Austrian Sights

[scifan57]

It's certainly worth visiting.

What I skipped in my description, were the rooms with birds, reptiles, butterflies and other insects, mammals, ... animals that still exist, simply because we were almost "running" through these rooms because of the limited time.
There are also rooms with minerals and this:
View attachment 68890
(Wikiwand)
which make the museum interesting, imo.

I've seen Lunar rock samples in several cities, I'm glad you got to see this one.

 

[J. A.]

I'll spend the next three days (from today on) in Styria, or more exactly in Mariazell. That's about a three hours's drive from my village.
To show where it's located:

Apple Maps

I've visited this area since I was a child, so I know it quite well. Mariazell is a pilgrimage destination, and it is also well known for winter sports. As winter was very mild this year, I don't expect to find a lot of snow there, and tbh, I'm one of the few Austrians who don't like skiing. I'm hoping to visit a few of the sights there, and take walks along the pilgrimage ways, leading to the city.
My hotel has Wi-Fi, and Mariazell is a very quiet place at night, so I hope it will be possible to post my pictures at night.

 

[scifan57]

I'll spend the next three days (from today on) in Styria, or more exactly in Mariazell. That's about a three hours's drive from my village.
To show where it's located:
View attachment 70628
Apple Maps

I've visited this area since I was a child, so I know it quite well. Mariazell is a pilgrimage destination, and it is also well known for winter sports. As winter was very mild this year, I don't expect to find a lot of snow there, and tbh, I'm one of the few Austrians who don't like skiing. I'm hoping to visit a few of the sights there, and take walks along the pilgrimage ways, leading to the city.
My hotel has Wi-Fi, and Mariazell is a very quiet place at night, so I hope it will be possible to post my pictures at night.

I look forward to what I'm sure will be some very interesting photos.

 

[J. A.]

Thank you, Robert!
It looks like I'll have to post when I'm at home. I have problems with Wi-Fi in my room.

 

[scifan57]

Thank you, Robert!
It looks like I'll have to post when I'm at home. I have problems with Wi-Fi in my room.

I had a similar problem with the WiFi in my hotel room when I was in London. It took 5 - 10 minutes to post each photo because the WiFi was so slow.

 

[J. A.]

My devices don't find the Wi-Fi when I'm in my room, although it's supposed to work here too.
I'm using my cellular data for posting here, and it changes between 3G and E. From time to time, I get the dreaded "... server stopped responding" message. Yesterday, I had problems when I tried replyin

 

[J. A.]

Here's a map with the route I used to get to and from Mariazell.

Apple Maps

The bold blue line shows my route, except for the last part, where I was driving the roads marked by the red line.

Here's where I stopped to take pictures:
1 - Schottwien Bridge
2 - Mürz, Totes Weib

Well, actually I didn't stop at the bridge, but in a village from where you can see it well enough to take photos, which was Maria Schutz.
The bridge itself is made of concrete, 250 metres long, connects two tunnels, and the road is 130 metres above the ground, above a municipality called Schottwien. That's also the reason why it's called the "Schottwien Bridge", or "Talbrücke Schottwien" in German - it crosses a valley near Semmering. It was built from 1986 to 1989.

I tried to get a view of the bridge without too many trees and bushes, but that wasn't really possible.
This image from Herbert Ortner (Wikimedia) shows better what it looks like:

You don't really realize that you're on the bridge, actually. The motorway is broad, so you can't take a look at the valley below. Which is good, imo, or some drivers would refuse to use the bridge, and I would be one of them.

 

[scifan57]

Here's a map with the route I used to get to and from Mariazell.
View attachment 70644
Apple Maps

The bold blue line shows my route, except for the last part, where I was driving the roads marked by the red line.

Here's where I stopped to take pictures:
1 - Schottwien Bridge
2 - Mürz, Totes Weib

Well, actually I didn't stop at the bridge, but in a village from where you can see it well enough to take photos, which was Maria Schutz.
The bridge itself is made of concrete, 250 metres long, connects two tunnels, and the road is 130 metres above the ground, above a municipality called Schottwien. That's also the reason why it's called the "Schottwien Bridge", or "Talbrücke Schottwien" in German - it crosses a valley near Semmering. It was built from 1986 to 1989.
View attachment 70645
I tried to get a view of the bridge without too many trees and bushes, but that wasn't really possible.
This image from Herbert Ortner (Wikimedia) shows better what it looks like:
View attachment 70646
You don't really realize that you're on the bridge, actually. The motorway is broad, so you can't take a look at the valley below. Which is good, imo, or some drivers would refuse to use the bridge, and I would be one of them.

I like how the bridge goes right over the village. I wonder how the inhabitants felt about all that construction going on overhead.

 

[J. A.]

Part of my journey goes along a river called Mürz. It begins in Lower Austria and ends in Styria, where it meets Mur river at Bruck an der Mur, more to the south. Mürz is a fishing paradise, in summer, when there's less water than now.
Near Mürzsteg and Mürzzuschlag, the water surface is more calm.

These pictures are from an area near Frein an der Mürz, north of Mürzsteg:

 

[scifan57]

Part of my journey goes along a river called Mürz. It begins in Lower Austria and ends in Styria, where it meets Mur river at Bruck an der Mur, more to the south. Mürz is a fishing paradise, in summer, when there's less water than now.
Near Mürzsteg and Mürzzuschlag, the water surface is more calm.

These pictures are from an area near Frein an der Mürz, north of Mürzsteg:
View attachment 70647
View attachment 70648

They're wonderful pictures. I'm sure they'd look even better in the summertime.

 

[J. A.]

I like how the bridge goes right over the village. I wonder how the inhabitants felt about all that construction going on overhead.

As far as I remember, they didn't have any problems with the construction. It's almost 20 years ago, so I'm not quite certain.

 

[J. A.]

They're wonderful pictures. I'm sure they'd look even better in the summertime.

Thank you!
There's less water in summer, so it's possible that they don't look better than now. I've seen summers when you mostly saw the rocks, and almost no water.

 

[J. A.]

Totes Weib (in English: dead wife)
Part of the Mürz valley runs through a rock formation called Totes Weib. When I was younger, a road lead along the river. There was always the danger of falling stones, and the road was narrow. It was sometimes necessary to stop when a car was approaching, and let it pass. I was already an adult when that road was closed to traffic. When you're driving to Lahnsattel nowadays, you have to use a tunnel.
It's still allowed to take a walk on the old road, or ride your bike there.

The road is closed winter, until April 30. Maybe this photo will explain why:

I tried taking a walk, though, but didn't get very far.

The street was covered with snow, and my sneakers are not the right equipment in that case. In summer, this valley is a breathtaking sight, with waterfalls and trees, and Mürz rushing below.
The entrance to the valley:

 

[scifan57]

Thank you!
There's less water in summer, so it's possible that they don't look better than now. I've seen summers when you mostly saw the rocks, and almost no water.

What you'd need is a winter with lots of snow so the meltwater is still flowing when the leaves come out.

 

[scifan57]

Totes Weib (in English: dead wife)
Part of the Mürz valley runs through a rock formation called Totes Weib. When I was younger, a road lead along the river. There was always the danger of falling stones, and the road was narrow. It was sometimes necessary to stop when a car was approaching, and let it pass. I was already an adult when that road was closed to traffic. When you're driving to Lahnsattel nowadays, you have to use a tunnel.
It's still allowed to take a walk on the old road, or ride your bike there.

The road is closed winter, until April 30. Maybe this photo will explain why:
View attachment 70649
I tried taking a walk, though, but didn't get very far.
View attachment 70650
The street was covered with snow, and my sneakers are not the right equipment in that case. In summer, this valley is a breathtaking sight, with waterfalls and trees, and Mürz rushing below.
The entrance to the valley:
View attachment 70651

I'm sure you get spectacular views from the old road in summer, without having to worry about cars.