Sunday: Thayatal National Park

About 10:30 we drove north and west about 80 kilometers from Vienna, up near the Czech border, to the Thayatal National Park.

The Thaya River runs through this park and divides Austria from the Czech Republic.

There are several hiking trails that begin in different towns within the confines of the park. We started near Merkersdorf and went into the woods, walking mostly along the banks first of a quiet stream, then eventually of the Thaya, across millions of exposed tree roots.

This is the ruins of a small mill (or something) near the stream.

We began walking along this pleasant stream.

Eventually we came to the Thaya and walked along its banks.

In this part of Austria, the middle of the Thaya divides Austria from the Czech Republic.

In the Commie days, this area was heavily guarded on both sides and no doubt mined on the Czech side.

We had a hiking map we'd purchased the day before at the Erntedankfest, from a booth promoting Austria's national parks. But we didn't really need the map, as the trailheads had good maps and the trails themselves are well marked with small metal signs---which I was glad to see contained no goddamned grafitti.

B had talked to her dad on the phone the night before. He's walked these trails and gave us a good suggestion as to which end of the trail to start with. B, as usual, had done her Web research and had a great idea of what to do when we reached the end of the trail, in a town with the unappetizing name of Hardegg. Unappetizing name, but a beautiful little town. Did I say little? In fact it is Austria's smallest town.

And the idea was: take the local cab back to where we'd parked the car. This ended up saving us another two hour walk, on top of the 2.5 hours we'd already spent schlepping ourselves and our rucksacks up and down some very steep trails.

Mushrooms! The woods were thick with them---but not any we knew to be edible.

The skies were overcast and the area had experienced very heavy rains in recent days. The trail was wet and the rocks and tree roots were very slick. But from time to time the sun poked through and lit the woods with that peculiar other-worldly light. 

We found a place to eat lunch, on some large rocks on the river bank. It was quiet. Like a lot of thick woods, you didn't hear birds singing. But we did see a happy little bird flitting from rock to rock, back and forth across the border, skimming the water looking for whatever it is he eats. We, meantime, ate a sandwich.

There weren't too many people out. We passed a few on the trail, but mostly we had the woods to ourselves. Which was a little surprising. Austria is one of the most outdoor-oriented countries around. Everyone likes to take to the woods, the Alps, the various swimming holes, etc. In winter, of course, there's skiing and snowboarding and winter hiking. It makes sense for the people of a beautiful country to want to enjoy nature. I think about this every time I'm on the bus and pass a local "fitness center" and see the drones in there literally running on treadmills. WTF? There are plenty of places even in Vienna to exercise outdoors. Run along the Danube, take a hike somewhere.

After a very steep climb, the trail spit us out in the town of Hardegg.

This footbridge spans the Thaya. On the other side: the Czech Republic.

What you see if you walk across the bridge. Note Commie-era roadblocks, still in place but no longer used.

Burg Hardegg. Yes, even the smallest town in Austria has a fucking castle.

We walked through Hardegg then sat on the curb for a rest. B called the cabbie. About 25 minutes later he showed up from whichever village he'd been in and drove us several kilometers back to our car. B pulled out €10 and asked me if I had €5, which I misunderstood to mean the total was €15. So I dug around for the money and handed to the guy and got out. I figured B had already given her share to the guy and we were done. But after he drove off, I found out I'd misheard----it hadn't been €15 but only €5, total, and she'd only been looking for exact change for the guy. €15 was a bit much so I didn't feel inclined to throw in a tip, but €5 was way too little, I thought, so I felt bad for not tipping the guy. When my paisan Mod hears about this, he'll ream me good because he already thinks I'm a shitty tipper. But it was an honest mistake.

Then we drove to a beautiful little town called Retz. It's known for its local vintners and in fact we ate outdoors on the patio of a place that had a fantastic selection of wines and was ultra-modern inside---the food was very reasonably priced, too, this far from Vienna.

Then we took a little walk around town. By now the sun had come out and the sky, instead of a sick white, was a pleasant blue.

Ancient church tower in Retz.

Old door in Retz.

A view through the old city gate to the old center of Retz.

After Retz, we drove through the countryside and into villages on our way back to Vienna. Fall is coming; we saw smoke tumbling out of a few chimneys. The vineyards are bare of grapes now, though the vines are still lush and green. The sunflowers in the fields are all withered and brown. 

A few miles outside of Vienna, the usual Sunday afternoon traffic jam on the highway. Everyone's coming back from wherever they were, doing whatever outdoor thing they were doing. We were one of them.

Tired from the hike through the woods, and through Retz, but a good tired. Home, some leftover chili, some wine. This place, Vienna, feels like home.