So it begins

Destination Austria

Published Date : May 14, 1999

The drive north from Venice was spectacular as we passed through the Dolomites and the beautiful Austrian countryside. I would have liked to stop and enjoy the area more, but alas we were on a deadline. The scenery was breathtaking all the same.

Statue of Johann Strauss II in Stadtpark, Vienna

We arrived in Vienna in late afternoon. An option for the night was to see a Mozart concert with all the musicians in period costume. I had been debating whether or not to see this concert, but eventually decided not to. As a piano player, I had grown up playing Mozart, but I needed to conserve my money. There are some major activities coming up in Switzerland that I don’t want to miss out on!

The rest of us took the opportunity to explore the city by night and ended up at a Walkabout Pub. We spent the evening there chatting over a couple of relaxed drinks.

Unbeknownst to me, I left my backpack behind in the pub when we left. Luckily Kerry noticed and retrieved it for me. I would have lost my camera and all my film if it hadn’t been for her! Thanks Kerry!

Baby poo yellow?

Published Date : May 15, 1999

Natural History Museum – Vienna, Austria

We had an early start this morning and were on the streets exploring by 9am. We started at St Stephen’s cathedral, where some of us elected to climb up the tower. It was a very narrow spiral staircase that had to accommodate two-way traffic. Once we reached the top, we were disappointed to find that the view was obstructed by scaffolding. Back down we traipsed then set about exploring for a couple of hours. We passed the Rathaus, opera house and Naturhistorisches Museum at Maria-Theresa-Square.

Meeting up with our group again, we were back on the bus to drive out to the Alt-Wiener Schnaps Museum. There we were told the history of the factory and introduced to several varieties of Schnaps, including gold leaf which had 24 carat gold in it!

Schonbrunn Palace – Vienna, Austria

Our next stop was Schonbrunn Palace. The story goes that the palace was built by Marie Habsburg in an attempt to rival the Palace of Versaille in Paris.  It is also painted “baby poo yellow” which was supposedly her favourite colour – to each their own!  Overall, it was definitely impressive, but having not been to Versaille, I can’t say if Marie succeeded in her efforts. I spent most of our time there exploring the gardens with Rod, John and Mike, enjoying the sunshine and the warmth.

Driving back to our hotel, we were left to our own devices for the night. I went for a walk around town at sunset and saw the monument to Johann Strauss II at Stadtpark. I also passed by a political protest at Hofburg Palace in response to the ongoing fighting in Kosovo.

I wasn’t interested in wandering after dark, so I made my way back to the hotel and enjoyed a quiet night.

"When the moon hits your eye"

Published Date : May 16, 1999

We had a long day of driving today, but it wasn’t all spent on the road.

Leaving Vienna, we made a stop just outside of Linz at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. It was a very sobering experience. We were shown a brief video on the history of the camp and taken on a tour of the facility, including the gas chamber. Some people in our group were upset about our stop at the camp and refused to go in. They were on the trip to have fun and didn’t want to be brought down. I found our time there fascinating though. It’s never pleasant seeing and hearing about atrocities, but I think it’s something that needs to be done. As the saying goes – those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The rest of the day was spent on the road. We arrived in Munich in late afternoon and immediately headed out for dinner at a Bavarian Beer Hall. We enjoyed a traditional German dinner, including beer and entertainment. In the process we discovered a very important difference between tipping in North America and Germany. In Germany if you don’t tip after each drink, you will never see your server again; whereas in North America we normally tip at the end of the night. Luckily they were serving 1L steins of beer so it wasn’t the end of the world if you only got one drink!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned yet that throughout Europe you must pay to use public toilets. It’s usually women who collect this fee, and we have come to call them Dragon Ladies due to their rather stern nature. Towards the end of the evening, Ritz, Dan and Aussie Mark decided that it would be fun to try to serenade the Dragon Lady at the restaurant.

“When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that’s amore!”

Ho hum

Published Date : May 17, 1999

Today was a free day in Munich. We started at Marienplatz to watch the Glockenspiel do its thing. That is one very impressive clock!! The level of detail on the moving figurines is incredible. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so no pictures for me today.

The rest of the day we just wandered, taking in the atmosphere and exploring. I can’t decide if I like Munich or not. I found it kind of boring, but it’s definitely a pretty town.

The Devil's Brew

Published Date : May 18, 1999

We crossed the border back into Austria today, aiming for the town of Hopfgarten in the Tyrol. Our accommodation for the night is Gasthof Schoneck.

The Austrian Tyrol – Sound of Music country!

It was cloudy and raining and the river was swollen from the spring melt. What better time to go white water rafting! We were split up into groups, 8 of us to a boat. After some brief instructions from our guides, we grabbed our paddles and lifejackets and headed to the river. The water was most decidedly chilly and not in a good way!

While the river was moving fast with the added rain, it was also abnormally high which actually smoothed out a lot of the rapids. Some of the others had never so much as held a paddle before and were quite anxious about the whole experience. Those of us who were used to being on the water in canoes or kayaks found the run to be enjoyable, but nothing spectacular. Our guide told us that if we had been there a week earlier it would have been a completely different experience with far more rapids.

Back to the guesthouse and it was a scramble for the showers and sauna as we all tried to warm up. There was an option of renting bikes or fishing gear for the rest of the afternoon, but the rain kept most of us indoors.

The quiet afternoon was followed up by a raucous evening in the guesthouse bar. Being in Austria it was all about Schnaps until the end of the night when dares were placed on who would take shots of the devil’s brew. In this establishment the devil’s brew was the dregs from the spill mat behind the bar, so a mix of pretty much every alcohol that had been served that night! Kiwi Mark and I were the only takers and bravely downed two shots each before our taste buds rebelled. We were each awarded a free drink for our efforts.

I finally stumbled to bed in the wee hours of the morning.