AUSTRIA

 The concept of being in two countries in one day still amazes me. Germany for breakfast then Austria for lunch.  We arrived in Salzburg and drove to the Danube River where we parked up and cooked delicious homemade baked beans with speck. We then spent the afternoon in Salzburg walking through the streets that once inspired Mozart and set the scene for the sound of music. We strolled past stunning baroque churches and monuments before trekking up the mountain to Festung Hohensalzburg, a fortress settled high above the town with incredible views of the city. We spent hours just winding through small arches, hidden crevices and chambers before back down into the town.

While we hunted for a skate park in Salzburg we stumbled upon an antique shop selling bikes and we impulsively bought two vintage fold down bikes to cruise around on for the rest of our journey. That night we drove to Linz, half way between Salzburg and Vienna where we spent the night. The next morning we woke in Linz and decided to head into the city to test out our new bikes. We discovered a food market near the center of town and bought some produce before riding through the streets of Linz. We rode, admiring the juxtaposition between new and old, from the Neuer Dom, a neo-gothic cathedral located near shopping streets and modern architecture.

We then headed to the skate park situated on the water where we enjoyed some lunch before resting in the sunshine for the afternoon while Matt skated. We spent the afternoon driving through the gorgeous Danube valley heading to Vienna. We found a campsite located just outside the city where we stayed and cooked for the evening. Our first day in Vienna was magnificent; the sun was shining as we headed on the underground into the city where we walked past and stopped to admire the Rathaus (town hall) and Hofburg Palace.

We kept walking through the streets soaking up stunning Vienna before venturing towards Naschmarkt, a huge food and flee market, where we collected some fresh Turkish pide, dips and olives and devoured them in a nearby urban garden. The afternoon we spent at Schloss Schonbrunn, a enormous Unesco world heritage Palace with vast striking gardens including the oldest zoo in the world Tiergarten as well as a maze and rose garden. We walked all afternoon taking solace in the shade as the sun was blazing hot and draining our energy. We headed back to the campsite in the afternoon, grabbed our towels and rode our bikes around the corner to a shaded spot on the Danube River to cool off with a swim. We relaxed in the shade before journeying back to the campsite where we cooked a refreshing Vietnamese chicken, mango and vermicelli salad before crashing for the night.

 We woke the next morning after barely sleeping at all due to the heat and mosquito combination making our camping conditions intolerable so we decided to have a relaxing Sunday was in order. We caught the underground to Prater Park where we spent the morning walking around the rides and gardens. Our afternoon was then spent lying by the river with a few refreshing Gosser Radlers (half lemonade, half beer- some may know as Shandy) and watched the world go by. Hard life isn’t it?

Day three in Vienna was spent at Shopping City Sud, a huge shopping center just south of the city. We spent the morning shopping and escaping the forty-degree heat. After lunchtime we left the center and headed to Graz, Austria’s second largest city. We arrived in Graz in time for an early dinner and we made Greek wraps with pickled eggplant and feta- DELCIOUS! After dinner we went for a ride into the city and found a bar under a bridge by the Mur River. The bar looked like a beachside club, with sand, lounge chairs and an amazing DJ. We spent the night drinking raspberry wine spritzers whilst watching the world go by.

 The following morning we woke to another beautifully sunny yet extremely hot day, we rode around Graz starting the morning with breakfast at the farmers market in the center. We moved on to the center square at Hauptplatz to admire the town hall before riding onward to Schlossberg a fantastic viewpoint of the city that can be accessed by a lift (for only one euro!) through the center of the mountain. Graz is another city that blends a perfect mix of history with modern architecture that Matt and I find so alluring.

 

The afternoon we drove towards Italy stumbling upon the beautiful Worthersee, a bright blue lake with abackdrop of high snowy alpine ranges. The picturesque water was beckoning us from our boiling hot car so we detoured for a swim. The water was so incredible we decided we had to stay, finding a campsite with access to the water where we spent the afternoon swimming and fishing into the night. The following morning we woke and swam off the jetty in the lake again before heading through the breathtaking Alpine Region into Italy.