Ween pree og,

26 - Sunday, Septembez 17, 1989 -

North Store News

TRAVEL

Foliow history, culture down the Danube

THE COLOR of the river is no longer such a clear blue as it once w2s — notwithstanding the fact that over a hundred years ago Johann Strauss cailed his most famous waltz ‘The Blue Danube’’.

But Europe’s longest river, flow- ing some 2,850 kilometres from its source to the sea, is indubitably still beautiful. Mary of the river’s most attractive stretches are to be found in Austria, and today the Danube is one of the most impor- tant tourist regions of the Alpine republic.

The Danube flows through Austria for exactly 350 kilometres from the German to the

Czechoslovakian border, and is navigable for this entire distance. What, then, could be more logical than to explore the river with so many sights along its banks by ship?

In Vienna, the former imperial capital, is found the headquarters of the “First Danube Steamship Company’’, which has been operating scheduled services and tourist excursions on the Danube ever since 1829.

Passengers embarking on ships sailing downstream towards the east will experience the beauty of nature. The largest tract of riparian iurest land in Central

Europe is bisected by the Danube between Vienna and Hainburg. Within a few vears the 2rea is to be designated as a national park, partly because of the wealth of bird life which it harbors, and Austrian nature conservationists have a particular interest in it.

These who prefer culture would do better to sail upstream from Vienna, when their route will take them past the magnificent abbey of Kiosterneuburg via Tulln to Krems an der Donau.

It is in Krems that the best known stretch of the Danube begins. Between this attractive town and the world famous Melk

“Photo submitted

BOWEN ISLAND makes a pleasant daytrip from the North Shore at any time of the year. One of its attractions is the refurbished Union Steamship Company Store

(above).

Texas welcomes tourists

From page 25

on the mailing list and the monthly newsletter is (this month) three pages long of print I’ve got to take my glasses off to read. Write: Jill Hoffman, Tourism Division, Texas Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 12008, Austin, Texas, 78711-2008.

Texas, like Arizona, has tradi- tionally been a more common des- tination for the horse-happy ran- chers from places like Medicine Hat but they seem to have so much going on down there this winter that you might have 2 helluva holiday.

I checked around a bit about airfares — for example, Continen- tal can get you down and back for

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You can expect good weather, providing you don't make an error in judgment and get marooned in the high desert or up some moun- tain. After all, the Gulf of Mexico is one of the southern boundaries.

I’ve never eaten the chili in

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Texas, having better respect for my stomach, but if you like a variety

of food described in restaurants ‘

and cookbooks as ‘“Tex-Mex,”’ you won't be disappointed.

Watch for special package deals from various agents — they’ve had so much flack from people fed up with Hawaii, Costa Rica and Mex- ico that they are really excited about Texas this year.

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Abbey the river flows through the narrow valley of the Wachau. The steep terraced vineyards, dezens of romantic castles, palaces and ruins, and any number of histori- cally interesting idyllicvillages are all typical of this region.

The villages of Durnstein, Weissenkirchen, Spitz, Willendorf, to mame but a few, succeed one another like a string of pearls. Each of these villages has retained its unique character.

The famous ruins above Purns- tein, for example, are steeped in saga and legend. The English king Richard the Lionheart is supposed to have been held capitive here by Duke Leopold of Austria in 1192, and to have been found and released by the minstrel Blondei.

Teday visitors to this village can live in 4 baroque palace and enjoy the cuisine and hospitality for which Austria is renowned.

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Spitz ander Donau is an ideal place for walking, with its impos- ing hillsides entirely covered ir ter- raced vineyards from which 3s long ago as the Middle Ages it was Possible to harvest a thousand pails of wine in a good year. And in the many little wine taverns of the village you can convince - yourself that the quality of this wine is also excellent.

There has been a monastery of the Benedictine monks on the steep cliffs in Melk ever since 1089. In its present form the abbey goes back to Jakob Prandtauer in 1736.

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