On our second day we crossed the border between Hungary and Austria. During our trip each border crossings happened on small roads, almost without the realisation that we changed country. Especially that each of these border regions, that we visited were territories, that the countries (Hungary, Austria, Germany and France) lost or won back during the I and II World War. Nowadays these regions seem to own a rich culture, that they inherited from the different countries.
The above mentioned multinational identity is well illustrated just by studying the name of Rust, a town next to the Neusiedlersee. The settlement was first mentioned as Ceel in 1317. This name was derived from the Hungarian word 'szil' (elm tree). Later it was translated into German 'Rüster' or 'Rusten'. Presently, in Hungarian we say Ruszt, that obviously originates from the German word.
The town was endowed with the rights of a royal free city by the Hungarian crown in 1681. However in 1910, from 1535 inhabitants, 1290 were German and only 218 Hungarian. In 1921 with the Burgenland region, Rust passed from Hungary to Austria.
On the road
We were recommended to stop in this charming town, which is famous for the white stork. According to the legend, storks nest on the chimneys of every building of Rust. Well, maybe not on each chimneys, but indeed these elegant black and white birds were all around. The area of the Lake Fertő/ Neusiedlersee provides them the preferred feeding grounds, such as grassy meadows, farmlands and shallow wetlands.
 |
| Rust |
Difficulties
A Trabant is not the car, that crosses mountains easily. Uphills it is too slow (40-50 km/h). Moreover in the two stroke engine vehicle, it's not possible to benefit from engine braking. In addition its brakes are generally not so strong. So no, we didn't want to drive across the beautiful Austrian Alps. Instead we chose to follow the Danube (and later all the possible river valleys, to avoid hilly roads.) We also wanted to avoid busy cities and highways to lower the risk of any accidents.
 |
| Preferably we chose river valleys to drive photo: Danube |
Driving around Vienna wasn't quite easy, and it was just our 2nd day. Little we knew about our new Trabi. It turned out that the oil we added to the fuel, dirtied the spark plugs. If you don't maintain them, they will give it up! That's what happened to us in the middle of the suburbs of Vienna; the engine stopped and we couldn't restart it at all. Luckily Rémi had met this problem before, and his first reaction was checking and changing the spark plugs. It worked, the car restarted!
Being a tourist
By the afternoon we reached our desired destination: the Wachau valley, a beautiful wine district, which is registered in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We wanted to visit two historical towns next to the Danube: Krems and Dürnstein. From here on, we followed the 'Donauradweg', the famous bicycle way alongside the river.
 |
| View from the castle of Dürntsein |
 |
| Wachau valley |
Besides its beautiful old town, Krems is known for its apricot brandy. When we think of Austria, enormous mountains, forests, blue lakes and maybe even rain clouds come to our mind. The Wachau valley is an exception, in this region wine and apricot trees are cultivated on the sunny hills.
 |
| Krems |
Dürnstein's iconic blue church tower is well recognisable already from far away. Here, we hiked up to the castle ruin. In 1192 King of England Richard I the Lionheart was imprisoned by the Duke of Austria Leopold V the Virtuous.
 |
| Church in Dürnstein and the Danube |
 |
| Castle ruin, Dürnstein |
On the 3rd day of our road trip we pleasantly drove alongside the Danube, enjoying the view of the blue river and green hills. This day we took our time and only aimed for the Schlögener Blick. The Danube forms an S curve at this point. We decided to hike to the view point to have an overview on this natural gem.
The only down point here is the € 5 parking price, because the land is privatised by a hotel residency. If you buy drinks from them for € 10 you get some discounts with your parking ticket, such a rip-off!
 |
| Schlögener Blick |
The Trabant fixes itself sometimes: we had some problems with the blinkers, that didn't blink anymore. We couldn't find the problem, so we left the Trabi in the shades and went hiking. By the time we came back, the problem was gone. Good Car!
Accommodation
It's important to know about the Wachau region, that it is very popular among cyclists. Besides German, Dutch and Swiss love to travel by caravan. There's normally only a small corner provided for the tents. By the Gasthof Krenn it was really a tiny corner, crowded with many bikers. Luckily we all respected each other, everyone was quiet, so the atmosphere was rather calm.
- Although the showers and toilets were clean, they were in the guest house, across the road
- There was no Internet, which is often the case
- Big advantage, that this camping is on the less busy side of the Danube, directly by the river
We saw a stunning sunset and the next day had breakfast, sitting next to the water.
 |
| Gasthof Krenn |
Camping in Kasten: Campingplatz Kasten
Small but fine. We were charged only € 12,50! The camping is mainly for those who want to leave their caravan cars for the whole summer. - Very close to the German border, directly by the Danube. It's even possible to swim in the river.
- The owner is a really friendly lady, with dog food in her pockets just in case ;)
- Very clean
- Electrical plugs nearby: useful to charge the phones
- No Internet
Surprising was the intensity of river cruise traffic in the evening, that arrived from Passau.
 |
| Campingplatz Kasten |
Rust: an Austrian traveling couple took photos of the Trabant. Later we met in the city centre again, and started to chat. The common topic was surprisingly not only the car but our dog too. They told us, that they used to travel with their dog and cat together in a caravan.
Krems: we just parked the car, when a Hungarian man addressed us. He asked a few things about the Trabi and wished us good luck.
Car shop on the way somewhere in Austria: we wanted to buy some additional spark plugs, just in case! Shop keeper: 'Will it be for a lawn mower tractor?... Ah, for a Trabant! That's the same!'
Camping Willersbach: we made a small show as we arrived, since there was a restaurant in front of the reception. Of course, it was dinner time. Everyone was watching us...
The next morning due to the humidity the car didn't start so easily. The camp maintainer was obviously crossing fingers for us, and when we finally started he sent us a supportive sign.
Comments
Post a Comment