After finally finding our train station in Prague (which was a bit tricky to get to on foot) we hopped on our train - a direct run to Vienna, Austria. Technically, Austria isn't really an Eastern European country, but it just happened to be on the way from the Czech Republic to Slovenia so we figured we'd check it out. I actually hadn't done a whole lot of reading about Austria before we left so we weren't really sure what we were even going to do there. Vienna has a lot of museums, art galleries and Mozart concerts, which (being outdoorsy types) didn't really score terribly high on our priority list. But while we were on the train, we met a girl who had been living in Vienna for 6 months, and she recommended that we find a way to get to a little town just outside Krems (about an hour northwest of Vienna) called Dürnstein, since it was one of the coolest places she'd been to.
The next day we hopped on a morning train to the small town of Krems, and walked along the shore of the Danube for 7km into the Wachau valley wine region, and into Dürnstein. I think it was probably one of the best things we could have done with a full day. Dürnstein is a medieval city with practically no cars, and is where King Richard I of England was imprisoned by Duke Leopold V of Austria in 1192. It's also reputedly a very touristy place in the summer for (I assume) posh wine-tasters. But since we were there on a Monday in mid-April, there wasn't a whole lot going on which was really nice. You can kind of make out a school trip poking around the corner, but other than a handful of other people it really felt like we had the place to ourselves.
The castle ruins are on a hill overlooking the town, so B and I walked up there and got some awesome views of Dürnstein and the Danube. (We're apparently being followed by the school trip as well!)
When we came back into town, we found another place our friend from the train recommended to us. She had been telling us about a "heuriger" (wine tavern) she had been to called Alter Klosterkeller, and we just happened to stumble upon it down a little side street. This was pretty cool - we sat outside on their back garden, which was right next to a vineyard you can wander around (the photo is looking at it from the back, although it's a bit hard to see) so we had a couple glasses of wine before walking to the train station to head back into Vienna.
The next day, we spent most of the day walking around the main ring road (the Ringstraße) where a lot of Vienna's main sights and buildings are. Vienna itself has to be probably the cleanest, greenest and best kept cities I've ever seen - the place was absolutely pristine. Halfway around the ring road, we decided to take a small detour to Prater, an amusement park just a few stops away on the subway. We mostly just wandered around, but did decide to hop on the huge ferris wheel to get some aerial views. (There are some shots in the photoset, check it out!) Later that evening, we found yet another brewpub - the 1516 Brewing Company. This one was much less like U Fleků and more like the sort we're used to, but did give us plenty of entertainment and delicious pints for our final night in Austria.
Next stop - Slovenia!
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