Spitz, Lower Austria, Austria
I can’t recall whether I woke up naturally or was aroused from my slumber by Michael’s iPad alarm, summoning him to get up and go jogging. He arrived back in time to join my video chat with Alisha and her children, and then we headed down to the salon. Despite my great intentions to complete the previous day’s blog over breakfast, uploading numerous photos to the website took up all my spare time. (I think the wifi upload speed must have been very slow.)
A message from Gitti alerted us to the fact that she and Hermann were only about 15 minutes away, and so we gathered our gear and headed downstairs. Michael went ahead to check out (we couldn’t both fit in the elevator with our suitcases), and then I followed. I must have waited for the elevator for about 10 frustrating minutes. It seemed to take forever to arrive, and when it finally did, the space was almost entirely filled by a woman with her twin-sized stroller. With only one elevator servicing the building, it took ages to return to the second level again. Fortunately, Gitti and Hermann had not yet arrived.
As we waited on the opposite footpath, next to a row of recycling bins, I noticed quite a number of locals come along with their reusable bags and deposit items in to the different recycling bins. It just seemed natural for them to sort their rubbish so diligently — I was impressed!
Gitti and Hermann arrived by foot, having parked the car a short distance away. Hermann skilfully arranged our luggage in their boot, and we set off on our way to Lower Austria, which isn’t actually in the south, as we had imagined, but rather north-west of Vienna.
After an hour or so, we arrived at the picturesque village of Melk in the Wachau Valley, overlooked by a very impressive monastery. Whilst it had been gloriously sunny, heavy rain clouds now ominously hovered above, but fortunately the heavens didn’t open up on us. After wandering around the exterior of the monastery and back through the town centre, where I cheekily asked if I could take a photo of a group of children dressed in traditional costumes, we continued on our way.
The next stop was at the ruins of the Aggstein Castle, perched on top of the hill above the town of the same name. The views over the Danube were fantastic, especially when the sun shone through the clouds. There were enough walls remaining of the castle for one to imagine what life must have been like in medieval times. No doubt, life would have been very difficult, especially for the ordinary folks. Only the knights and their families had any heating in their living quarters — and in winter, it would have been unbearably cold. Our lives today are far more comfortable than people back then could ever have imagined.
Our exploration of the castle complete, we continued on our journey, stopping in the town of Klems where the annual apricot festival was still in progress. We bought a few items from the supermarket and then wandered into the main street where a group of young people were performing one of their traditional dances. Small shops were selling their apricot produces, including a very popular apricot liqueur, and just outside the main gate at the end of the road people were buying boxes of fresh apricots. (You would by now have gathered that apricots are grown in this valley. It is also a major grape-growing area.)
It was then on to our accommodation next to the river in the village of Spitz. We were allocated a room overlooking a vineyard, with a view of the Danube along which riverboats are constantly cruising up and down. After freshening up, we wandered into the village centre looking for a heurige (small winery that sells food), but the only one that was open was booked out. (Most heuriges only have limited licences for selling food, and so open only for two weeks at a time — the one that was booked out opens for two-week blocks ten times a year.) We ended up back at the heurige attached to our accommodation, and sat overlooking the river, eating our scrumptious meal as the light gradually faded.
The only negative was that our guesthouse doesn’t provide wifi! How can we manage without contact with the outside world?! I’ll just have to prepare my blog entries on my iPad and post them when we next have internet access.
We are still experiencing some mild jet lag, and so when we hit our pillows at about 9:30pm, we were soon fast asleep.
Debbie
2018-07-16
Really enjoying the journey Merrilly, we will be going through Melk and the Wachau Valley on our cruise, your photos are great! Hope Michael’s ankle is feeling better.
melandmic
2018-07-17
Thank you,Debbie! I hope the sun is shining when you pass through the Wachau Vallet on your cruise - it really lifts the landscape. Michael reports that his ankle is improving, although he is still limping. He’s managing to run every day — running is apparently easier than walking!
Carina
2018-07-18
So many places I still need to visit and your photos are so beautiful. Enjoy xxx
Ian
2018-07-18
Your photos, movie clip and typed descriptions of your exploration of Splitz in the Wachau Valley were made even more enjoyable by meeting up again with your Austrian friends Gitti and Hermann.
melandmic
2018-07-19
Yes, it’s fun spending time with old friends. Gitti is also a wealth of information - she researches the places we visit and then tells us all about them.
Tracy
2018-07-23
Love the children in costume