Vienna - Wednesday and Thursday (Gänserndorf, Mohndorf)

Wednesday 4 July 2018

After the very intense day, not in the least because of the climbing in the heat, I could easily have done with a break, but I had already agreed to go out with Irmgard.  I got up early because I had to walk to the bank in town to get cash (credit cards are not used a lot here in Austria) and from there to Karlsplatz to catch the underground to Wien-Mitte. Once there I bought a ticket for the fast train to Gänserndorf and rang Irmgard, not only to tell her which train I would be on, but to sort out which station I had to get off, because the one she had mentioned was not listed.  Added to the confusion was the fact that the summer timetable had started on the 1st of July (without either of us realising) and the train, mentioned by Irmgard, did not arrive at the expected time.  In the end it worked out fine, because once on the train the screen showed all the stops clearly.  By 10:30am I was at the Strasshof station where Irmgard was waiting for me and she took me to her co-housing community. 

A co-housing community is one of a series of apartments, small and a few somewhat bigger ones, linked together with communal living/recreation areas, playgrounds for the children and kitchen.  Everyone can choose to cook/eat/relax at home or use the shared facilities.  Everything, from buying groceries to cooking, to cleaning, to whatever needs to be done is very well regulated.  Rosters are flexible and everyone seems to participate very well.  I would almost wish we had something like that in Australia, because I would feel very much at home in such an environment.

The community is built on a huge block of land, so that behind the buildings there is some bushland, a simple swimming pool, a fire pit, a small soccer field, a beach volleyball area, an orchard, and a series of plots with vegetable gardens. 

After we had done the rounds and had a pleasant walk through the gardens at the back we were back at Irmgard's house to have a nice cool drink and later we enjoyed a wonderful lunch, again with an abundance of fresh fruit. 

It wasn't until 4pm that we finally decided that it really was time for our drive to Mohndorf, which was a 1-1/2 hour drive from Gänserndorf.

Much of the drive was on the autobahn, but closer to our destination we hit the hills.  And then finally we arrived at the poppy fields.  I could not take enough photos... (but won't place them all here!) ;-)  I have always wanted to see the lavender fields in full bloom, but this will do it for me at the moment....

Surprised at what a phone camera can do!

A single cornflower among the poppies

the sun disappeared for a moment

After walking through the fields we went on to the village itself in search of a restaurant, because by this time we were getting a bit hungry.

A poppy mural

Picture taken through a frame

We discovered Mohnwirt, a lovely tavern, hidden away in a peaceful corner.  The choice of foods was excellent, but everything, and I mean literally every dish, contained poppy seed. Of course!  We started with a refreshing drink and then our order came.  I had chosen Mohnkäse im Speckmantel auf Blattsalat (pieces of warm poppy seed cheese, rolled in a slice of speck on a bed of lettuce leaves)

I pinched the picture off the internet, but the salad dish is the one I had,
together with the redcurrant drink.

For dessert we had coffee and the owner of the tavern had already set aside a plate of Hausgemachte Mohnnudeln mit rum, because the kitchen was closing and he didn't want us to miss out.

When you look at the picture it really doesn't look that appetising, but it was soooo delicious.....  They are a kind of potato-based noodles (or pasta if you want) combined with a sticky kind of sauce made of poppy seed and rum, and the whole sprinkled with icing sugar.  To die for!

Trust me, it tasts a thousand times better than it looks!

As I said, the surroundings were peaceful and so really country Austrian:

Look at all the seed husks behind the window pane.

While I paid the bill Irmgard told the owner that I had come to visit from Australia.  He was very impressed and said happily: "Oh, then I have a present for you."  He came back with a (how could it be otherwise) Mohnzelt. Again, it doesn't look like much, but the pastry, even tasty in itself, is filled with a sweet poppy seed paste, not unlike marzipan. I had it for afternoon tea the day after and could have easily gone back to get a few more.... ;-)

Mohnzelt

This time I was also lucky enough to find a cache, as when we walked past a pile of rocks I commented to Irmgard that that could just be the place for a cache.  We had talked about geocaching before and she was interested to find out more.  Well, she (and I) were in luck.  When I walked back to the car to get my GPS I discovered that there was indeed a cache hidden.  Not among the rocks, but a few steps further down near a bench!

#1970 - Mohndorf Armschlag (cache)

Irmgard sitting almost on top of it...  ;-)

Well, this was an extremely long day, because we still had to drive back and I had to catch the train home.  Since Irmgard lives on the south side of Vienna it was easy for her to drop me off at one of the underground stations, so I needed to catch only one train.  They are super fast though and it didn't take me long to get past all 12 stops.  I was home at 11:30pm!  The picture below is of the very quiet platform at the Aderklaaer Strasse station.

Thursday 5 July 2018

Today was a quiet day at home.  I was too tired after two exciting days and my legs were still hurting from the climbing on Tuesday, otherwise I would have probably gone for a bike ride again.  Never mind.  Lots of time to catch up with various things.  I finally got around to book my train to Prague for Monday and I briefly saw Peter and Bo in the afternoon.  They came to check on a few things, because last night the central heating was working full blast (after a day of 28 degrees!) and this morning I ran out of hot water while washing my hair in the shower.  No fun! ;-)  Anyway, everything seems to be fine again.  

What tomorrow will bring, I don't know.  I forgot to contact Veronika in time, what with being out two full days, so I doubt that we will be doing something together.  If not, there is always the bike ride that I had planned for today....