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Over the last 3 days we have been visiting Austria. Our first stop was in Graz, and whilst a pretty city that is predominantly populated by university students thanks to the six universities in the city, we didn't get to see much of it due to a fairly busy work week in Melbourne (yes I am still continuing doing my day job as we float around Europe!)
Austria is a little bittersweet for me... as a child growing into a teenager, I was bombarded with classical music from this sweet country from my Mum, but also from playing the violin for ten years. In that time, I really wanted to visit and be inspired by the music that came from this richly cultured country, and maybe that led to me actually marrying an Austrian... which grew my passion for the country more, but we all know how that ended. So coming here now, with my now, lack of passion for classical music and more so lack of passion for the Austrians I know, I feel it's a good opportunity for my boys to understand some of their heritage, but also good for me, to accept that the country is more than just classical music and bad marriages.
Our first impressions of Austria (after being completely beaten up in a thunderstorm as soon as we entered the country) is that it's clean... especially after being in Italy which, in general (especially the west coast) is extremely dirty. I will call it 'conservatively pretty.' It's pretty for all its evergreen forests, geraniums in planter boxes on window sills, the homes that are all plain but house proud and the Villages with the mountains in the background make it chocolate box sweet. The roads are all perfectly maintained and the rivers are crystal clear. It truly is amazing the contrast a border can make between countries.
I really didn't want to get into the 'classical music' scene, as it's not in my heart anymore, and my boys have no idea about it, so it would be difficult to get them excited about going to a museum about someone who lived two-three hundred years ago. So we started in Graz, and the last couple of nights we've been in Vienna in this gorgeous little self contained apartment literally fifty metres away from an outdoor piazza of restaurants and beyond to a street market, surrounded by 19th century buildings which are so damn cute. One of the buildings on the corner has a headstone of Josef Schubert, the composer, so I guess I had my 'touch' of classical music in Vienna. I was struggling to work out what to do with the boys in the country's capital, but I found the ultimate playground for them... The Prater.
The Prater is considered to be the oldest amusement park in the world... with documents suggesting that its mentioned as early as the 12th century. It was made an area that was free to the public in 1766 as a retreat area, that soon attracted taverns, coffee houses, swings and carousels. In 1895, the giant ferris wheel was erected, similarly for a world event like the Eiffel Tower, and for some reason, has never been pulled down. It is considered to be the oldest ferris wheel operating. It also has the tallest chairoplane in the world officially reaching heights of 117 metres, giving you spectacular views of all of Vienna. It has a Madame Tussauds, a 5D Vampires of Vienna show and is free to enter, open 24 hours, 7 days a week. That's what the program states... which in reality is true, but the rides and restaurants don't start opening until 10am and really don't kick in until about 11.30am. Our mistake... we got up early to avoid the crowds (as you know how much we 'love crowds' cough cough), and after getting lost for about 20 minutes circling around the massive parkland that surrounds it after we struggled through the peak hour traffic, we arrived there at around 9am to what seemed like 'not a lot happening.' At least we didn't have the crowds!
So while we waiting for everything to open, we walked around the giant amusement park to work out which rides we would go on. Most the rides the boys wanted to go on were for 12 years and over, or had height restrictions of 150cm or more... And my policy with amusement park rides is that if one can't go on, then they both don't go on. Some of the rides said 10 years and over, and we managed to get away with my youngest by not saying a thing (he's 10 next month).
Once the boys got on the rides, their faces were beaming with excitement.
The great thing about the Prater, is that it doesn't matter if you are the only one wanting to go on the ride, they will put you on and get the ride going, without waiting for others to make up for numbers, essentially giving you the whole ride to yourself. The boys rode on the dodgem cars three times, we went on the Dizzy Mouse, the Pratertrum (the 117m chairoplane), the Voltare, the Megablitz, the water drenching Eisberg, Funball and the Skytrail. I'm sure there were a couple of others too. And compared with Australian rides, the rides actually go for a fair amount of time... you really do get your money's worth. We had lunch in one of the taverns of a traditional Wiener Schnitzel, and once I ran out of money (which is what happens when you put my boys and an amusement park together), it was time to go back to the apartment and have an afternoon siesta (as I had a terrible headache from being shunted around in one of the rides). So, as we have one more week before we leave the continent, I was going to mention what we are looking forward to when we get back home, and what we appreciate from our trip. 10 Things to look forward to:1. Washing clothes (Paris was the last time I found a laundromat 3 weeks ago).2. Not having dirty feet from wearing thongs/flip flops all the time.3. Finishing my book! Really eager to get back into it.4. Birthdays - we all have birthdays over the coming months, including my 40th.5. Checking the mail... hopefully some good news.6. Consistent internet!7. Seeing if we have any new neighbours, as out of the five apartments in our block, three were vacant/vacating when we left.8. Enjoying winter... rugging up in layers and cuddling up on the couch with the boys for our Friday night movie nights.9. Listening to some English!10. Catching up with family and friends. 10 Things we appreciate from our trip.1. Each other... I love how my boys are the best of friends and they support each other, make each other laugh, ask each other if they are OK, they even ask if I had a good sleep at night, cuddle each other in appreciation, give massages to each other (and me) if someone needs one and most of all, they give the sweetest most genuine hugs to me.2. The value of different currencies and how those currencies (especially the Euro) can be so vastly different from each country. For instance, diesel fuel in France is around 1.47 Euro, in Italy 1.72 Euro and in Austria around 1.30 Euro. France has the most expensive toll roads, yet Italy unjustifiably has toll roads, as their roads are rough and unkempt (yet the toll roads are slightly better than the unpaid roads), yet countries like Austria have no tolls and are perfect to drive on.3. An appreciation for those who know a variety of languages. I have basic French and German from high school, and I can get by with a few sayings in conversation, but I am literally hopeless. I am better with the written word, but I will confess, that I will plead ignorant if there isn't an English translation or I can't make sense of the words from my language lessons from 20+ years ago.4. Finding unexpected places along the way, especially our hike in the Swiss Alps and the driving through Provence... experiences that could not be appreciated unless you were living it.5. How nice it is to see my boys' faces light up with joy by appreciating the simple beauty of nature.6. How efficiently the London Tube and the Paris Metro run, and wish we had those train systems in Melbourne.7. That I was able to book some amazing places for us to go to (Mougins, Chateau d'Origny, Haute Nendaz, Falconara Marittima, the guest house we stayed out just outside of York with the small farm out the back), without speak to anyone who had been there before and finding new, undiscovered beauty in unexpected places. It was the places people insisted we go to that were disappointing... I will book my next trip based on my instincts... and it shows me that I should trust my instincts more.8. Being able to catch up with some life long friends in London, Cambridge and Geneva.9. That we have been to some amazing places that most only dream of seeing in real life. We are truly blessed to be able to share this experience together.10. That we can ALL enjoy each other's company. I can honestly say that it's only about 10%!o(MISSING)f the time that there is a little bit of disharmony between the boys, but it is short lived. Considering we have been together 24/7 for 5.5 weeks now, that is truly an amazing effort.
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The great thing about the Prater, is that it doesn't matter if you are the only one wanting to go on the ride, they will put you on and get the ride going, without waiting for others to make up for numbers, essentially giving you the whole ride to yourself. The boys rode on the dodgem cars three times, we went on the Dizzy Mouse, the Pratertrum (the 117m chairoplane), the Voltare, the Megablitz, the water drenching Eisberg, Funball and the Skytrail. I'm sure there were a couple of others too. And compared with Australian rides, the rides actually go for a fair amount of time... you really do get your money's worth. We had lunch in one of the taverns of a traditional Wiener Schnitzel, and once I ran out of money (which is what happens when you put my boys and an amusement park together), it was time to go back to the apartment and have an afternoon siesta (as I had a terrible headache from being shunted around in one of the rides). So, as we have one more week before we leave the continent, I was going to mention what we are looking forward to when we get back home, and what we appreciate from our trip. 10 Things to look forward to:1. Washing clothes (Paris was the last time I found a laundromat 3 weeks ago).2. Not having dirty feet from wearing thongs/flip flops all the time.3. Finishing my book! Really eager to get back into it.4. Birthdays - we all have birthdays over the coming months, including my 40th.5. Checking the mail... hopefully some good news.6. Consistent internet!7. Seeing if we have any new neighbours, as out of the five apartments in our block, three were vacant/vacating when we left.8. Enjoying winter... rugging up in layers and cuddling up on the couch with the boys for our Friday night movie nights.9. Listening to some English!10. Catching up with family and friends. 10 Things we appreciate from our trip.1. Each other... I love how my boys are the best of friends and they support each other, make each other laugh, ask each other if they are OK, they even ask if I had a good sleep at night, cuddle each other in appreciation, give massages to each other (and me) if someone needs one and most of all, they give the sweetest most genuine hugs to me.2. The value of different currencies and how those currencies (especially the Euro) can be so vastly different from each country. For instance, diesel fuel in France is around 1.47 Euro, in Italy 1.72 Euro and in Austria around 1.30 Euro. France has the most expensive toll roads, yet Italy unjustifiably has toll roads, as their roads are rough and unkempt (yet the toll roads are slightly better than the unpaid roads), yet countries like Austria have no tolls and are perfect to drive on.3. An appreciation for those who know a variety of languages. I have basic French and German from high school, and I can get by with a few sayings in conversation, but I am literally hopeless. I am better with the written word, but I will confess, that I will plead ignorant if there isn't an English translation or I can't make sense of the words from my language lessons from 20+ years ago.4. Finding unexpected places along the way, especially our hike in the Swiss Alps and the driving through Provence... experiences that could not be appreciated unless you were living it.5. How nice it is to see my boys' faces light up with joy by appreciating the simple beauty of nature.6. How efficiently the London Tube and the Paris Metro run, and wish we had those train systems in Melbourne.7. That I was able to book some amazing places for us to go to (Mougins, Chateau d'Origny, Haute Nendaz, Falconara Marittima, the guest house we stayed out just outside of York with the small farm out the back), without speak to anyone who had been there before and finding new, undiscovered beauty in unexpected places. It was the places people insisted we go to that were disappointing... I will book my next trip based on my instincts... and it shows me that I should trust my instincts more.8. Being able to catch up with some life long friends in London, Cambridge and Geneva.9. That we have been to some amazing places that most only dream of seeing in real life. We are truly blessed to be able to share this experience together.10. That we can ALL enjoy each other's company. I can honestly say that it's only about 10%!o(MISSING)f the time that there is a little bit of disharmony between the boys, but it is short lived. Considering we have been together 24/7 for 5.5 weeks now, that is truly an amazing effort.
