Blogs from Austria, Europe - page 303

After a three week whirlwind tour of Italy I'm heading to Austria where apparently the hills are alive with the sound of music!! Italy has been beautiful. After hooking up with an English couple met months ago in Turkey we saw how much the Tower of Pisa really leans, gorgeous little towns like Luca and SIenna and now I'm in Venice. The numerous canals of Venice are truly romantic but the gondola ride of love is unfortunately now so expensive and exploited that Casanova would turn in his grave. Plus traveling solo isn't really conducive to feeling the gooey vibe here :). The men playing acordian and violin in the streets has been the highlight for me. And yes, there really is stripy candy can thingies sticking out of the water. Also, Venice seems to have ... read more

Day 25 Friday, July 26, 1997 I love Friday’s. Sure, it is still pissing rain outside but I have a cheery backpacker’s attitude and a trusty raincoat ready to take on the deluge. Ok Ok. Forget all that whining and blathering about getting soaked in Prague. Nope. This is a good rain. Everything is different. The air smells different. It is fresh. Clean. Cool. Rejuvenating. My morning began with one of the best breakfasts I have enjoyed so far. The menu: several slices of hot fresh bread, hearty scoops of tasty marmalade, chunks of rich cheddar cheese and generous slabs of ham…and the cherry on top of my delectable treat…. a bottomless mug of hot coffee. Mmmmmm-Mmmmm. Simply incomparable. Looking around at my fellow diners, I noticed that my female friends were nowhere to be seen. ... read more

Day 15 I'm not dead. I'm not dead!! Woohoo! I am not dead!!! The almighty vengeful one did not take me out in my sleep. The glorious sun, created no doubt by a glorious God (or god-like invisible friend), sauntered in, poked me in the head and handed me the good news. Wow! I am amazed. It turns out that my prayers and pleas for forgiveness have been answered after all. Despite telling his divine zombies to piss off and take a holy hike, he has allowed me to continue my existence. I guess there are still grains of sand left in my hourglass of time. He wants me to continue. I feel so blessed. He wants me to travel the globe, to hang out in his many houses, to drink beer from all of the ... read more

Geo: 48.2201, 16.3798abc... read more

Geo: 48.2092, 16.3728The Honeymoon ... Had a lovely time in Vienna, stayed in our friend CM's place & met his future (Swiss) wife but then he had to go away for work so we had his apt. to ourselves -it was good but it geared towards older people and the bloody shops close really early on a Saturday or only open the 1st Saturday of the month or something so that needs to be taken into acocunt when you planning any itinerary there. Coffee house culture is good there, the trams are ace & no. 1 & 2 get all the sights in, and U-bahns are easy, Habsburgs' summer residence Schönbrunn is fab (I think this is generally thought to be the better residence & it is good). And Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss are all buried ... read more