Backpacking Austria (Part 3)

St. Polten is short of 3 hours from Salzburg. (On the map, it's a little before Tulln, which is the stop before Wien (Vienna). We found a relatively quiet coach, and I settled down to read. I shouldnt have had that beer before the journey though. I'd underestimated how much more potent Austrian beer is. I was gettin a wee bit red in the face and the words in my book were swimming everywhere. Nonetheless, redress was found in Milka chocolate and plenty of water. A man from Munich joined our coach at Burghausen. He was, to be honest, very engaging. We talked about food, and travel, and politics (always a good combo). At one point, he slighted us for eating at a Wurstelstand (basically a glorified hot dog stand, selling all kinds of German sausages with differend kinds of breads, served with German mustard) - he was posh in that sense, and didnt share our enthusiasm for commonplace market food - something I'd already begun to be quite addicted to. He was a temporarily unemployed journalist, witty and very good company until his stop at Linz.

St. Polten was pretty, although we didnt stop for long. After a coffee, R drove us along the gorgeous Austrian county roads into Katzelsdorf, a small village near Tulln. We finally arrived at 8pm - right outside the sweetest little house right next to open fields on the edge of Katzelsdorf. I had a fantastic night's sleep; lullabied by what sounded like a thousand frogs croaking in unison outside the living room window.

We drove to Dürnstein the next morning. It is probably my favouritest village of all - quaint and typically medieval, narrow cobble stone streets, an hour from Katzelsdorf, right next to the Blue Danube, surrounded by vineyards. I cant believe I walked around the Blue Danube!! My grandad used to play it to me on his violin; I had the tune going round in my head the whole time I was there. The blue baroque church in the picture is Stiftskirche.

Dürnstein's claim to fame are the vineyards all around it (this is the heart of the wine-making Wachau) I tried a glass of the Wachau's white wine with my lunch; it was gorgeous. Also famous here is the marrilen-knodel (apricot dumpling) - which I now have the recipe for!!

Below: We trekked up to the Dürnstein castle / Burgruine (on top of the hill) - it seemed like hours!! it sapped my energy and gave me thigh ache for the better half of the day! Nonetheless, the view from the top was amazing , and I sat on the castle wall for a long while, overlooking the Danube and the valley below. Felt very deserving of a huge lunch after that!

Below: The village of Dürnstein is very medieval; and when you walk around, it's like stepping back in time. It's so enchanting to find somewhere untouched by modernisation, away from traffic, and skyscrapers, and MTV, and fast food chains...