A Visit To Hainburg

The hot and sticky trend ended last night with enough rain and wind to stop the outdoor opening festivities of the Life Ball, which we were watching on TV at home by that time. Bill Clinton sat there looking interested, or perhaps wondering where he misplaced his cigar, and Whoopi Goldberg did a pretty good job all costumed up in a scene from Wagner's Siegfried. She spoke her part rather than sing it, but no disrespect---she did all right.

Today we decided to visit the easternmost town in Austria, Hainburg an der Donau (Hainburg on the Danube.) It's a town of about 5000 people, known for having one of the most intact fortifications in Europe, with 3 gates, 15 towers, and 2.5 miles of high rock walls. There's also the ruins of an old castle high atop a hill on the outskirts of town, overlooking the Danube. Great views from up there---see the pics below.

It was cooler today than the past few days, with very overcast skies and moderate wind. Had to wear a jacket during much of our hike, especially when we got to the top of the castle where the wind was Oklahoma-strong outside the walls. Inside, not so bad.

Click on the pics if you want to enlarge them.

Enlarge this pic and you'll see a tunnel in the distance, part of a walking path to some old ruins.

 A house in Hainburg, the sign on which (roughly translated) says:

"This house is mine, yet not mine. The one before me thought it was his but then I got it.

After my death it will be like that again."

See the castle on the hill? We drove up as close as we could get, then hiked the rest.

Hainburg as seen from the castle. Invisible in the distance: Vienna.

Inside the castle courtyard. Outside these walls and to the left, we could see Bratislava, Slovakia.

Another view inside the walls. Through the door, Hainburg.

Cruising along on the way home, we came upon this very old church and its graveyard.

#1 coolest grave in the cemetery? The Fux family plot. Insert your own joke here.