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| Vienna Rathaus |
Every year we go back to Austria for Christmas, this year we decided to take the caravan.
We didn’t have much time between end of school and Christmas so it was just driving more than 2.200 km.
The first stop was near Barcelona in San Sadurní d’Anoia. This town is famous for it’s cava and just off the highway and one of the very good cava producer can be found close to this exit, for this we call him our drive-in cava shop. The bodega is called Ventura Soler and they produce different cavas which are all very nice to drink. venturasoler.com (41.423962, 1.799985)
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| Bodega Ventura Soler – San Sadurní d’Anoia |
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| Drive-In Cava Stop |
Our cellar was stocked up and we drove on until we reached the border to France.
We parked on the Spanish side next to a supermarket and stayed the night there. (42°25’29 , 2°52’6)
The next day we spent a lot of money on the french highways until we finally reached Germany. Very tired we stopped at Bad Krozingen next to a petrol station and Restaurant Fallerhof, where we had our dinner before we fell into bed. (N 47.95363,
E 7.6695)
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| Bad Krozingen, Restaurant Fallerhof |
At the moment we only have summer tires so we watched the weather forcast very intensely, but were lucky as Father Frost stayed further north.
We crossed Germany with a short stop near Munich to drop our son at a friends house.
Finally we reached Austria and in the evening Vienna. Before we spent the night in front of my parents house we made a short visit with them to one of the Heurigen – this one was located in Perchtoldsdorf just oustside Vienna. At a Heurigen they serve their own wine and offer cold and warm food to go with it. A Heurigen opens only for two to three weeks a couple of times a year. A branch of a pine tree and some lights indicate that it is open. So if you come to Vienna, try one of the Heurigen, but better ask a local and don’t choose the one you find in your guide book 😉
Heuriger Jezek – Perchtoldsdorf (48.124539, 16.267947)
The next day we changed location and parked at the big Caravan parking Vienna, which is perfectly located next to the U6 “underground” station. So all the sights of Vienna are easily reached from here.
(48°08’13” N 16°18’57” E)
We passed the following days with work, family and friends. Christmas was celebrated a couple of times with our parents and a traditional family come together was held at another Heurigen.
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| Schaumrollen – my men’s favourites |
Many people come to Vienna for all the New Year Events and the caravan parking is completely full at this time of the year, so book in advance if you want to celebrate in Vienna.
We decided to leave town for a couple of days and drove into Burgenland, a region south of Vienna with the Neusiedlersee. Our first stop was at Weiden am See, where we watched an impressive sunset over the lake. We had a very nice dinner at the new restaurant “Das Fritz” which offers also tasteful vegetarian dishes and is located directly at the lake.
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| Sunset at Weiden am See |
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| Restaurant “Das Fritz” |
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| Bread & “Butter” |
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| Orange Risotto with Black Salsify |
In the morning the puddles around us were frozen, but the outside temperature was already above zero when we left for a day at the Thermal Spa St. Martin near Frauenkirchen. (N 47 80859´ E 16 91678´)
We had booked a Relax day which included everything we needed: towels, bathrobe, slippers, a reserved bed on the upper floor, direct access to the sauna at the lake, drinks and snacks served,.. A day of relaxation and bliss.
When we left we asked if we could spend the night at the parking, which isn’t officially allowed but accepted.
Nevertheless we decided to drive to Eisenstadt to visit the capital of Burgenland the next day.
Our stop for the night was finally in Oslip, a village in a bilingual area where also Croatian is spoken. There is a famous mill called Cselley Mühle, beautiful renovated and known for its events held there.
(47.841059, 16.625123)It was their last evening before they closed for a winter break and we went to the restaurant for their “Restlessen” – a buffet with everything which was left for a free donation. Very nice!
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| Large parking in front of Cselley Mühle |
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| Cselley Mühle – beautifully renovated |
The next morning we left and drove into Eisenstadt, where we parked next to the castle – free on weekends. As it was the 31st of December, I was’t sure the castle would be open but we were lucky and even had a guided tour for ourself. The castle belonged to the princes of Esterházy, who were from Hungarian origin and served the house of Habsburg over many generations. Josef Haydn (1732 – 1809) spend much of his career as a court musician for the Esterházy family at this estate. At his time he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.
He was a friend and mentor of Mozart and a teacher of Beethoven. The tour took us to the concert hall and the private quarters of the princess and ended at the chapel where a piece of Missa Sancti Nicolai composed by Haydn for Nikolaus Esterházy was played for us.
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| Esterházy Palace – Eisenstadt |
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| Haydn Saal at Esterházy Palace |
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| Chapel at Esterházy Palace |
Afterwards we walked into the center of Eisenstadt, the pedestrian area starts next to the castle, where we went for hot chocolate and an piece of the delicious Esterházy cake. Finally the weather changed and the sun come out. Not far from the castle in the other direction we had a look at the Bergkirche, where in a side chapel you can see a large marble sarcophagus, the tomb of Josef Haydn.
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| Bergkirche Eisenstadt |
As it was very nice and warm now, we walked up the street next to the castle grounds which leads into the forest and to a circular route past a view tower and back to Eisenstadt.
(the route starts here: 47.853605, 16.510212)
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| Park of the Esterházy Palace |
Before leaving we strolled through the park of the castle, and than left in direction of Rust, a beautiful town at the lake Neusiedlersee.
On the way we saw a picknick spot on a hill overlooking the lake, so we stopped and had a glas of champagne to start celebrating the end of the year.
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| Rust and the Neusiedlersee in the background we started to celebrate |
When the sun was low we drove on to Rust, parked in the main street and walked to the lake and around town.
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| Rust |
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| Rust |
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| a stork’s nest prepared for the next season |
Our destination for tonight was a lakeside restaurant in Jois called Seejungfrau which means mermaid.
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| The last day of the year ends spectacularly |
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| No polar light at the lake, just christmas decoration under water |
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| Sunset at Jois – Neusiedlersee |
We had booked the Silvester dinner there and had a terrific evening with good food and wine, a little bit of dancing, the obligatory Donauwalzer at midnight and fireworks.
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| Restaurant Seejungfrau |
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| Scalops Tartar as a starter |
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| Sweat Treat |
We had not far from the restaurant to our caravan which we appreciated that night 😉
The next morning we slept long before we went for a walk to the hills behind Jois. It was a foggy day and we followed a route called Marterlweg. If you don’t know what a Marterl is, I took pictures of them:
Happy New Year to all of you!!
