We decided the time of growing roots has to be over and we will be on the road again, at first only in Austria, but that's not a bad thing, we have a beautiful country to explore.
We drove to the province of Burgenland, where we visited the church of pilgrimage in Loretto - a good place to start our pilgrimage through Europe again ;-)
Basilica Maria Loretto |
Wonderful baroque interior |
The little village of Loretto has the largest still intact village green in Middle Europe, which lies in front of the church and has mainly walnut trees growing there. We started a hike up to the Buchkogel from Loretto, which led through beautiful forests and over meadows full of flowers.
Hiking to the Buchkogel |
Harmless Dead Nettles (Taubnessel) |
In the village of Leithaprodersdorf we visited the remains of a medieval fortification with its wall-ditch system, which is still visible today. The Gschlössl was a medieval moated castle consisting of three concentric trenches and ramparts.
Next to it sarcophagus and tomb stones from the Roman period are exhibited.
Tomb stone from the 2nd century |
We found a nice spot for the night near Stotzing and the next day we crossed the Leitha hills to Donnerskirchen at the Neusiedler See. From there we started a hike up the hills to the lookout tower Franz Josef Warte, named after the Austrian Emperor.