Blogs from Lower Austria, Austria, Europe - page 4

It was worth the wait. After hunkering down the night before dodging driving rain, lightening storms, snow and the odd flying lawn chair; this morning we woke up to a calm serene blanket of snow. We waited until noon for most of the snow to melt off and had one of our best days riding through the Alps! Up and down mountain roads , through quaint villages and lush meadows I couldn't stop smiling.... read more

Geo: 48.2341, 15.3316A town population of 5,000 near the end of the Wachau Valley. The 10th© home of the Babenberg family, the original rulers of Austria.... read more

St Polten (40 km west of Vienna) is the capital of Lower Austria and it has some fine examples of medieval buildings plus Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque. However, what I loved about this town were the Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil) buildings that we discovered whilst walking around, as well as the modern cultural precinct comprising buildings of glass, metal and steel designed by brilliant architects like Ernst Hoffman. An absolute wonderful example of the Jugendstil period is the Stöhr House on the corner of the main pedestrianized street opposite the railway station. This was built in 1899 and designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich who also built the Vienna Secession building. The building was home to a Dr. Hermann Stöhr, St. Pölten hospital's first chief physician. It just so happened that the Doctor's brother, Ernst Stöhr was ... read more

Geo: 48.3833, 15.5167Its been my longest trip ever. Today marks my hundredth blog entry of the trip; Over 20,000 words, over 1,000 photos uploaded, four months, eighteen counties, so far, by plane, train, car, ship and bus. Its not been easy at times, its time consuming especially via my Android tablet. Ultimately, worthwhile though, to document the detail of this worthy adventure. We've met new people, tasted new things, heard new languages, seen amazing places and experienced enough for a lifetime! Today was just another great experience. Cycling, beautiful scenery, swimming and wine tasting. Its a winning combination! We met up with the days tour group in the north of Vienna at 9am. It was a small, dual nationality group; 9 Americans and 7 Australians, which made communication pretty easy. One American couple was in their ... read more

Geo: 48.2271, 15.3296We are staying in the small town of Emmersdorf, which is directly opposite the town of Melk, which has the world famous Melk Abbey as it's key attraction. From our balcony, we have a clear view of the Abbey. Melk Abbey financed it's complete renovation in 1997 through sale of it's original Gutenburg Bible to Harvard University.Last night we drove to a small Austrian town in the hills and had authentic Austrian cuisine. We were literally the only people in the restaurant who could speak any English. Today we caught the Schiff (Ship) from Emmersdorf to Krems down the Danube River, a distance of some forty kilometres down the Wachau Valley. The Wachau is the section of the river where all of the River Cruise scenes of lofty disused castles are taken. We passed ... read more