Work Hard, Play Hard

David and I were busy bees this weekend.  We spent Saturday working hard as we comparison shopped for a new camera and we spent Sunday playing hard as we stretched our legs in the Wienerwald.

Here we are taking a Kaffee und Kucken break after camera shopping along Westbahnstraße.

We began our Sunday stroll through the Wienerwald at Schloss Wilhelminenberg in the north-western corner of Vienna.

 View of city from the hilltop.

Vineyards at Schloss Wilheminenberg

We didn't hike the entire Stadtwanderweg 4a, but we did stroll along the path until we wandered into the Steinhofgründe.

It's Bärlauch season!

Scenes in the Steinhofgründe. . .

As you can imagine, we had a lovely spring weekend here in Vienna.  I hope you all enjoyed an equally successful and relaxing couple of days.

Lainzer Tiergarten im Herbst

Was fasziniert dich?  (What fascinates you?)  We were asked this question in class yesterday and after having recently visited the Lainzer Tiergarten (a 6,054 acre wildlife preserve in the southwest corner of Wien), I answered confidently with, "Herbst fasziniert mich."  Seriously, people.  Isn't autumn enchanting?  I was hypnotized -- stupefied really -- as I wandered through these magical woods with David.  Doesn't the forest look like it's on fire? 

Midway along our trail, the woods opened up and, naturally, because it's Austria, there was ein Gasthaus alluring us in with its warm Apfelstrudel und steamy Heiße Schokolade.

P.S.  I also answered the fascination question with "Mich faszinieren Leute, die viele Sprache sprechen können.  Und natürlich, Kinder faszinieren mich."

8 Miles

We're not certain, but we figure that we hiked about 8 miles through the Wienerwald this past weekend.  No, I take that back.  I don't think you can call what we did "a hike."  After all, old ladies with old lady shoes were right on our heels almost the entire way. 

Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable "long, and at times, steep walk."  Along the trails from Mödling to the Anninger Schutzhaus and back, we witnessed the beginnings of what promises to be a very beautiful fall here in Austria.

Wir hätten gern einen Apfelstrudel und zwei Melange, bitte!

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

We chose the one on the right.

Alpine Hiking

Hiking: it's the Austrian national pastime.  We've certainly done our share of it over the past months - around Vienna, around Innsbruck, and at points in between.  But the hike we did last weekend was altogether different, a proper Alpine experience.  We and some friends rented a car and drove roughly two hours southwest toward the Rax and Schneealpe (a.k.a. Schneealm) mountain groups.  Our task was to climb the Windberg, a 1903 meter high peak on the Schneealpe side.  Not a particularly high mountain and only 1100 meters of elevation gain from the valley floor.  But with steep trails and some fairly technical sections, we definitely got our exercise for the weekend.

To anyone in or around Vienna, we can certainly attest that the Windberg is well worth a visit.  Just make sure you wear good boots and leave yourself enough daylight hours for the hike back down, especially in the off-chance that you or someone in your party sprains an ankle.  It's been known to happen.  :-(

We started in the tiny village of Hinternaßwald, our base camp.  Five hours to the top.

Thanks to the incline, it didn't take very long to reach some amazing vistas.

Indecision 2011

Reaching an Alm (mountain pasture) and hearing the cowbells always feels very alpine.

On top of the Windberg, mountains as far as the eye can see

All smiles (after just having woken up from a short nap)

Our hiking buddies.  This should be an advertisement for REI or Patagonia.

Lindsay + David = Lindsay & David in the exact same spot

Wandering: The Beethoven Way

There's been more heat to escape this weekend.  And so like many other Wieners, we fled the concrete jungle of the city and headed for the piney, shady (and indeed much cooler) hills of the southern Wienerwald, just as Beethoven used to do 200 years ago.  Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, but lived most of his professional life in Vienna.  During his summers, he would beat the heat by sojourning in the southern villages of Baden and Mödling.  At that time, the trip to Mödling alone took three hours.  Today it's a mere 15 minutes by train.  For those interested, it's now possible to retrace Beethoven's steps through the forest on what is called the Beethoven-Wanderweg, a hiking trail of light difficulty but immense charm (and lots of shade!).

We actually hiked only a portion of the Beethoven-Wanderweg on Saturday.  We started from the Badener Bahn station in Guntramsdorf, walked up the hill past Thallern and through the vineyards to the Richardhof, and finally headed north to Mödling where we eventually caught the train back to Vienna.

Enjoying our packed lunches at a pleasant spot under the pines.

We stumbled upon the 800-year-old ruins of the Mödling castle along the way.

Soaking our feet in the Mödlingbach toward the end of the hike. Very refreshing!

Lyd takes Vienna (Part 2)

More apologies for neglecting our blog readers. Lydia's visit has been so precious to us that we've not wanted to spend one mental moment away from her.  I'm sure you understand.  Alas, here's what we've been up to since Friday. . .

Saturday - The Prater Day

Sunday - A Wienerwald Day (Stadtwanderweg 6)

Monday - A Schönbrunner Day

Monday - A Schönbrunner Day

Monday - A Schönbrunner Day (lunching at the Gloriette Cafe)

Monday - A Heurige Evening

Tuesday - A Laxenburg Day

Wasn't Lyd a trooper?  We drug her all over the place, but she went along skipping and smiling.  Her enthusiasm made us even more enthusiastic and so we were just one big ball of fun - nonstop for 9 days straight!  It was fascinating for us to experience the city again through her eyes.  But more than that, just being with Lydia -- anywhere in the world -- is soul soothing, yet electrifying at the same time.  Our precious time together in the same city was truly a meaningful and memorable one.

Vielen, vielen Dank Lyd.  We love and appreciate you more than you can know. 

(ear <-----> ear)
Daveed & Fred-a-sisi

Innsbruck Part II: Wandern auf die Nordkette

And here's the fotolog of our hike around the Nordkette, the mountains on northern side of Innsbruck. This was our favorite day of our trip to Innsbruck.

Look at what we found!

Arzler Alm (1067 meters high)
Höttinger Alm (1487 meters high), first opened in the year 1441

Höttinger Alm

Lindsay's midday Cappuccino fix. Extra tasty when one's dining in a cloud!

And this is your friendly hiking guide, David!
Strolling through Stadtpark on our way to the station to catch our train back to Wien