Danube - Austria Sept 10

Vienna to Hainburg

We had a short day today with just 58 kilometers.  It was another glorious day with clear skies and great temps.

We left Vienna and cycled along the canal way.  It was beautiful with numerous crew boats gliding across the water.  There were many people out jogging and swimming.

The view looking back up the canal way towards Vienna.

We rode along the levee above the Danube and as we left town we came upon the "clothing optional" section of the river.  The people who were choosing to go clothing optional were certainly not part of the "Beautify Vienna" initiative.  Many fell into the category of once you saw it you can't unsee it column.  There was one gentleman laying on his chaise lounge in his altogether just casually reading his newspaper.  😳

We came into the town of Orth and decided to do a coffee/coke/pastry break.  The town was small but quaint.  It had a beautifully decorated church for a village of its size.

The ceiling mural...

The ceiling and wall paintings were very impressive. It was hard to imagine a small village having works of art that magnificent in it.  The church had been started there in Orth back in 1100.

With it being such a short mileage day we got to our destination of Hainburg before noon.  Hainburg is the easternmost city of Austria.  It was a walled city back in the Middle Ages.  The wall and the gates are mostly intact.

These are the western or Vienna side gates.  There is another set of gates to the east that is to keep out the Hungarians and the eastern riffraff.  High upon the hill, Castle Hill, is a fortress.  It was started in the 12th century.  A major part of its funding came from the ransom that Emperor Leoplod was paid for releasing Richard the Lionheart.  It stood watch over the Danube and the city for over 350 years until it was captured by the Turks in 1638.  After that it was left to ruins as its usefulness had seen its day.

We had to climb quite a bit to reach the castle.  When we were up there we were treated to a great surprise.  

In the small chapel on the castle grounds they were having an event with local singers and dancers.  Above is a picture of women in local dress who sang and danced in the show.  It was really great!  Even though we are still in German speaking Austria, they sang in Slovak language.  The eastern influence seems to be more prevalent here than the German.

This is the simple stone church where they performed.

And to end the day...

A beautiful sunset over the Danube.

Tomorrow we leave Austria and enter Slovakia and the city of Bratislava.  We could see the city from the heights of the castle as we stood on the walls.