Duernstein, Austria
July 29, 2007

The drive to Duernstein is beautiful as the road follows the Danube River for the length of the journey, passing tour boats, campers, and meandering through a number of different villages on the way. Duernstein contains the ruins of a medieval castle above the quaint Austrian village. We made the difficult hike up to the top of the ruins which required us to navigate “stairs” and rocks (difficult considering I am out of shape and we did it with a 2 and 5 year old!). The girls actually did great, especially Katie, who walked up the entire way without a single complaint. Ashley was a little more whiney, but still did a pretty good job twisting her way up to the top. The ruins of the castle also contain the jail where King Richard the Lionheart of England was imprisoned in 1193 by Leopold V, the Duke of Austria. It seems Richard and Leopold had some sort of dispute during the 3rd Crusade to have suffered this punishment. I am not sure this picture is of the actual jail, but part of the fun of it all is imagining that it was, particularly considering that this element of the castle is the only piece still not completely destroyed (most of the castle was destroyed by the Swedes in 1645, not the Turks this time). So Katie and Ashley were locked up in the same jail as Richard the Lionheart and who knows who else!
The view from the top was spectacular and one could see for miles, with the Danube far below. We also witnessed a number of rock climbers across the river making their way up to the top of a rock wall. Standing up at the top, looking down at the village below and the neighboring villages in the distance reminded me of what I love about Europe. Although one could probably find a mountain overlooking a river with the same geographical landscape in the US, one can’t have this same vista overlooking a village of orange rooftops, a medieval church and tower in the center of each village seen in the distance, and a general feeling of history. It is just not the same for me. And it never gets old, even as many of these towns begin to look the same, they each have their own fascinating history and different appeal.After enjoying some ice cream and making some sandwiches for lunch, we drove back the same way we had come, back through Melk, and to the highway on our way to Innsbruck.