Day 9 - Sankt Nikolai im Sausal to Vienna Airport

We started the day in Ljublijana.  After a nice breakfast, we left the city and headed towards Austria.  As soon as we left Ljublijana, we began climbing into the Julian Alps.  The peaks were shrouded in mist and the countryside below was a patchwork of  manicured pastures, fields and vineyards.  We were impressed by how neat and orderly the farms were, and it looked like a postcard.

It was very interesting that the mountains were shrouded in mist; we drove through a number of tunnels and after the 4th tunnel we came out into bright blue skies.

We arrived in Sankt Nikolai im Sausal to tour the Weutz Distillery.  We had made several attempts to contact them via e-mail and phone to confirm they were available for a tour, with no response.  We were pleasantly surprised that they were open and waiting for us.  The owner, Michael Weutz, warmly introduced himself to each of us and then proceeded to give us a tour of the distillery.  Michael specializes in spirits distilled from local grain and fruit.  We were surprised at the variety of spirits he had available and Tom and Bill sampled several of them.





























During our conversation we learned that Michael actually makes his living as a mechanical engineer who specializes in HVAC.  It turns out the distillery is his passion and only a hobby.  We thanked Michael for his hospitality, bought several bottles of his best whiskey, said goodbye and headed for Vienna.

Michael gave us a recommendation for a good restaurant in Graz.  Once in Graz, we faced traffic congestion and a maze of medieval streets and became hopelessly lost.  We headed east just to get out of town and stumbled upon Restaurant Zur Schmied'n.  We took a chance and it turned out to be wonderful.  Moral of story is that you don't need a restaurant recommendation to find an excellent restaurant in Austria; because they are all outstanding!!

We continued our trek into Vienna and ended at the airport hotel.  Nothing left to do but blog and pack.  We are so sorry to see this wonderful trip come to an end.  Now to start planning the next trip.