15th November - Austria

Saturday 15th November

As things stand, there is simply no comparison to be had between Italy and Austria. In my opinion the two countries don’t even come close, certainly not close enough to be judged together. By saying that I don’t mean that one is better than the other though, just simply that the two countries differ too much to compare. Italy was Italy; brash, bustling but beautiful, and I must admit I thought our experience of Austria would at least have similarities but I‘ve been proved wrong so far. As soon as you cross the border into “Osterreich” you’re greeted into a very different world from the chaotic scenes we found in Italy; A world where lederhosen are still considered acceptable, a world where you’re not judged by how fast you drive and a world where, most importantly, you can relax. Austria offers a completely different experience from it’s Southerly neighbour, but it’s one which has been no less enjoyable.

From Venice we travelled north into the mountains and spent a chilly night and day in Cortina before bringing our 2 week long spell in Italy to an end by crossing the border at San Candido - a town we visited 2 months earlier prior to entering Slovenia. It was odd driving on familiar roads, and we even visited the same ‘Billa’ Supermarket (which Austria is certainly not short of (there’s at least one in every town no matter how large or small)) for old times sake.

‘Mallnitz’ situated right up in the mountains and on the edge of the ‘Hohe Tauern’ national park, was to be our home for 3 nights. The town, more of a village actually, was small enough to walk from one side to the other in just 5 minutes, but it was charming enough and surrounded by stunning scenery and ski slopes - minus the snow - for us to explore for 4 days. On the second day we traipsed into the thick woods and found a perfect location for a small bonfire; in a small clearing next to a minor but attractive stream. We collected fire wood during the day and at sundown (around 5.30pm at the moment) we set out to have the fire. It kept us warm and occupied for over 6 hours and it was a very pleasant evening indeed; just lounging around sipping beer and reminiscing about the past 5 months of travelling - how far we’d come, where the time had gone, and what was left to explore? The rest of our time in Mallnitz was spent either walking, drinking tea or avoiding the rain. Unfortunately the night we had the bonfire was the only time in Mallnitz when it wasn’t tipping it down, but we didn’t let that spoil our time in what was the closest we’ve come to the Swiss village Grimentz, in August.

Parking the Motorhome hasn’t been an issue at all so far in Austria, in fact calling it easy wouldn‘t do it enough justice. In every town we’ve found a small, free car park located only a few minutes walk from the centre with no regulations against Motorhomes. This has been the case for every town we’ve spent a night and day in, including: Spittal an der Drau, Radstadt, Eisenerz, Bruck an der Mur and Reichenau.

We’ve had the same routine for every place visited so far in Austria; we’d rise quite late, around 10am, cook breakfast, read a book and generally relax for a few hours, set off to explore the town then move on to the next location in the evening. It’s hardly an exciting schedule, but it’s one we’re enjoying as we aren’t rushed and we’re progressing at our own pace.

From Reichenau we drove the 70km to Austria’s capital Vienna, and managed to find a spot to eclipse all other previous good parking spots. Think Oxford Street in London, think Las Ramblas in Barcelona then think OpernRing in Vienna, and that’s where you’ll find little old Eric the Motorhome and it’s two young inhabitants! We couldn’t be any more central if we’d tried - the bustling, hurried High Street is no more than 100 metres from our front door - if a Hotel boasted that location they’d put an extra 300 Euros on the bill! OpernRing is a main street but has parking spaces along its side, separated from the road only by a thin line of trees.

Finding this spot put us in great spirits, which were already rather high just from being in Vienna itself, which is just as great as we’d expected. I hadn’t known a great deal about the city before I arrived (My only recollection of the place came in Russell Watson‘s “Ooh Vienna“) but Mike was awfully excited about it and assured me it’d be beautiful. And how right he was. Vienna is without a doubt my favourite major European city so far, beating off stiff competition from Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Monaco, Budapest, Athens and Rome, who in turn beat off stiff competition from Lisbon, Valencia, Nice, Turin, Bern, Florence, Venice… I could go on! On the night we arrived we took the underground to ‘Praterstrasse’ to watch a jazz/hip-hop concert in the ‘Planetarium’. This wasn’t planned, nor was jazz/hip-hop mine or Mike’s first choice in music, but we’d heard the gig advertised on the local radio and we quite fancied a dance. Tickets cost 18 Euros which we thought was steep but we had a little spare change from the money we‘ve been saving on petrol. Austria has been the cheapest country for Diesel so far, even cheaper than Greece, as we‘ve regularly come across 1.09Euros per litre. The venue was heaving with people of all ages there to have a good time, and a good time we most certainly had.

The next day, nursing only a very, very slight hangover, we set off to wander the streets of Vienna and we spent the majority of the day doing just that. It really is a breathtaking city. It’s just in the process of preparing for Christmas, which I think is slightly too early myself, but then again in my home town of Eastleigh they put up the Christmas lights as soon as Easter is over, but in Vienna it has created an exciting atmosphere in the town as people relax from their Christmas shopping by sipping mulled wine in the many available Christmassy outlets.

We’re still in Vienna, after spending 2 nights in the parking spot which dreams are made of, and will move on this evening towards, but not all the way into the Czech Republic.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Another decent parking spot, Radstadt.

Top photo: Bruck an der Drau