THE SIGN HUNTERS

AUSTRIA: Exploring Baden with Ronja

Written by Laszlo, 23 August 2019

In the end of June, I spent almost a week in Baden in Austria. I stayed to look after my aunt's dog, Ronja, while they travelled to Budapest for a friend's daughter's graduation ceremony. This tiny Brichon Frise is a properly spoilt little fur though, so at first I was not sure how this trip would turn out but I was optimistic that I could just make things right. I was actually very happy to stay with her for a few days and introduce different routines to her. Ronja had never really had massive walks before, so when we went out for the first time, after a little walk she already stopped and she was a bit like "Laz, come and pick up and carry me!". But no, Laz does not compromise. I have my set rules and an image of what the perfect dog looks like. So, I had a few days to 'invest in' Ronja. After five days, Ronja and I summed up walking around 40 km in total and she became a really nice little walking companion. In the end, I was satisfied with the results. And, most importantly, together we successfully explored Baden and have got many photos that I can share with you now.

Its name can already tell, Baden is a spa town in Austria. There are many 'Badens' here and there in the German language areas, so this one is unofficially distinguished by the name of Baden-bei-Wien (Baden-near-Vienna). It is a relatively small town, its population is around 26,000 which has not changed much over the last four decades.

I am sharing many photos with you now which were taken with three different equipment including my actual loyal companion Fuji S3Pro, my Google Pixel 2XL phone and the GoPro Hero 6 camera. Since, I had the action camera with me, I have also produced a little video which is also included in the end of this blog post. The photos cover a lot of Baden, but to make your journey through of them a bit more logical, the set starts with photos of Ronja and I walking up to Burgruine Rauheneck, which is an old castle ruins with an outlook tower, and Königshöhle, which is an interesting cave formation. Since my aunt and her family lives right next to this green forest area, it was logical for us to start our trip here. Ronja first struggled but then quickly realised that I would not carry her, and since she did not want to miss out on a nice walk, she gave in and walked up to the tower with me. I had to carry her up to the top of the tower though, because the construction's steps were dodgy and steep, but apart from that, she walked nicely and enjoyed her time out.

During the following days, we walked a lot in the town centre, explored the Rosarium (rose) garden, walked the majority of Kurpark, walked all the way down to Wasserleitungsstraße, and we also visited my uncle, who also lives in Baden. And, of course, we did the sign project together (Handful was there too). During my stay the temperature stayed over or around 30°C, so my uncle and I also went to the local aqua park (Thermal-Strandbad) and had some fun in the pools and on the slides.

Before I let you get engaged with the photos of Baden, I would like to point out tow further things. My holiday was well-timed as I hit the Festival La Gacilly Baden photo which means that the entire town was covered with beautiful, large-scale photographs. According to official sources "Hymn to the Earth: The 2019 Festival is dedicated to the planet Earth. Contemporary photography describes its exceptional beauty as well as the threats to humanity. Between orbit and microcosm, 38 exhibitions visualize our existence with an appeal for peace, tolerance and togetherness, born by a humanist attitude." Interested? Visit their official website (click here) and get engaged further. I have got a few photos of this festival included in this selection here. The other thing which I want to mention is that when I was there, it was Baden in Weiß (Baden in white) festival on too. So when you see that in some of my photos many people wear white clothes, you will know that there was this thing happening.

Okay, I will let you to it now. Enjoy the photos!