Ladies and gentleman, I give you Kahlenburg, my favorite place in Vienna. This is actually the view from Leopoldsburg, another hilltop on the outskirts of town complete with very very old church. This picture was taken outside of that church. This church can be seen in the distance in some very romanticized portraits of Beethoven composing in the Viennese countryside, the same countryside that you are looking at right now (ooooooo, ahhhhhh!).
This was a gorgeous day on which Laura, Elisabeth, and I decided to go for a hike. We had attempted to get to Leopoldsburg before, but had failed. And this attempt was no easy task either. Typically you take a bus up the hill to Kahlenburg and then you can take the footpaths along the street or, if your rather adventurous like us, through the woods, to get to Leopoldsburg. Although, most of the people who decide to take the adventurous route can read the maps at the top of the hill. We could not, so we guessed at which path to take. This guessing game led us downhill for about a half hour until we came to the bottom of the hill. I don't know where our logic was in thinking that downhill equaled "ascent to hill next door," but somehow it didn't register. So we ended up by the Donau, decided to have a picnic by the river, feed some swans, read a bit, and then trekked back up to where we had begun (Kahlenburg). At that point we were all so pooped that we decided to just take the bus from Kahlenburg to Leopoldsburg. And it was a good choice if you ask me. I wasn't willing to take anymore chances that day. Anyway, as you can see, it was absolutely stunning. And I'm excited to go back for more. I hear some of the trees are changing color now... : )
Here are more pictures of the hike:
Vineyards. You can see the Donau beyond them.
Da Woods.
When we finally reached the top! Yay Leopoldsburg!
