Austrian Wine Country: Attractions
Rust, Burgenland, Austria
Just a short drive from Vienna, Rust is famous as the city of storks (die Stadt der Störche) and fine wines. It is often called “die schönste Stadt des Burgenlandes” (the most beautiful city in the Burgenland province).
Rust is in a region of the Burgenland that is influenced by many cultures (such as that of neighboring Hungary, for example), blessed with unique flora and fauna, and enhanced by century old …
Vienna: Summer and Winter
Vienna, once the capital of an empire of which it was said that the sun never set over it, is now equally as important as the capital of a newly-invigorated Central Europe that bridges East with West.
Spending summer and winter in Vienna, one notices an entirely different, but equally vibrant, energy. I’ve been spending time each year in Vienna since my youth. In 2008, I was in Vienna for a …
Austrian Wine Country – Part II: The Wachau
The Wachau is an area of Austria that I have visited regularly since childhood. It is a valley that runs along the Danube river for 33 km from Melk to Krems but today is the first time I viewed it from the Danube itself. I left Krems on the Austria, one of several vessels from Brandner that run along the river and disembarked in Weißenkirchen one hour later.
A short walk …
Austrian Wine Country – I. Part
Join me as I embark upon a tour to the three main wine-growing regions of Austria.
I departed New York on 4 September via Austrian Airlines, coincidentally on the first day of ownership of the airline by Lufthansa. Fortunately, not much has changed and hopefully, as the Austrian newspapers have written, it will simply be “red uniforms without red ink.”
The first order of business was to pick up a …
The Burgenland Region of Austria
The Burgenland, Austria’s youngest Bundesland or state, shares the Neusiedler See, Austria’s largest lake, with Hungary. Eisenstadt (Kismarton), its capital, was the seat of the Eszterházy Hungarian noble family and Joseph Haydn lived there as Hofkapellmeister under Esterházy patronage. 2009 is the Hadyn-Jahr (Haydn Year) in honor of the 200th anniversary of the composer´s death. This area was once referred to as “German-speaking western Hungary”.
The Wachau Region of Austria
The Wachau region along the Danube (Donau) river in Niederösterreich (Lower Austria), namely the village of Dürnstein as well as Stift Melk have become destinations for visitors.
Dürnstein is where Richard Löwenherz (Richard the Lionhearted) was held captive during the Crusades and you can visit the ruins atop a hill today. It is also a wonderful place to bike ride, enjoy good Austrian wine (Grüner Veltliner, for example), and excellent Austrian …
