Hiking in the Leiser Berge near Vienna

It was my friend Sigrid who suggested to hike in the Leiser Berge (could be translated as silent mountains), an area just 45 minutes north of Vienna. Normally, I am not drawn to hike there, as the mountains are basically low hills and very undramatic. However, this hike was a pure delight.

Sigrid untangling the Tibetan prayer flags

The top of the Buschberg is marked by a cross. The hill is not even 1 500 feet high. The name Buschberg, literally translated as bush mountain, comes actually from the old German word bump. The mountain is a “bump” in the landscape. However, it is the highest “mountain” of the region called Weinviertel. In the background you see a Radar station for eastern Austria civil aviation.

140 Million years ago, the whole area was covered by a tropical ocean not deeper than 6 feet.

A strong, warm wind blew over the rolling hills this day and with the blue sky above and the short, dry grass underneath our feet, we seemed to be at the Croatian coast.

Artists connected their art to this ancient landscape and created a unity between nature and culture. It was pure magic. The first taste of this unity was a piece not intended to be art – a rusted iron bucket without a bottom. The beauty of deterioration was intriguing.

Blue bucket with a yarrow blooming in the center.

A block of granite seemed to float on the top of a hill.

The late afternoon sun made the top of one corner shimmer like a piece of gold

The rock had such a presence that we both felt the urge to hug it. The surface felt silky and warm and pulsated life back to us.

Later, we saw that one corner was the home of wasps. We were lucky that we did not step on them.

Home of the wasps

Two rocks gently subdued to the surroundings with the vertical rock in the background

Happy me on the warm rock. We went barefoot for a while.

Fall became already visible through shrubs and flowers

Sea buckthorn

Once yellow flowers became like little silver stars shining up to the sky.

Nature in a picture frame

Observatory with a movable roof. There was a star gazing party this night, but unfortunately, it was too late for us.

Walking back to the car in the warm evening sun beside fields of pumpkins