Blogs from Austria, Europe - page 277

Woke up at 5 am and made an early start. I arrived at 8 am. The Donauradweg goes right into the centre and I seemed to get tied up in a suburban railway station. Unfortunately I didn’t have a map of Vienna and it was the rush-hour. Good fortune came along in the shape of a very attractive lady, on a sit up and beg bike with a wire basket containing her briefcase, cycling into the city centre and who spoke perfect English. I pedalled after her and marvelled as she strained at her pedals. At one point we were stopped at a traffic light and I looked up and saw the street name to my left. It was, if I am not mistaken, Meldemannstrasse. Here lived Hitler from 1910-13 where he painted those watercolours which ... read more

I’ll be honest. I have tried to write about this particular day for the past month. I have looked at it from every angle and toyed with different styles, trying to think of different emotions I would like to evoke in you. I wanted today to have some meaning for me which I can share to you in some profound way whether it be a childhood dream realised or a small stepping stone to some greater understanding of myself or the world’s existence. Do I want to create profound inspiration or inspire through laughter and funny stories? Do I make this piece informative and inspire you to learn more or will I continue to write it as a journal of the inner workings of my mind (scary as that may be) in a series of ... read more

It is 300kms to Vienna and I hope to do it in 2 days. The Radweg is glorious, a 2-3 metre wide strip of tarmac on the levee alongside the Donau winding through wooded gorges, occasionally crossing the river by ferry or bridge. The river is very wide, in places more than 200 metres especially where there is a weir which of course creates a dam further up river. The locks are enormous and the tugs push large barges along the Rhine. Every few kilometres there is a restaurant with cold drinks and cheap meals. I do love being in Germany. The people are a credit to the post-war settlement; the country has come along way from the Nullstunde. Its politicians especially Ardenauer and Willy Brandt have been head and shoulders above the pygmies, with few ... read more

The trip to Austria was enjoyable and beautiful. The country has a lot to offer starting from mountain and lake scenary in Innsbruck to the great cultural event in Wien. We entered Austria and stayed in a camping place somewhere in the mountain not so far from Innsbruck then we headed to Graz and finished our trip in Wien. I expected much more in Wien because i've heard about the city quite a lot. The city is indeed beautiful, but is too big to admire lol.. just have the feeling of very very well-developed Moscow with luxery and chic-restaurants everywhere... high buidings, great achitectural moments.. The city of Graz is cute. Lovely. It was the cultural capital of Europe in 2002* (or somewhere around this year).. The city was not really busy, may be just because ... read more

Before we left Munich for good and headed off in the direction of Vienna and Prague we wanted to get a trip into Innsbruck and the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, which was effectively in the other direction (well due south from Munich as opposed to East) so we decided to take a day trip. As you might recall from our recent blog, Vicki (aka The Navman Saleswoman) had been trying to persuade us to buy our very own male or female voice from the box that would effortlessly guide us along the remainder of our trip without any need for poor old Rach to have her head in the map whilst I am enjoying the scenery. Would we be convinced that Sat Nav was all she was making it out to be. Well we decided to take ... read more