........With Austria that is! LOL Ive always had a very romantasised view of Austria...rolling green hills, snow capped mountains, tiny villiages nestled in deep, lush valleys. And truth is...its all that and much more!
I mean, ive only been here for a couple of days, but having seen so many other places in Europe, i simply love Austria, i don't want to leave. I may be slightly drunk and so full i can barely move at the moment from having the best meal ive ever eaten, but i really do get a great feeling about this country.
I don't know where to start explaining how much has happened in the last couple of days. I left Trier on 27th, very very sorry to leave. I had the the most amazing time in Germany over Christmas with Ben, and his family just made me feel right at home. So after tearing myself away from there, i headed off for my 9 hour train journey to Salzburg, just over the border into Austria from Germany. I mainly planned to stop here just to break up my trip to Vienna, but ended up falling in love with this town which helped me remember how ive always known that Austria is somewhere i want to be.
I stayed up too late in the hostel drinking with some other Aussies, then got up early and spent the best part of the morning fitting in as much as possible exploring the place. The highlight was of course the castle perched on top of a hill in the middle of the town, much like Edinburgh. Every way i turned my breathe was taken, and i was very sorry to have to leave and make my way the rest of the way to Vienna.
Vienna is a whole nother story in itself. Everywhere you look, incredible buildings linger over the skyline decorated with a myriad of lights and colours, a feast for the senses. I picked up a hot tip about cheap tickets to the famous Opera performances here for last minute standing places, but ended up paying 40 Euros from a scalper for a well positioned seat to watch a ballet performance of the Nutcracker. I have to say, im not a big fan of ballet or Opera, but as id never been, i felt i should give it a go, especially being in Vienna. All i can say is it was money very well spent, an amazing display of dancing and famous classical music...i loved every minute. After walking the streets for a couple of hours after this in minus temperatures with a gaping mouth, over whelmed with the city's beauty, i retired to the hostel exhausted.
Today was equally extraordinary. Another early start, i arrived at the Spanish Riding School at 8:30am and got tickets for the morning practice sessions, which was amazing and delightful and such a fantastic display of horsemanship, everything i expected. At 2pm i had a ticket to a performance (or so i thought i did), turns out it was a commentated demonstration performance thing, which only went for 45 mins, but was equally incredible to watch. The building in which they perform is magnificant, with great views from just about every angel. It was an unbelieveable experience.
After that i headed back out in the bitter cold, probably the coldest ive experienced here yet, and decided id be mad to walk around too much more. So i headed to the Museum of Natural History, which was an amazing display of every type of living creature known to man, as well as lots of rocks and information about the planet and environment. It was pretty cool, but i know i was far too tired to properly appreciate and absorb it.
A couple of days ago i spotted a great sounding restaurant in my Lonely Planet, Western Europe travel guide. 'Vegetasia' is a vegetarian place (obviously) that specialises in producing Asian style dishes but completely vegetarian. The menu boasts beef, pork, fish etc etc but all made from alternative ingredients...genius i say. I was a little to wierded out to try the not quite 'beef' and instead had soup, a vegie stir fry, then deep fried banana with honey, while enjoying some white wine then a delicious plum wine and finishing with an unexpected homemade pastry from the waitress.
You may wonder why im explaining what i ate in such great detail, and i think it may have something to do with the fact i can't remember the last time i enjoyed eating a meal quite so much, it was perfect in every way (despite me knocking over and promply smashing my wine glass....oops!)...just what the doctor ordered.
So now im about to move my arse and jump on yet another train (over night this time...13hours) and head for Zurich in Switzeland. Its a little off track since im heading for Milano in Italy, but i timed it so that i get to Zurich about sunrise and ill be travelling over the Swiss and Italian Alps tomorrow morning (YEY!!) before landing in Milano mid-morning, then making my way to the WWOOFing farm tomorrow afternoon, a couple hours train ride again from Milano.
Needless to say, im so tired right now its crazy and i can barely comprehend how cool everything it that im doing and about to do. I wish so much that i had more time (and indeed money) right now to explore Austria, but i wanted to make it to the farm before new years to get acquinted and help out with thier celebrations. Despite this, i know in my heart, that some how i will be back here one day. Ill make sure of it.
For now, im looking forward to what the next few weeks hold for me. Im not sure how my internet access with go there, but im sure you'll all here from me again soon enough. Happy New Years to everyone, i hope you all enjoy the celebrations that you have and i hope that 2008 brings love, happiness and new adventures!
oxoxox
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