Life After Work: Dürnstein

On Friday, we woke up to another sunny day as we cruised along the Danube in Austria. Today was special because we were going through the Wachau Valley which has a number of castles and picturesque towns. You'd think that after seeing so many castles it would get boring, but it doesn't. Each one is different. Some are ruins and some are still in use and each one has a story. Plus, watching them go by while eating or drinking German beer or wine adds to the experience!

In this shot, you can see some of the extreme terracing that goes on along the Danube. Some of the slopes are so extreme that they can only be tended to by hand.

At the end of the valley, we sailed into a very small town called Dürnstein. This town is a major tourist destination and is filled with numerous touristy shops and restaurants. But, it is quaint and very beautiful. We were told a story about how Princess Di came here one time with her friend Dodi and stayed in the hotel just to the left of the blue tower. It's apparently very exclusive.

We had scheduled a saffron workshop to start our visit and it was interesting and informative. We thought saffron only came from the Middle East and Spain but learned otherwise. It turns out that saffron was grown in Germany hundreds of years ago but it became a lost art. Saffron will grow where wine grows so a botanist came and, after finding old notes that proved saffron could grow near the town, he started to cultivate saffron on old wine land. He now has over 300 000 saffron plants and makes a number of saffron based products.

This is a saffron crocus and some of the products that are produced. Sadly, they didn't sell any of the actual saffron. Yes, that is a saffron chocolate bar along with honey, a salad dressing, and a type of liquor.

After the workshop, we decided that we would climb the 300+ metre mountain to reach a ruined castle. This wasn't just any ruined castle, it was the place where Richard the Lionheart was held for some years. The view from the top made the tiring walk up a dusty road not so hard to take.

It doesn't look as high in this shot as it really is!

This is a view from about half way up.

You get through this arch and think you're done, but there are still a bunch of steep steps to climb.

And, finally, you're in the stronghold.

A bit more climbing gets you right to the top.

This is looking out of the cell where Richard the Lionheart was apparently a prisoner. It was pretty bleak and I sure wouldn't want to be there in cold, windy or rainy weather.