Weather: ☀️🌤️☀️🌤️☀️
Picnic: 🥪🥪🥪 (3 out 5, Laugenecken at an uninspiring spot in the shade + toastie at a castle)
Track: 🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹 (4 out of 5, great trail through forest along the river and a few castles and villages)
Campsite: ⛺⛺⛺⛺ (4 out of 5, quiet, flat spot with picnicbench and good view. No insects!)
Name of followed trail: Grenzlandweg (607)
A third time now that my request of a change in trail/ scenery has been heard. E8 seems receptive to feedback and apparently has the flexibility to adapt to our wishes 😅. I’m curious if this is still possible when we get into the Carpathian mountains…
Anyway, yesterday I complained about the amount of roadwalking, today there are virtually no roads, only trails and farmland tracks.
The hike follows the Thaya today, the river that forms a large part of the border between Austria and the Czech republic. In Raabs an der Thaya we see an example of what the ‘Iron Curtain’ border looked like during the Cold War. Going down into the village we stumble upon much happier things, like the largest dragonboatrace in Austria (64 teams). A cheerful atmosphere and a lot of beer seems the perfect combination for a dragonboatrace here… After a short resupply we enjoy a few races and continue our walk that leads through the forest to Burg ruine Kollmitz. There is a café there, so we have a drink as a reward for the climb we had. Less roadwalking also means more demanding…😅
We walk from the castle on a challenging trail that undulates along the river to the next village, Eibenstein. We find a café that looks more like a living room, including the ironing board that stands in the middle of the room. at a table 4 elderly men are having fun with a toy parrot. A parrot that can repeat what you say. The look of these guys acting like outdated 4 year olds is hilarious. The lady at the bar happily lets me take a photo of the bar mascotte (or whatever it is)
After a drink we continue to Drosendorf. This trail is more easy going than the last section. We get to a restaurant where we decide to have dinner.
After that, we walk to our campsite in the evening sun. We pitch tent at a picnic site With a bench under a shelter. After a cup of tea we get into the tent and see the sun set further. A few people pass by on the quiet road. They all smile and wave. What a Peaceful spot this is!