Vienna Wine Tour (by Brenda)

The day we arrived in Vienna, we had stopped at the information shack, and discovered that there was a wine tour the next day, so for something different, we decided to go. So we met up with the guide and 4 girls from USA, they had missed the tour the day before. The tour guide directed us to a train, the conductor came to check the tickets and we were on the wrong train!! So off at a platform, in the middle of nowhere about 15 minutes from Vienna, catch the train back to the original station and get the correct one. So now, we are about an hour late, but what can you do. We arrive at a small village northwest of Vienna, it is quaint and down-home. We stop at the first place, taste 3 different wines, as the guide Adam teaches us how to swish and smell and breathe, while we are drinking. THEN, we climb onto bikes (pedal variety at least, we could have been impaired) for a leisurely bike ride through the valley along the Danube River. The river was quite high, they have had lots of rain. The vines were growing high on the hills, up as far as the eye could see. The vines were protected by the old foundations from houses, that the Romans had put there in the early 1100s. The stones also help reflect the sunlight and retain the heat in the evenings. Between admiring the scenery, there was intermittent rain showers, so now we are riding bikes with bright yellow ponchos. We rode to another house, where the barbeque was set up, Adam added 2 kinds of sausages and some schnitzel, had carried salads up and we had a feast and tasted another 4 wines from that local winery. The sun shone while we ate, it was a great picnic. After some time to regain our balance, we rode to a small village on the way back, wandered around and tasted some apricot schnapps, and bought some to bring home. It was a glorious day, the silence of the countryside was wonderful, and I spent the last mile just looking around and couldnt believe where I was. Aside, the 8 of us drank another 6 litres of wine on the train ride home, Amber and I stopped early, so you can imagine the rest of them. We had a late supper at the Mozart, a local popular restaurant. A fine day!!!

Vienna Wine Tour (by Brenda)

Vienna, Austria