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  • Writer's pictureAlana

147. Melk to Tulln an der Donau, Austria

September 5, 2024

Miles: 52.81; Total: 6,568

The Venus of Willendorf is one of the earliest examples of representational statuary. At around 4 inches high and 30,000 years old, and made of stone from some distant mountain, the Venus is thought to have been a portable fertility goddess.


As we cycled through charming vineyards toward Willendorf today, I suddenly remembered the Venus, and wondered if this was indeed the town were she was discovered back in 1908. Indeed, signs and shops indicated that this was the place. We climbed a few steep steps to her excavation site.


Y'all, I'm a chronically exhausted, perimenopausal 50-year-old woman, and so the darnedest things make me cry. Visiting Willendorf was one of them. I had a good boo-hoo over getting to see all these historical places I never dreamed I'd visit.


I'm a lucky woman.




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