(old post transferred to new website)

Back a few years ago, my Mother In Law asked me to go to Tulln Garten. And when an Austrian Mother In Law requests something, what do you do?

Of course I said yes.

A few days later, we set the Navigator/GPS and roared down the highway towards Tulln. It is about an hour outside of Vienna, so it was a quick little trip.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, I had never been to a park here at that time. I had never been on a trip alone with her at that time. (Lots to learn)

We found the parking area. You are guided by signs, it is very easy to follow, even if you can barely read the language.

However, they are quite a distance from the park entrance, but not so terribly far from the exit, so I guess it was planned that way.

But it can be tiring, especially in late summer, hot weather.

When we arrived and paid for our tickets, there was not much of a place to sit down, and the park was just opening,  so we went outside where the cafe’s would have been if they had been open.

We wandered around a bit, and it looked a bit… plain and uneventful, to me.

But as we moved away from the entrance and into the park itself, that wonderful Austrian-ness began to assert itself. On the left of the entrance was a Monet pond, with a bit of bridge and a bit of odd.

It would not be Austria if it did not have that little bit of odd, perched on her chair, imagining all sorts of things, from the middle of the pond. I love this country!

We moved on into the park, the gardens opened up and flowers were everywhere! Such a lush and beautiful place!

Here are just a few of the pretties that we saw in that front park area.

It was morning when we arrived and began our walk around the gardens.

There are no real places to sit in the garden, so be well rested before you begin.

They have free tours of the entire garden, and we did try to participate in that.

They have an area that has a working garden, with fruit and berries and even vegetables. I enjoyed it, and learned quite a bit about food gardening, and staging it, if you want your garden to be pretty as well as functional. 

By this time, my Mother in law was fed up with her back hurting and the slow pace of the tour and all of the explanations.

So we left the group and wandered in the vague direction of the exit.

There is such a diverse and abundant assortment of flowers and plants, and, one of my favorite parts of the park’s design; there is no straight line to follow. The path meanders around, giving you the best views and plenty of time to see it all at it’s best advantage.

Of course, you will notice the large bug sculpture in the midst of all of the flowers. You gotta love Austria!

I like the fact that there is visible artifice and effort to give you a range of views and emotions as you experience the park. If I want to see naked wilderness, I can walk in the woods and get the experience of the whole thing. Ants and all. It was a lovely difference to wander here.

By the time we got to the car, we were both exhausted. But it had been such a lovely morning. And it was much better just walking through to the exit and coming to our car right outside.

This is the website for the Tulln Gartens. It has been a long time since we went. I bet they have added even more plants, flowers and  wonderfully Austrian oddities by now.