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Published: September 2nd 2007
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Innsbruck
The clouds descend on scenic Innsbruck Austria was a rushed affair as we needed to be in Prague to meet friends within six days, but what we saw was enough to make me certain I would return. We approached Austria from the north of Italy, watching from the train as the landscape changed from a grapevine growing heaven to tall mountains and rivers, green grass and pine trees. The language the train staff used even changed mid-journey as we crossed international borders (without even a passport check, so another no stamp in the passport job. Boo), trading Italian for German. Going through the south of Austria was amazing; we passed through some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. And being in Austria signalled the first time we needed to wear long pants since we left home, which was an interesting change.
Our first destination was the town of Innsbruck, famous for hosting the Winter Olympics in the 70s. Our hostel was one of the athletes' villages from then, and none of the decor has changed since. It was like stepping into a time warp. After dumping our bags, we went to find food and on our first attempt were greeted by a man wearing
Lederhosen and were asked if we were there for the show too. Combine that with the menu offering mostly meat products (not suitable for vegetarian Emma), including black pudding, and we quickly ran away! The main centre of town was quite small and didn't take long to explore. It was quite lovely with pedestrian only areas, coloured buildings stuck next to each other against a backdrop of huge mountains. We sampled the appelstrudel, which come in huge servings, and came across what in Australia would be a mini-fair, but in Innsbruck must have been an everyday affair: outside food and drink stalls with people drinking beer and eating bratwursts in the morning on a weekday. Either these people know how to enjoy life, or they are desperately bored!
When I had caught up with my brother in Rome he showed me photos of the Nordepark in Innsbruck and the view from 2000 metres high up in the Austrian Alps - and I was determined to go and see it for myself. Catching the public bus to the bottom of the mountain was a great experience to see where the locals live. I was excited to discover that they really
do live in those cute square houses with the wooden trimming, red flowers in bloom in flowerboxes under their window sills. At the entrance to the Nordepark, I hopped on board a cable car and held on as we zoomed up the side of the mountain. The views from up there were really lovely, as I could see Innsbruck laid out below, and see the trails on the mountainside. At the first stop at a bit over 1000 metres up you can get out and explore, or do as I did and go up the next section until you reach the peak and the fantastic views I was anticipating. Unfortunately for me, we were enclosed in thick clouds, and all I could see was my hand in front of my face. I did trek higher up the mountain to say I'd reached the peak, breathed in the fresh air, got dizzy from the high altitude and got rained on for my efforts. That 19 euro trip had a saving grace when back down at the lower level the clouds parted and a rainbow appeared nearby while I was alone on a peaceful hillside (save for a few goats and grazing
High in the hills
And a rainbow did appear cattle). Apart from that Innsbruck didn't have too much to offer, and Emma especially was happy when we jumped on the expensive Austrian train to Salzburg.
Because we had to shorten our stay in Salzburg to one night, we hit the ground running when we arrived. For me, that meant booking myself onto the Sound of Music tour that began in an hour's time, and for Em it was out exploring the city and seeing the sights for the both of us. Oddly, the tour is really popular and sells out every day; there were even plenty of straight men! Our tour guide was into the whole kitsch-ness of it all and was full of witty tales and stories of how Hollywood stretched the truth of Maria von Trapp's story (shock). We didn't get to visit a hillside that was alive with the sound of music, or visit the abbey, or the two houses that were used for filming the front, back and inside of the von Trapp's place (though we did drive past them and caught a glimpse). What I did see was the lake, the thing Leisl danced around singing about being 16, and the church where
the captain and Maria were married. The latter meant we drove out to the stunning lake district near Salzburg and the gorgeous town of Mondsee, which I was ecstatic about because it meant seeing the Austrian countryside. So all in all it wasn't too bad. And I even got to see the space age looking headquarters of Red Bull, owned by Austria's richest man. When I met back up with Emma we decided the only sensible thing to do would be to go to their Augustiner beer hall and sample some fine ale out of half litre and litre ceramic mugs. The Friday night crowd included cute elderly couples downing their litre beers with ease and putting us to shame. I wish we had places like this back at home - laid back, social and cheap!
The next morning before we were off to Vienna Em took me to some of the best sites she came across during her reconaissance; this included the lovely Mirabella gardens where more scenes in the Sound of Music were filmed (and I attempted to reenact them), an old cemetary at the foot of a castle/fortress sitting on the hill overlooking the town, and
Leopold Mansion
From a few hundred metres we could check out the view that was used as the back of the house in the Sound of Music a quick detour past the house where Mozart lived until he was 24. The streets of the old town were really quaint and lovely, and some locals even wear traditional Austrian dress, which I liked seeing because it gives you those moments where you stop and remind yourself that you're in a whole other country.
Vienna was next and after a hiccup with our accommodation being given away and most places booked out on Saturday night, we managed to find an even better hostel and then walked around town for a while. My first impression of Vienna was that it looked pretty similar to Melbourne, although with more and older buildings. Our next full day was mostly spent trying to get our bus ticket for the next day to Prague; it took 4 hours due to offices that had moved and being closed on Sunday. I got pretty annoyed at the whole situation and it was probably my least favourite day so far. We did manage to check out some sights, walking around the outside of the Schonbrunn palace, and lots of buildings that housed museums that are no doubt incredible in their own right, but to us just
Mondsee
A pretty town on the Sound of Music tour seemed like more of the same. But we had bigger things on our mind - tickets to see the latest Harry Potter movie...in English! We had been trying to find this movie for six weeks so we were stoked to finally see it, and I think it probably came on the right day for me!
So six days in Austria: beautiful; expensive trains and no bus network; green; can't wait for more one day.
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