Ask anyone and they will tell you, the two things that come to mind when you think of Austria is
a) The Sound of Music
b) That lady from Mary Poppins who was in the Sound of Music.
Ashamedly I did not see any hills at all, let alone those which are alive with the sound of music…And, even more depressingly, I did not see Julie Andrews….
So what did experience did Austria have to share with me you ask? Why only the best of course!
I arrived in Austria very late on a Thursday night after being in three airports, two planes and a train (its funny how I now complain about that when coming from Australia you have to travel 3 DAYS to get anywhere…) Found myself a taxi and after forgetting they drove on the other side of the road and trying to get in the drivers door (which resulted in very queer looks from said driver) we headed for my hostel. This hostel in question did not come with a name, although one would have thought that an essential part of their original marketing plan…. All I had was a very long and very German sounding address and a whole lot of hope that the guy knew where he was going. Thankfully we reached the hostel in one piece and although he completely ripped me off, after the aforementioned three airports, two planes and a train I simply did not give a toss anymore.
When I entered my room I found it to be occupied by one other girl. We started chatting and she was lovely. Unfortunately for me, her accent was that terrible combination of American and Canadian which a foreigner can never quite figure out. As a result I employed the only tactic I knew in order to find out her nationality; ask her where in Canada she is from. It’s foolproof really, if she was Canadian she would be happy to tell me and if she was American she would have scoffed at me but have been quick to correct me and deem herself as far superior to the Canadians…it’s a win – win for everyone involved!
The city of Vienna was beautiful. The buildings were so huge and ornate, and with a palace on every corner it was hard to know which way to look. Went to the Spanish Riding School and watched the white Lippizaner’s in action in their amazing tiered arena, under the biggest chandelier I’ve seen in my life. Met up with Pete in the afternoon and spent Friday wandering around the city, stopping for the compulsory three coffee and cake stops along the way. After dinner we stopped for an affogato on the balcony of this lovely Viennese café – another one of those ‘pinch myself cause I still can’t believe I’m here’ moments. Too bad I wasn’t there with George Clooney, but you know, you make do with what you can (sorry Pete!)
Saturday saw us visit the amazing Naschmarkt: a large, open marketplace filled with every kind of produce you can imagine and even some that you can’t. After yet another coffee stop (I think we were on a permanent coffee high the whole time) we took the tube to Prater, Vienna’s amusement park and home of the world famous Riesenrad Ferris Wheel. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t bouncing around like a little kid at Christmas in anticipation of this moment. Why you ask? Well it turns out (accordingly to Pete’s Lonely Planet which never lies) that the Riesenrad is the setting of the world famous scene from Carol Reed’s The Third Man where Orson Welle’s character Harry Lime tells Holly Martins:
‘In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.’
And although, once you actually get on the Ferris Wheel the moment is somewhat ruined by the other ten strangers in the carriage and the distraction of the amazing view, the awe of the moment was not lost on me.
Carrying on with the child theme (must have been something in the water that day) I wanted to go on a proper ride. After weighing up our many options, I managed to twist Pete’s arm to come on the ‘Prater Turn’ with me. Not for the height-o-phobes amongst us, the Prater Turn is like the traditional circular ride where the swings hang down and you spin around. However, like most things in Europe that we have in Australia, it was SO much better as it rose higher into the air as you went around. The only downside was the Austrian air which was ah ‘crisp’ to the say the least. I remember Pete wondering why I was crying – it wasn’t voluntary people, my eyes were watering it was so cold!
After strategically planning the ride for BEFORE lunch (which in hindsight is the best decision we made all day considering how much food we ate), we headed to the Schweizzerhaus for their Austrian famous pork. Ordered beers in steins as big as my head and sat in the sun eating some of THE best food I’ve had in my travels so far (and that is a big call after the Amsterdam Waffle Eating Mania of September 2010).
Sunday morning we headed off to Schobruhn, the AMAZING royal palace. Walking into the grounds was like walking into a Jane Austen novel; I was expecting to see Mr Darcy descending from the stairs at any minute. Deciding against having a tour of the palace’s 1440 rooms (see one gold plated room and you’ve seen them all) we took a stroll round the grounds. This did, however, turn into a half marathon after we realised how big the grounds actually were. Saw our first Austrian squirrel (!) and hiked up the hill to the beautiful ‘arch thing’ (not its official royal name of course) to get a panoramic view of Vienna.
That afternoon we left the hustle and bustle of the city behind for the quaintness of the Austrian countryside. I stayed with Pete in Andau, and over the next day and a half was treated to two things I was looking forward to the most in Austria:
a) Schnitzel
b) Wine
(It should not be any surprise to my readers by now that both were part of the food/drink category!) Not surprisingly, both lived up to my very high expectations. Spent all of Monday wine tasting, eating and drinking coffee (did I mention is the coffee capital of the world?!!) and left for the airport content that I had experienced the best Austria had to offer.
Here are the top 3 things I learnt from my time in Austria:
1. As they drive on the right hand side of the road (weirdos…) it is also public etiquette to stand on the right hand side of the stairs and escalators. Which, through force of habit I did not. Having said this I learnt very quickly after getting some very seedy looks from some very seedy looking Austrians. Recommendation #1: if you value your life do not stand on the wrong side of the stairs in front of an Austrian in a hurry. Even the signs saying ‘stay to the right’ ended in an exclamation mark! These Austrians mean serious business people!
2. The phonebook for Austria (and I’m guessing most of the German speaking countries) must be about 5000 pages long to fit in the street names of its residents. I swear some of the street signs you needed a good ten seconds to be able to read! There should be a rule that a street name should never have more than 30 letters! It’s just not practical people! Although on this subject I would like to say to the female population out there in cyber land reading this – I did our species proud in the directional department girls! Numerous times I proved that I did in fact know which way to go (much to Pete’s amazement!)
3. And finally, I came to see how friendly the Austrian people are. Even though 70% of the time I had no idea what they were saying, they meant it in the nicest way possible!
So, although I did not see any musical hills or any yodelling (oh wait, is that Switzerland?....) there are many amazing things I can take away from my Austrian wanderings:
Did I come back with a suitcase full of tacky souvenirs? (like always!)
DEFINITELY
Will the supply of Austrian chocolate I bought last more than a day?
MAYBE (but I wouldn’t put money on it)
Will I ever forget the look on the faces of many Austrian’s we spoke to in English who had no bloody idea what we said?
PROBABLY NOT!
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