Ahhh Austria!

Saturday, August 02, 2014
Vienna, Grein, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Austrian Alps, Austria
As usual . . . the reflection . . . speed limits. These have been a real eye-opener for us. Most of the autobahn and freeways enjoy limits of 120 to 130 kmh. We envisaged lines of cars, motor cycles and small trucks streaking past us and disappearing into the distance. We set ourselves a speed limit of 85 kmh being, we think, safer as well as the most economical speed for Le Van. 99% of the time we travel in the far right lane along with the trucks, most of which, seem to have the same limit. Now, this is the thing, very few vehicles streak past us! We can honestly say that in the two hours or so we spend on these roads only a handful would be approaching the limits. Most cars do pass us but generally they're doing so at a fairly leisurely rate. It seems the real speed limit is governed by the price of fuel which is almost 50% more than that of Australia's. So, how about that? And another thing - the vast majority of drivers here are very obedient to the road rules, AND, give way whenever possible!!! Makes for far less road rage than we see in Oz. 
Our last post was from Opatov but in fact, the story did not end there . We decided to spend an additional day because it is such a delightful place. And all we could do was relax. Of course relaxing also meant getting out the polish and doing a really good job on the cab. Le Van loves it. Apart from that a lot of reading was done, and dozing, and practice with the guitarlele. 
The drive from Opatov to Vienna was mainly off-autobahn, along a very good but single lane highway. It passed through numerous little towns and hamlets which lent lots of colour and interest to our trip. 
Our Vienna campsite (Camping Klosterneuburg) is very different to Opatov. Much bigger and busier. Still teutonically clean, and friendly, but it's just a campsite close to Vienna. 
We're now at the end of day 3 of our visit with just one more to go. So what have we been doing? Sightseeing and shopping! What else? But the highlight has to be our visit to Schonbrunn, the old palace of the Hapsburgs. Walking in the small hall where Mozart at age 6, made his first royal performance, and the Great Hall, where Presidents Kennedy and Kruschev first met, was quite awe inspiring . For those of you who have been to Versailles, imagine Versailles with fewer tourists, and, a personality, and you'll 'get' Schonbrunn. Stunningly beautiful and terrifically presented. It helped, of course, that the weather was gorgeous and we were able to walk the gardens, seeing the all the monuments and getting lost in the Maze. On our way back we toured St Stephens Cathedral. What is it about cathedrals that keeps sucking us in? This one did it again . . . poked our heads in for a gander and spent the whole afternoon there. This included a tour of the catacombs. Pretty goulish, in our opinion. Might suit the Goths among our readers.
At the Albertina Museum we took in the Monet to Picasso exhibition. We had agreed to give art galleries a miss from now on but this one looked good so in we went. And are we glad we did! Wonderful works by the Masters and others. And very few portraits of religious and VIPs of Old staring stonily at the viewer. This was more like it! Enjoyable art! Lots of colour and feeling .
Our last day in this gorgeous city was to be spent very close to the campsite. No more than 1km in fact. That is where the site of Stift Klosterneuburg stands. By the way, it's taken a fair bit of research to translate 'stift klosterneuberg'. It means an 'endowed monastery'. Anyway, as usual we planned on two or three hours of 'stifting' and ended up there for most of the day. It is a huge complex with a history starting in the 11th century with St Augustine whose remains are still buried here in a casket above a very ornate altar. And the church! Was easily the most ornate we've seen to date. Very baroque and beautiful to the eye but leaving one wondering just how the powers-that-be of the time got away with spending so much money on something so ornate that it hides the true meaning of the place. Our next door neighbours, staunchly catholic from Holland, put it in a nutshell. They said it made them feel like they were being hypocritical. Still it was a very full and satisfying day, unfortunately capped off by a hailstorm that hit us as we were eating at the campsite restaurant with Canberran friends we'd met the day before . This is their second year of ambling around Europe and they look set to do it again next year. The supper was marred when they were called away because their almost new awning had completely collapsed. A lot of damage and great difficulty in finding someone at this time of year to fix it. The only damage we suffered was through our back window being left open and that part of our bed copping a soaking! Just a 'wee' problem!
That was that for Vienna . . . . ve vill return!
Our intermediate stop on the way to Salzburg is at Grein, a small town on the banks of the Danube (Donau). Actually the campsite is right on the shore of the river. A lovely spot and we wish we could spend more than a day here. The scenery is startlingly beautiful with high forested hills on either side, leaving just enough space on one side for the town. Lots of history here of course. Kathy had a good look around, while Peter rented a bike and cycled to the next town, crossing over at the bridge and then coming down the other bank . His trip finished up with a ferry ride back across the Donau, and a very sore posterior! And that's about all for now. We'll continue from Salzburg . . .
Salzburg could easily be renamed Mozartstad. Everywhere you go it's Mozart, Mozart, Mozart! The way the city has adopted him and his family and made Salzburg a Mecca for music fans (we use term music in its true sense not the dross of today) is mind boggling. Of course they've had 250 years to get it right and they've done so very well, bearing in mind that Mozart abandoned Salzburg for Vienna because it could not offer him sufficient opportunities to practice his art. So, we did a lot of Mozarting, walked around the old city, took the funicular up to the Castle and all its museums, catacombs etc. Terrific! Ended the day sitting shoreside at a Salzach River cafe eating ice-cream and drinking beer/wine. Campsite Panorama has been wonderful as well, the restaurant serving up a most delicious Apple Srudel. Next stop, Innsbruck, with gorgeous weather today but moderate to heavy rain over the next five days . Ouch!
Our drive from Salzburg to Innsbruck (across a sliver of Germany) was interrupted when we started travelling alongside a large lake. Turns out it is the Chiemsee (or as it is sometimes known, the Bavarian Sea). Our stop for ice-cream and coffee was right on the shoreline amidst hundreds of mamas, papas and ankle biters enjoying the bright sunshine and calm waters. A large fleet of sailing boats from dinghies to medium cruisers were also enjoying the day. We've decided to do more of this and less of the palacing, churching, and museuming, we've concentrated on up to now!
The fabulous weather continued all the way to Hall-in-Tirol, where our campsite (Schewnbad Hall Camping) is located. All around are high mountains, and we mean 'mountains', real mountains! With small pockets of snow still visible even now during Hot August. After settling Le Van into her home for the next two nights we walked into Hall. What a pleasant (in the sense of 'pleasing') town. It has it all . . . an interesting old town with narrow laneways filled with shops, restaurants and bars; a beautiful Dom (cathedral) and, yes, we did go in for a quick one; and friendly locals . Enjoyed beer o'clock and an early supper at one of the pavement bars and returned to our campsite to find an Oompapa band setting up for a concert. Well! These girls and boys can play! So we sat there eating ice-cream (becoming a bit of thing for us) and smiling from ear to ear. Aw shucks, we love this life!
The weather forecast for our day in Innsbruck was for warm temperatures but rain starting at midday. The day dawned with bright sunshine and only a little cloud in the far distance. We made an early start to beat any rain and on getting off the bus at Hauptbanhof, we made a beeline for the 'H' bus to the bottom of the funicular, the first of three lifts to the top of Hafalekar Mountain. And are we glad we did it first off! The weather remained benign and we had a super time on top of the mountain. And for the skiers among our readers - be warned! This can be a dangerous mountain. A sign at the start of the last lift warns that the 70% slope (that's not a typo) means that if you fall you are likely to be badly injured or worse. Definitely not for the meek. After Hafalekar, the high point of our day (get it? get it?), anything else was going to be tame. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the Old Town, taking in the Hapsburg Palace and Museum, and other delights which included resting our weary legs (while the rain started outside) in the Dom zu St Jakob (Cathedral of St James). Lit candles for our families and friends and made our way back to Le Van to finish this blog and get it off to you!
Next stop . . . ? Somewhere in Italy. As we write this, we haven't the faintest idea of where we're heading after we cross the Alps.
 

 


 
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Comments

Anne Day
2014-08-10

What a wonderful trip. So happy you are having such a magic time

Bruce and Kathy
2014-08-10

All sounds wonderful - you have really settled in over there to the motorhome lifestyle. Enjoy.

Prue
2014-08-10

I'm so enjoying your trip guys, and feeling the occasional (?) twinges of envy. Everywhere you go brings back wonderful memories or waves of longing, or both! So glad you loved Prague - I can't imagine being friends with anyone who doesn't. Enjoy Italy. Do the 'must sees' of Rome, Venice and Florence, but don't miss all the wonderful little towns either.

Joan McMurray
2014-08-12

HI travellers

Yes the views are just stunning. I've seen views of Austria on TV and it looks every bit as beautiful as depicted on TV. Woweeeeee. Glad you had good weather. Lots of love itinerants love Joan. Where is our next stop? (lol) God bless

Alex Warner
2014-08-16

Sigh!!! I hope you plan to include your travelogue writings in your digital photo book which you will no doubt produce on return. Your descriptions are so evocative and detail, they could be used for a permanent record. xxx

2025-02-10

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