Vienna: Country Life

Biking along the Danube River

My photos from the city of Vienna are here.

While I wasn't able to make it to the Alps on this trip, I was able to get out of Vienna twice and see some of the countryside.

One day I took a train out to Melk, rented a bike (NextBike), and rode it along the river to Krems. The ride was about 25 miles and very scenic - through a handful of small towns and past lots of vineyards. In Durnstein I hiked up to some castle ruins above the town. In Krems I dropped off my bike and took a train back to Vienna, completing the loop.

On another occasion I went for a hike to the Paulmauer peak in Lower Austria with some colleagues. The Austrins really take care of their natural resources - it's a beautiful country.

From the bike ride...

 

And from the hike...

Vienna: City Life

I had the opportunity to travel over to Vienna, Austria a couple weeks ago for a work conference. Originally I was planning to skip over to the UK at the end of the week and run a little race called the London Marathon. However, my training fell apart in mid-March... first I got really, really sick (bacterial infection from Mexico), and then my hamstring went to hell. I withdrew from the marathon, but in the grand scheme of things, it worked out alright. I was able to enjoy a fantastic week in Vienna - both from a work/educational and leisure/recreation perspective.

I spent a lot of time wandering around Vienna on foot and bicycle. I was also able to get out of the city and spend a couple days in the countryside. I'll post some "city" pictures first, and follow that up with some "country" pictures tomorrow...