A Day Trip to Mödling

This was definitely a touristy weekend – I’ve always taken advantage of being here to discover gems in and around town, but now that I know my stay here will be shorter, I feel even more compelled not to stay home on weekends.

My Saturday hiking plans with two of my classmates were cancelled when they were deterred by the threat of rain (they didn’t move here from Newfoundland!), so I took advantage of the 48-hour transit pass I had bought and spent the day in Vienna on the fast trains (S-bahns), underground (U-bahn), and trams, getting off wherever I felt compelled to. It’s so much fun exploring without a plan –  deciding at each moment whether to turn right or left, whether to hop on or off one form of transportation or another.  If you haven’t tried it, I recommend it. It’s a great way to tune into your intuition, embrace the mystery, and get to know an area.  Sure, there may be a huge wall around a public forest with the door locked, or a hissing wild swan blocking your way to a path that had called you to jump off the train.  To me, those were simply clear signs that I wasn’t meant to go there. I did take the next path to peek at the small garden homes along the water, right in the middle of the city.  Neat!  I also explored a beautiful huge park on the Old Danube and ended up having lunch/dinner in a luxurious Chinese restaurant filled with Chinese people (always a good sign).  Being my birthday week, I allowed myself the extra expense, listening to my stomach, which never fails to be heard one way or another 🙂

On Sunday, the weather was much better for my trip to Mödling with my classmate Donnalynne.  It’s only 14km out of Vienna so we were there really quickly thanks to the S-bahn.  We would have had to wait over 40 minutes for the bus from the station to either the Liechtenstein Castle or to the Seegrotte, so we hopped a taxi for 10 Euros – worth every penny as I tried understanding our driver’s questions and eventually was able to communicate that we wanted to be dropped off at the parking, not at the door of the castle, so that we could walk and take pictures on our way there. He was patient with my determination to understand him, and we succeeded.   Wow! What a walk… It’s quite a special feeling walking up to one of these majestic castles (especially when heavily influenced by Hollywood movies, novels, fairy tales, etc.)  The castle is owned by the same Liechtenstein family that owns the small European country of the same name – they came from here.  It was great walking around in the sunshine and we had a touching conversation with a man who grew up in the area during the Nazi occupation. His father had had to join the army to avoid prosecution for openly speaking out against the Nazis and then was taken prisoner of war in Italy.  Sharing in that way certainly enriched what could have been a superficial tourist experience.  We then took lots of pictures before taking the guided tour inside (no pictures allowed inside…).  You might recognize this castle from the movie The Three Musketers (1993- with Charlie Sheen and Keifer Sutherland), which I haven’t seen yet.  It was also used in Robin Hood (Kevin Costner) and for a small scene in Lord of the Rings.

We then walked about 15 minutes through the wide open fields, forest paths and village to the Seegrotte, the biggest underground lake in Europe, formed after a mining accident caused the water from above ground to flow inside.  They must pump the water out daily so that tourists can take the 8-minute boat ride at the end of a very informative tour.  The Nazis had totally pumped the water out and used it as both a concentration camp and factory for building parts of aircraft.  This place is seeped in history and being here so close to Remembrance Day seemed appropriate.  On a much lighter note, it was also used for the filming of a few scenes in the Three Musketeers and other movies.  We had wanted to ask the friendly lady at the cash (who had surprisingly given me the postcard I wanted to buy for free after I complimented her on her choice of music – Norah Jones) which restaurant she recommended, but the office was already closed.  So we wandered back up into the village (it seemed longer uphill after a day of walking around) and found a great place run by the same family for the past 100 years.  Donnalynne was in heaven with her venison stew and dumpling and I thoroughly enjoyed my grilled chicken with pumpkin risotto and my first sauerkraut since I arrived here.  We then rushed to the bus stop 2 minutes away to catch the only one in 1.5 hours back to town where we immediately caught the S-bahn back to Vienna.  What an awesome day!