A Day In Durnstein
Still kicking it in Vienna. I just can't seem to leave this city. Today (sunday) I am going to find an 
American bar and watch football with my friend from South Carolina Jon, who is at the hostel with me. I do miss the football.
Tomorrow I will finally leave this wonderful city for a tour of...The Baltic States. My dear sister was night to remind me of how important it is to get off the beaten path. So I will be galavanting around the Baltic Sea in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland, before flying into Warsaw on the 29th of November. I have a nice little 2 weeks planned and will be sure to keep updating the blog.
Yesterday I decided to get out of the city for a little while and took a day trip to Durnstein, which is just over an hour away by train. The town lies on the Danube and has a beautiful view. I
was a little worried when I for there and found that the tourist office is closed until April. Actually, that tends to be true for a lot of things in Durnstein. There were only 2 cafes in the city that were open this time of year and the one I went to was only open on weekends. The town is small, in fact in the 2001 census, only 931 people lived there!
The town itself is beautiful. It is still enclosed by medieval walls and you can walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes. The claim to fame for Durnstein is that Richard the Lion-Hearted of England was imprisioned here after his dispute with Duke Leopold V during the 3rd Crusade. The result was that Richard was locked up and England was forced to pay a huge ransom to get him back. Why would they do that? Richard was hero in England and since he left his brother John (a right wanker) had been running the show and pissing off everyone. There is not much left of the castle that Richard was imprisioned in, as you can see from the picture. It is a bit of a hike to get up to the ruins, but well worth it. The site is completely open and free. In fact there i
s a sign as you get close to the ruins saying that you enter at your own risk, translation: great fun! I made it all the way to the top and got a great view of the Danube Vally. This picture is enhanced by the zoom, but still gives you some idea of what it looked like.
Here is a picture of me looking regal. It is a lot harder to get photos of myself now that I am traveling alone, but the auto-shot does a pretty good job. I am off for football, then the beginnings of another great adventure. Keep checking back!
American bar and watch football with my friend from South Carolina Jon, who is at the hostel with me. I do miss the football.Tomorrow I will finally leave this wonderful city for a tour of...The Baltic States. My dear sister was night to remind me of how important it is to get off the beaten path. So I will be galavanting around the Baltic Sea in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland, before flying into Warsaw on the 29th of November. I have a nice little 2 weeks planned and will be sure to keep updating the blog.
Yesterday I decided to get out of the city for a little while and took a day trip to Durnstein, which is just over an hour away by train. The town lies on the Danube and has a beautiful view. I
was a little worried when I for there and found that the tourist office is closed until April. Actually, that tends to be true for a lot of things in Durnstein. There were only 2 cafes in the city that were open this time of year and the one I went to was only open on weekends. The town is small, in fact in the 2001 census, only 931 people lived there!The town itself is beautiful. It is still enclosed by medieval walls and you can walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes. The claim to fame for Durnstein is that Richard the Lion-Hearted of England was imprisioned here after his dispute with Duke Leopold V during the 3rd Crusade. The result was that Richard was locked up and England was forced to pay a huge ransom to get him back. Why would they do that? Richard was hero in England and since he left his brother John (a right wanker) had been running the show and pissing off everyone. There is not much left of the castle that Richard was imprisioned in, as you can see from the picture. It is a bit of a hike to get up to the ruins, but well worth it. The site is completely open and free. In fact there i
s a sign as you get close to the ruins saying that you enter at your own risk, translation: great fun! I made it all the way to the top and got a great view of the Danube Vally. This picture is enhanced by the zoom, but still gives you some idea of what it looked like.
Here is a picture of me looking regal. It is a lot harder to get photos of myself now that I am traveling alone, but the auto-shot does a pretty good job. I am off for football, then the beginnings of another great adventure. Keep checking back!
posted by Paul T at 3:09 AM
2 Comments:
Your Majesty (Paul). I hope you will really make a history one day. You definately have a face (profile) for that.
As usual you didn't take my advice!!! only joking. You'll have a great time and it will be so interesting. Miss talking to you but the blogs are great.
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