I want to live on the Weinstraße!

Well yesterday was an average Thursday.  I taught two lessons, got home early in the afternoon, wandered through Baden a bit.  I also did some laundry, which I'm not sure if I've mentioned I do in the kitchen sink.  My washer is still broken, my landlord won't write me back about a time to meet... so I was my clothes in the sink because I'm pretty sure there's not a do-it-yourself laudromat in Baden.

Today I started out a bit slower than I had planned to, but since it doesn't get light until 8/8:30 it didn't really matter.  I ran some errands this morning, it was grey and foggy, so I thought I'd wait until this afternoon to go out for the hike I'd planned.  I almost always buy bread at the same bakery, and I think about half the time I order one thing, and get something totally different.  Today I ordered Karottenbrot mit Sonnenblumenkern (carrot bread with sunflower sees), I got the Karottenbrot once before (another situation where it wasn't what I ordered) and it was really good, its a dark bread with shredded carrot in it, which seems like a strange thing but I like it.  I ended up with a dark bread, with no carrots or seeds... I really don't understand!  Luckily all their breads are really good, so it's not really a bad thing, but it is a bit confusing.

After my errands and a light lunch I hopped a bus down to Bad Vöslau where I started my walk at the Thermalbad (Spa/ thermal pool).  I go by it every day on the bus, and I've never checked out anywhere in Bad Vöslau except the school and the train station.

This big blue manatee (which is a "fountain" spitting into the pond) is another thing I see every day from the bus, and I always think "Why?!?"  It turns out that Bad Vöslau was once at the bottom of the ocean, and "Linda" the manatee lived right here, or at least she died right here, where her sekelton was found.  Apparently her skeleton is on display at the city museum, I may have to go check that out...someday.

As part of my "tour" of Bad Vöslau I went to the Rathaus (town hall) to pick up a map of town, and wander through the Schloßpark that surrounds the Rathaus.  In the park is one of the coolest playgrounds I've ever seen.  Throughout it all is this water system that the kids can control and play with.  The water is currently turned off as it's too late in the year, but I think I would have just as much fun there as the kids.  As it is I rode the merry-go-round, it was quite small, and easy enough to push & ride by yourself; I got really dizzy & felt like a little kid again.

Part of the playground waterworks: you turn the spiral part which carries water to the trough on top, and then gets dumped onto the water wheel, down into the pool below and into the waterway.

From there I went to the Kurpark, which is quite a disappointment in comparison to the Kurpark in Baden.  It's certainly not as big, there aren't as many trees or plantings, and there's no where to look out over the city from the park.  I walked through the park, but I didn't spend much time there, I wanted to get onto the path that follows the Weinstraße (wine street).  On my way to the trail a woman stopped and asked me for directions, this happens surprisingly often, and sometimes (in Baden at least) I actually know what to say.  Every time someone asks it makes me happy, but I also walk off thinking, "God I hope that was right!" either that or I tell them I'm not from the town.  

The whole day ended up being foggy and cloudy, but it was still very pretty along the path through the vineyards!  The fall colors have started popping out on the hillsides, so it was a great walk, which I of course made longer by taking a different path than I had planned.  However, unlike usual I purposely took the longer path because it went closer to another landmark I see on the bus every day.

I always wonder what this castle is, and I still have no idea, but it looks like a fairytale!  I think it's actually a residence, but the main part of the place looks like an actual castle that's just had some modern windows installed (and a cool multi-colored roof).  On the other side there's a full tower with a balcony on top, it would be the perfect place for a B&B or a Buschenschank.  One day I'll go closer and see if I can find out what it is.  I know that I go on about what makes a proper ruins, but no lie, I'd live in a former (remodeled) castle in a heartbeat.  

After detouring further through the vineyards I wandered into Sooß, the small town between Baden and Bad Vöslau.  It's full of Heurige and wineries, and not much else.  It's a very cute town, and judging on the exteriors of the Heurige (and the fact that most of them were ranked in the top 100 Heurige) I'd say it's none too cheap.  After I got back on the Weinstraße path I saw this sign:

I've seen one similar, but it didn't get a chance to really look at it.  I think it's pretty funny and rather informative!  It's a Weather Station, the stone hanging next to it is part of it.  It says Stone dry- Sun, Stone wet- Rain, Stone steams- Sun after Rain, Stone swings- Wind, Stone invisible- Fog, Stone white- Snow, Stone gone- stolen.

I walked back along the path, and then through Baden until I reached my door.  I made a rather tasty sausage, veggie and noodle soup for dinner, and now I'm watching Harry Potter 3 in German.  All in all a very good day.

Tomorrow my friend Kristin comes up from Graz for a long weekend!  Have I mentioned that I have all next week off?  If there's a good sunny day I'll go down to Berndorf and hike up the hill to see the mountain (but it seems as though Berndorf is always foggy)!