Hiking and Schnaps and Castles
Hiking is one of my favorite things to do, especially as autumn begins to settle in. Hiking is also one of the many things Austrians do best. Over the course of my time here I have gone on my fair share of hikes, all of which have been filled with gorgeous scenery, friends-old and new, and alcohol...so much alcohol. Oh, and soup!
Hiking with alcohol is a big thing over here- wine, Schnaps, you name it. These hikes tend to be fairly long with little stations along the way. These stations are all different, some have a restaurant, some a distillery, and others are simple little stand only selling the featured alcohol for that hike. The alcohol is all locally made and each station has their own specialty and twist on their alcohol; and you get to sample all of it! Most stations serve food as well with dishes including things like Käsekrainer and goulash, while others specialize in baked goods, and still others have some of the best soup you will have in your entire life. Forewarning if you ever find yourself on a hike with me and we stop for soup, I will talk about that soup for the rest of the hike and into the next day- and possibly for months after.
My first ever alcohol hike was at the start of September; the Schnaps-Genuss-Meile, also known as the Schnaps hike. A yearly hike that takes place in the Südburgenland (South Burgenland), specifically in Kukmirn, as known as The Burning Village. Burning (brennen) being the German word for distilling alcohol. There are five different stations throughout the countryside where visitors can try the Schnaps, brandies, whiskeys and other liqueurs that each spot specializes in. Each location allows you to have up to five samples (but honestly they don’t keep track so most people have far more than just five samples). In this case, food was available at every station which, honestly, is necessary when sampling so much alcohol. The entire day really is just hiking a little bit, stopping for Schnaps and food, and hiking onward. By the time you reach the final station most people are drunk, full of delicious food (and wanting more), and exhausted from all of the hiking.
For us and our hike, the weather was perfect. It was not too hot and the sun was shining all day. We got lucky as well because we were able to snag a a couple of small tours offered by some of the stations. We were shown some of the orchards in the region as well as one of the distilleries. It was interesting learning about the apple tree process- how to properly plant, grow, harvest, and store the apples. It was fascinating seeing the behind the scenes and generations old thought processes that go into producing the best, tastiest apples from the region. On the first tour the man showing us around asked me where I was from. When I told him the U.S. by way of the Chicago area, he let me know that I am officially the visitor from the furthest away place. I was actually told this a couple of times that day. One shop owner going so far as to grab his daughter so he could tell her I am from Chicago. That poor girl looked so embarrassed but I thought it was rather endearing receiving such an excited and warm welcome from a few people.
September is just barely the start of pumpkin season here in Austria, so I was thrilled when our final Schnaps stop had pumpkin soup on the menu. It was mouth watering delicious and probably my favorite thing I ate that day and we ate a lot of food. After consuming plenty of schnaps, different cakes and soup, it was no surprise that my belly was completely full. If there is one thing I have learned about Austrians they will do their damnedest to make sure you never leave anywhere with an empty stomach.
In between my two alcohol hikes was another hike with castle ruins and even more soup. Sensing a theme yet? We hiked the Vogelbergsteig to Dürnstein Castle ruins. I had a couple of friends in town who had a free day, so along with two of our Vienna friends decided a hiking day it had to be. This hike was one I had done before, last October the first time I visited Austria. It is easily one of my favorite hikes to go on and I think Nici and I are of the same opinion when I say everyone visiting should make their way there. So, heads up family and friends wanting to visit, we will be going on this hike. It has kicked my butt both times I've gone but I love it so much I choose to forget about that until I am on it again. And while over half of the hike consists of winding paths upwards, all that huffing and puffing is worth it for the breathtaking views of the Danube and the town of Dürnstein below. The rolling hills go on for what seems like forever and little red roofs dot their way along the Danube. Each viewpoint offers a view of the final destination, the castle ruins.
Now, this castle is interesting. It was built in the early 12th century in a very strategic location overlooking the Danube. It is said that King Richard I of England, also known as King Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned after being captured while returning from his third crusade. After centuries of war and a number of different conquerors by 1679 the castle was no longer inhabitable.
The history of the castle alone is fascinating. Actually walking through and standing in the remaining ruins truly brings it alive. As you walk through the used-to-be doorways and up what remains of the staircases, it is only natural to wonder about the souls who once passed through these halls. What would they think of all of us hiking up here today?
And, if you don’t want a history lesson before you get there, lucky for you they have plenty of informational plaques for you to read. So, yeah, obviously, the castle is really damn cool. For me, I have been to a few castles and palaces throughout my travels but the novelty of hiking to old ruins felt magical to me.
Now, onto my other favorite part of this hike. Stopping for soup and Almdudler at the Fesslhütte- in Austrian tradition a Hütte is a place for rest while hiking. In the past some sold food and others didn't but nowadays they commonly have food. First, I would like to note, that I had never heard of a Hütte until I visited last year. Snacks are of course an essential part to any hiking experience, the Hütte takes that concept to a whole different level and stopping at Hütte mid hike for a hot bowl of soup or a cake is absolutely essential to any Austrian hike. Again, hiking is one of the things they do best and it’s easy to see why when they start adding delicious food to it.
Obviously, the menu at Fesslhütte contains much more than just soup and Almdudler but that is exactly what I got and will probably get every single time I am on this hike. The first time I hiked here Nici and I shared a potato and bacon soup and a pumpkin soup. This time I had a potato and mushroom soup. And my entire group will confirm that when we weren’t talking about astrology I was talking about this soup.
The final hike I want to talk about in this entry is the Vienna Wine Hiking Day. A day dedicated to hiking the trails around Vienna, drinking all of the good wine at the start of wine season, and enjoy stunning views of the city below. Similar to the Schnaps-Genuss-Meile there are plenty of vineyards and heurigers to stop at along the way. There are plenty of different routes to take but we chose to Route 1: Neustift to Nussdorf, 10 km (~6 Miles) in total. I was invited on this hike by a new friend and her boyfriend. What better way to get to know someone better than hiking and drinking wine? I was so excited to join and it has easily become one of my favorite days in Vienna thus far.
In total we stopped at five different places and at all but one we ordered glasses of Gelber Muskateller, a white wine my new friend and I learned we both thoroughly enjoyed. Somewhere along the way I ordered a Käsekrainer to go with my 4th glass of wine and it was delicious. While most places offered food for this hike the wine was the star.
We ended our hike at one final vineyard, found a table close to a bonfire, and watched the sunset over Vienna. As I watched the city lights shine brighter and brighter as the sky got darker, breathing in the early autumn air, surrounded by new friends it started to hit that this is only the beginning of my life here and it's already beautiful.
♡Liv
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