Two Towers

... but not *THE* two towers.

I have been trying to get out on a hike at least once a weekend throughout this summer, I really didn't take quite enough advantage of the hiking around here last year and besides, when it is predicted to hit 38 degrees sometime on Sunday, it is clear that leaving the tarmac filled heat sink that is the city centre is just a matter of common sense!

This brief bunch of photos were both taken at the top of lookout towers in the Wienerwald, although the similarities mostly end there. The first group of images were taken atop the 600m Anninger after a pleasant, conifer shaded walk with Ash from the train station at Mödling. I feel sure that I have mentioned the Anninger before, it is one of the higher hills in the immediate vicinity of the city, and seems somewhat higher once you reach the summit as to the East of it lies only the flat Vienna basin. Most of the walk is shrouded in trees, but once you reach the lookout tower you are treated to a magnificent view of the peaks of the Wienerwald, ranging away to the Schneeberg in the distance. I have taken hundreds of photos of this view, but this time some excellent shafts of light breaking through the clouds made it all look just that bit better.

The next small batch of pictures come from a couple of weeks later, on the evening of the summer solstice. I had actually planned to nip up a lookout tower, the Jubiläumswarte that overlooksVienna from its western slopes, in order to catch the sunset. As it turned out, despite a rather brisk walk from the tram stop up into the hills (necessary to avoid the mosquitos, never mind anything else), I managed to miss the actual sun by 10 minutes or so. Shouldn't have spent so long on dinner! Nonetheless I spent a good hour and a half relaxing in the cooler air at the top of the tower, watching it go slowly dark over Vienna. I spent a long time trying to photograph the planes coming in to land at vienna airport, from a good vantage point such as mine one can usually see about three at once strung out in a line getting ready to land...

Enjoy! And I hope it is cooler than 30 degrees in your office right now!

Der Tom