Monday 22 May 2006
Highlights: A brilliant wine and bike tour of Wachau Valley

Wow what an enjoyable day.   Getting up early I joined a ‘wine/bike tour’ of the Wachau Valley (9 hour tour).   This region claims to be the first place that wine was created in by some monks.   The country side of Austria is magnificent.   A one hour drive out of the city and we arrived at our first wine tasting stop of the day. In total I’d say I had about 12 glasses of wine, mostly white as this is what the region is known for.   Have to say I think I’m starting to like white wine (might that a little longer for red however).

The region is mostly a collective of small farmers who worked together to produce first rate wines. The first stop included a man made cave (from 1079) that must have taken a long time to create.   We then jumped on our bikes and went to other cellars, the photos should be great.   Enjoying a BBQ of traditional Germanic meats (sausages etc) we headed of to the river for some beach volleyball (I suck) and a quick swim.   Later we hiked a small mountain (we all struggled up this one) to a now ruined castle that Richard the Lionheart was once held in for 6 months.

At the end of the tour they gave us each a bottle of wine which I later shared back at the hostel with a few BusAbout guests including Rebecca (Bec) and Jess.   Amazing that free wine can make you popular 🙂 An amazing day spent outside of Vienna and away from a big city, something I’m starting to like more and more.   It seems to be very easy to make friends when you are out having fun with fellow backpackers.