On this foggy rainy morning, I visited the Leoben Museum. Inside was several floors exhibiting the history of the region, lots on logging and mining. This town is known for its university specializing in mining and geotech programs. On the bottom floor was a special exhibit, "Jade and Gold" an exhibit of Chinese artifacts of, you guessed it, jade and gold. It was beautifully presented. In rooms painted a rich velvety red, all the artifacts stood out in sharp contrast.
I walked around the town, admiring some of the colorful architecture and stopped in another cafe for coffee. Another interesting getting out the rain stop was in St. Xavier, a Jesuit church near the town center. An organist was rehearsing inside on the pipe organ. I sat in this intriguing lavishly decorated black and gold church listening to the classical sounding music. A private concert as I was the only one sitting in the mahogany black pews.
After lunch I hopped on one of the many clearly mapped and blazed trails that intersect through Leoben. The Austrian trails are all blazed with little symbols that look like the Austrian flag. I spent the afternoon on trail 505. This took me past ruins of the Massenburg castle and an amazing view of the valley below.
Austria is so green but autumn is just getting started here, leaves are starting to turn. Flashes of red and yellow highlight the hillsides. Mushrooms are thriving in the moist soils rife with decaying fallen trees. A surprising number of flowers were blooming in the woods, including a pale green orchid like bunch that I nearly missed seeing.
Tonight was another very rich very delicious dinner. Pork medallions in a Stilton cream sauce. And just where are the desserts? Everything I'm reading is telling me about the amazing desserts in Austria. My guide book dedicates two full pages to photos and descriptions of traditional desserts and how Austrians eat desserts at any time of day. And yet, where are they? We have one more day here. I'll be sorely disappointed if I don't find a least one of these amazing looking sweets.