Author:
Sokolova Elena
Short summary:
From the 'Visiting St. Pölten' deck to the VHS garden's charm, Kaiserwald's autumnal beauty, and a hint of winter with Christmas trees near Iceberg Park—our journey captures the changing seasons.
The Big Friendly Giants Iceberg starts at the observation deck "Visiting St. Pölten'', where we admire the beautiful view on St. Pölten town and on the trains passing through it. Trains are mesmerizing, and I like to look at the railways. The sight of the city from this viewpoint is also wonderful.
Then, we pass through the beautiful little garden of the VHS (Volkshochschule) with a large Lime tree (Tilia platyphyllos) which is the first BFG of this route, roses, and mushrooms.
Near the garden, there is a small park with a foundation stone installed in 1929. There are two BFG Oaks (Quercus robur) – one is green and one is already yellow. The yellow one is not in very good condition and his trunk is entwined with ivy.
Next to the oaks there is a Norway spruce (Picea abies) with a delicious-smelling resin. I put a little drop of resin on my finger to smell it but then, for the whole route, I am trying to get rid of it. I wash it in all the ponds that we find on the way but nothing helps. At least my finger smells very good.
While thinking about the resin, we got to a little tunnel under the railway. We pass through it and we end up in Kaiserwald.
In Kaiserwald we feel the autumn mood — leaves are falling down, some of the trees are already bare and the pink spindle fruits have already lost their orange seeds. We walk along the fence of the community garden founded 100 years ago and still in operation today.
We spent some time finding a BFG Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior). It is hard to reach due to the thorns of the blackberry bushes. Close to it, we decide to map a new large European beech (Fagus sylvatica). It is the most painful process of measuring a tree that I have ever experienced.
When we exit Kaiserwald from the Northern side, it gets colder and we feel that winter is closer than it seems. On the route, there are a few pear trees (Pyrus communis) that have already lost all their leaves. Bare trees in such a cloudy weather looks beautiful.
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Near a BFG pear tree there is an old sign to Mariazell, even though it’s almost 100 km away from this place. This sign might be a part of the “Mariazell Pilgrims' Route”. Nearby, we notice a little yard with lots of Christmas trees for sale. We spend some time there, looking at those little trees that will become a Christmas decoration soon.
Then I start to get cold and the closer we get to the Iceberg park, the colder it gets.
My favorite BFG from the route is an English walnut (Juglans regia) growing in a private yard.
Iceberg Park looks unusual to me. It’s a big space with no trees but a big hill with a viewpoint. Near the hill we notice an interesting and big playground for kids. It is a pretty cold day but still, there are a lot of kids playing there.
Near the playground there is a BFG Beech with colourful leaves.
From the viewpoint we admire the sunset because now it gets dark very early.
It was a very interesting walk with both autumnal and Christmas moods!
