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Published: August 25th 2013
We arrived in Krems an der Donau on Saturday afternoon and after settling into our hotel room, walked down the main street of the town. The shops were open as were the wine bars and restaurants. Krems is situated at the beginning of the Wachau (Eastern part), a beautiful part of the Danube Valley and on the confluence of the Krems and Danube Rivers. The Wachau valley is well-known for it's good wines, especially white wines and in particular Grüner Veltliner (Perfect Stranger). I found a link to Australia with this wine on the internet:
“The Hesketh family, which has worked in many areas of the wine industry, normally focuses on South Australian wines. In this instance, it teamed with Bertold Salomon, of Austria's famous Salomon Undhof winery, to source a wine made of grapes from the Krems area. It's fairly light yellow in hue with a classic gruner bouquet of peppery herbal aromas, and a distinct note of fresh rocket. It's intense and varietal, clean and full of character, especially when compared with some Australian versions. Seamless texture, good length and harmony"
Yes, well I couldn't have described it quite
like that but .... it was a good drop!
Krems is one of the oldest wine growing towns in Austria, so it was good to sit down and have a glass of the Grüner Veltliner at one of the outside tables and 'people watch' in Krem's old quarter. Krems also produces good Reisling and is the primary producer of Marillenschnaps - an apricot brandy. The old town is small and does not really stand out amongst others we have visited - it has a Tor (medieval gate) at the end of the main cobbled street and some charming restored churches and burgher homes.
We visited the Kunst Halle (Art Gallery) that had a couple of interesting exhibitions of the works of 2 female Austrian born artists: Kiki Kogelnik, considered to be Austria's most important Pop-related artist (died of cancer in 1997 at age 62) and the photographer Elfie Semotan whose photos I didn't find particularly outstanding.
Next to Krems is the town of Stein which we walked to via a walking track by the Danube. Sometimes called the double town of Krems-Stein. It was a pleasant walk despite the fact that it was pouring with rain. Walked
around Stein for a bit then walked back to Krems stopping to have a look into the "Wachauer Volksfest". This festival started on 22nd August and ends on 1st Sept. Because last night was the first Saturday night of the festival, there was a magnificent fireworks display. We had a wonderful view from our hotel window. On the Sunday when we paid our admission to enter the Volksfest, the weather was dismal. We walked around and witnessed the grim-faced stall holders and ride and game operators as the rain was keeping customers away. We walked into an undercover area where there were a couple of young men playing some lively music, mostly 'schlager' (Austrian oompah songs) so we sat down to listen and have a drink. I couldn't help stomping my foot. I had a small glass of apricot schnapps (only 18% alcohol!) and we shared a bratwurst mit senf (mustard) and went out into the rain again. Sunday was quiet elsewhere in the town. Some eateries were open but most places were closed. Sunday is a good day to travel in Europe!
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