Klagenfurt, Carinthia, AustriaIt was due to rain quite a bit of today, so we went on adventure channelling our inner Michael Palin ie.no real idea of how to do anything or where we were going, but coping with whatever came our way.
We drove over the hills to Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, found a Park & Ride & jumped on a bus into the city - no idea where we were going, & only just thought to check the number of the bus after we'd got off! The driver spoke no English so we couldn't ask him where we were going & trusted he'd charged us correctly - turned out he had, & great value it was too - parking for 12 hours + return bus for up to 5 people = €6.
Our first stop was at the Tourist Information to pick up a map & off we went. The main square had a great sculpture of Hercules slaying the Lindwurm, but it amused me that it just looked as though Herc was using a backscratcher! Klagenfurt old city was very nice (if wet!), full of 15th century buildings & lovely architecture, so we went in the cathedral then wandered around admiring it all.
We got off the bus back at Minimundus, an incredible model village with buildings from around the world built at 1:25 scale. They were all set in beautiful gardens with waterways & model railways, & even though it rained it didn't detract from it all - just a bit difficult holding bag, umbrella & camera!
We had lunch there - jacket potatoes with lardons, sour cream & lettuce of many varieties, a favourite meal of our daughters when they were young. We then explored the world in an afternoon: it was raining at the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower but had stopped by the time we got to Hollywood.
The models were very impressive, every detail in place & such care taken with the planting around them. Being in Austria there were several models of Austrian places & some of the old castles were wonderful – never heard of Heidenreichstein or Hochosterwitz but I've now identified several places I'd like to visit!
The model of Big Ben alongside a life sized red phone box was a nice surprise, the unfinished Sagrada Familia from Barcelona had a crane in amongst it, and the space rocket staged a “take off” every hour, complete with sound effects and smoke!
We finished off inside where you could have your picture taken at a (digital) venue of your choice - we chose the Great Wall of China, posed then emailed it to ourselves. The wonders of modern technology!
2025-05-22