Geschafft!

     Well it was another great day here in Baden, the weather was great, sunny and warm.  I got everything on my list for the day done (and some things that I'd forgotten about)!  I now have a bank account, Vorteilskarte, Monatskarte, and I turned in my completed Meldezettel.  I also found a Kik (discount store with a smattering of everything) and got some things I'd been needing for the apartment.

     My route today: Up to Ruine Rauheneck back down and through town

      When I finished lunch I headed out on my walk.  From looking at my map it looked like it would be a shorter hike than yesterday, so I didn't stop at a bakery on my way out.  This hike was really pretty, and not as challenging as yesterday.  The ruins are smaller, pretty grown over, and clearly less visited than Ruine Rauhenstein, which is exactly what I want in my ruins!  I was surprised at how large they actually were, I thought it would pretty much just be the tower (which is triangular), but there was a decent sized complex to go with the tower, and you can walk through everything.  I found a room with two chimneys (Kitchen?), the chapel, and a lot of other nooks and crannies.  There are steps up to the roof of the tower as well, and it's pretty dark in there since the only windows are really narrow slits, but for some reason this climb didn't bother me (maybe because I couldn't see!).  The view from up there was really great, pictures don't really capture it.  I could see all of Baden (and it's surrounding suburbs), Sooß, Bad Vöslau, and further into the Wiener Wald (which goes on forever!). The only disappointment was not being able to see mountains, but I'll see them one of these days!

Looking from the tower across the valley to Ruine Rauhenstein. More pictures: Check out my SmugMug

      I had planned to come down on another trail, but of course I ended up (accidentally) taking a longer trail.  It really doesn't bother me when I do this, as long as I know the direction I need to head in (down, and towards town) I figure I'll get there eventually.  The trail ended on someone's driveway, which was really steep and curvy, glad that's not my driveway!  I came back home through the city center because I had to stop and pick up some bread, so that made the walk longer.  Not really sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, maybe I'll hike to Bad Vöslau and check it out, stop for lunch at a Buschenschank on the Weinstraße... who knows, I'll fill you in afterwards!