Austria

Austria has been quite a shock to the system. The first 2 days were rainy and freezing. Considering I’ve spent most of the last 5 months on beaches, 7 degrees Celsius is extremely cold. But I’m getting used to it and Vienna was gorgeous. I absolutely loved Vienna. Because I loved it so much, I spent 4 nights there. My hostel was amazing. It felt like a ski lodge but was brand new. There were guitars and a piano for the guests to play as well as a guest kitchen stocked full of spices and tea and oils, a cute courtyard and a bar. I met some great people here including Lois from England, Andrew from Australia, Andrew from New Zealand, Tom from New York and Bruno from Chile. One rainy night Lois and the two Andrews and I took the subway across town to a bar: B52s. Most of the people in the bar were dressed like 50s greasers and the music was all 50s music. Very fun to dance to. I had lunch with Bruno at a café where we had salad and a traditional Austrian dish. The dish was very good; it consisted of bread made into dumplings and scrambled eggs.

New friends ready for a night out

I went to the Leopold museum which had a great variety of art work including paintings by Klimt. I spent a lot of time in Vienna just wandering around admiring the old buildings and the parks with beautiful autumn colored leaves. I really like Austrians. They are extremely logical and efficient. They enjoy the outdoors a lot and are always put together and respectful of each other.

Beautiful autumn leaves

Kiwi Andrew and I spent a wonderful sunny day exploring the gardens of Vienna. We walked around the gardens at the old Hofburg Palace (the summer residence of a rich family back in the day). We also enjoyed the Belvedere Gardens (quite similar to the Palace) and we took a tram ride around the city centre. One night both Andrews and another friend, Adelaide from Melbourne and I went to the Opera. The opera playing was Cardillac and I must be honest- I had no idea what the plot was while watching it. It was all in German. It was extremely exciting to see an opera and especially in Vienna which is renowned for music.

At the Hofburg Palace

Later, at the traveler’s shack (bar made for young tourists)I kicked the boys butts at foosball, pool and a game involving a hammer and nail. Before heading off to Salzburg, I visited the Fine Arts Museum where I admired paintings from a few centuries ago by artists including Rembrandt, Raphael, Velazquez, etc.

Sound of Music? when you know the note to sing, you can sing most anything.

In Salzburg I saw many beautiful gardens and churches and some very special places that were featured in the Sound of Music! I also spent some time learning about Motzart since he was born in Salzburg.

Salzburg