to Krems.
The cruise back was gorgeous. We found ourselves a lovely position on the upper most deck, right at the front. There was a strong breeze blowing into our faces which felt delicious after the sweltering heat & boiling sun in Durnstein!
Back at Krems, it was time for food. Now we hadn't really thought it through properly. Austria is a Catholic country. Everything closes on Sundays. It was Sunday evening, and we needed to eat. It took a good 30 minutes or so (Krems really isn't that big!) to find somewhere to eat. Finally our persistence (& my hunger) paid off. We came across a (different from Friday) Italian restaurant and went in.
Once fed and watered it was back to Orange Wings. A quiet evening in writing blogs & catching up on the interweb world.
Today we fly home, our flight is at about 9pm. We want to do a couple of things in Krems before getting the train to Vienna. There won't be a blog later, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to hear about that.
Until then:
Come on England – We Believe!
Big love
Sam & Lisa x
