The beautiful river Danube

Luckily, I had seen some brochures for the little riverside town of Kriems and it looked very pretty. It was definitely worth the short visit we paid it, even though, being Sunday,  it was rather dead apart from the many American passengers of a visiting cruise ship. We found our way to the older part of town with its fantastically attractive mix of architecture. I just loved this particular corner with its rectangles and curves. It all looked so clean and well cared for compared to Sankt Poelten.

 

This building below, built into the old city wall was particularly stunning. On the other side of the outer wall was a totally modern arcade. Very beautiful.

 

 

From Kriems we headed along the banks of the River Danube towards Linz. What a lovely drive it was through the Wachau wine district of Upper Austria with all its colourful and picturesque villages set amongst the vineyards. 

We wanted a tea and coffee and found a really inviting garden with an orchard of cherry trees, heavily laden with fruit. It had a massive restaurant area, but I was surprised to learn that restaurants offering wine tastings needed a special licence for coffee, so we had to go elsewhere. Very strange rules!

 

The Danube is far from 'blue' but nevertheless is still impressive. It is incredibly wide and even now, after very little rain, very full.  I liked this little car ferry taking cars and many bikes across to the other side.

 

 

I have never seen so many cyclists. It is, of course, perfect terrain for cycling as it is very flat and there is a special cyclist track running alongside the road. You can hire bikes in one village and drop off at the next. Great idea!

We really had a fantastic drive to Linz, dropped off the car at the airport ( the quietest airport both of us have ever seen) and then headed into Linz. It is apparently Austria's second biggest city and it was rapidly obvious that it was a young people's city, with many different universities. The main square is absolutelymassive and to me a little ostentatious. On the other hand, it was beautifully clean and tidy.

 

Some of the old city was especially attractive , helped by the unbelievably blue , cloudless sky! We were so lucky with the weather. It was perfect. We went back to this area for our mini pub crawl later that night.

 

As the sun set, the hills and Danube lit up. It was gorgeous. We took a funny little tram up to the top of the hill for a brilliant view over the city.

 

As night fell, the lights of the city sprang to life 

 

And the Ars Electronica Centre  looked spectacular with its ever changing colours.

 

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the city at night, spending quite some hours in the old city at a couple of the local bars. We met some really great young people from Hungary and had a fabulous night out.

I am not sure what this poster was all about! Perhaps people confuse Austria and Australia?

 

All good things come to an end. Time to head back through The Vorarlberg area where David had worked for a winter season

  

And back  to Russikon. Wow, so hot in the Zurich area!

Thanks Dennis for a really fun five days!

 

Bad Ischl

I cannot understand that I have not visited Austria more in the past. It seems to be a fantastic destination! Lakes, mountains and spectacular mountain passes, friendly people and reasonable room rates and meals. 

 

Our first stop was the Hallstaedtersee. It was so beautiful, as was the weather, and the water could really not have been cleaner or clearer. A brilliant start to the shortish tour Dennis had prepared for us. I had no idea exactly where we were heading, but it was all really special and extremely varied. 

We arrived at Bad Ischl, an attractive small town on the banks of the gently flowing River Traun.

 

 The town is extremely clean and tidy and we were lucky enough to arrive on the evening of a wine festival. It was a super atmosphere with music and of course lots of local wine. Believe it or not , I only had one glass ( actually I am not so keen on the Austrian wines) and we were heading to the thermal pools afterwards. The pools were okay but the jets a bit too hard for me! I need to toughen up a bit I think.

Our accommodation was amazing, in an old villa just outside town. We had an appartment there with a balcony, on the first floor . It was very special. We sat outside after our swim enjoying the peace, the wonderfully clear skies and pleasant temperatures. 

 

Our trip to Sankt Poelten was fantastically varied, with breathtaking scenery almost the entire way, much of the journey being in the Gesauesel national park. From agricultural areas with huge farms reminiscent of New Zealand,

 

 

 

To Staggeringly impressive, sheer rock faces rising up dramatically from the narrow valley floors to tower above us. 

 

The altitude was strangely deceptive. We often had the feeling we were climbing significantly, only to find we were only a few hundred metres above sea level, yet often with dramatic views

 

Here we are at the top of one pass, with our extremely comfortable and plush Audi. A little more style than my little Mazda in New Zealand!

The roads reminded me of New Zealand in many ways- virtually empty and often in need of repair, but actually perfectly okay to get us from A to B!

 

We stopped for a drink at a fabulous place, the Enntal golf course

 

As we turned off the main road and followed a narrow winding road for several kilometres to the golf club, we wondered what we would find. It was great!. 

 What a wonderfully restful, calm place this was to take a break. The course looked incredible , with its stunning scenery - actually in the heart of a World Heritage nature park.

 

More dramatic scenery and empty roads!

 

Finally, after quite a climb and an extremely curvy road we reached the highest point of the day, only   a few metres short of 1000m above sea level. What a gorgeous view in such perfect weather.

 

It appears that we were unbelievably lucky because apparently it had been extremely cold and rainy in the last weeks.

Our day finished in St Poelten, a smallish town which compared to the other places we had visited, seemed in need of a little TLC. It had a large open square surrounded by cafes but apart from this there was not much to see on a Sunday evening. It didn't matter at all. The day had been so full of amazing places and we had a brilliant evening at a pizzeria, sharing stories and often laughing uncontrollably. So lovely to enjoy these balmy spring evenings with Dennis in new places.

 

Back home at Trudi's

A great flight, super stopover at Singapore airport with a luxurious swim in the  rooftop pool. 

 

The long flight before and after could not have been further from my mind! 

 Then a wonderful reunion with Marco at the airport and back home to Trudi's. I realise just how fantastic it is to be able to be at home in two such fabulous countries like New Zealand and Switzerland, but not only that, to have such close friends in both and a place to call home, and of course family in Nz and Britain.

There were some pretty chilly days prior to leaving Switzerland so the temperature in the twenties was very welcome, though soon too warm! It was great to brunch and bbq outside with such great views of the mountains and 'my lake'!

 

I realised how much at home I was in Zurich  as I bumped into an old friend as I got out of the train and was warmly greeted by all at the school. It was lovely to walk along by the lake to the school, to meet friends both for lunch, drinks and dinner. 

With a wonderful combination of work and pleasure, I soon settled back into life on the other side of the world. I had a gorgeous day with Marco in Rapperswil. I used to simply pass through the station and was one day introduced to this beautiful town , on the banks of the Zurichsee with a fantastic panorama, by Marco. I love the narrow alleyways, its colourful houses and the varied wildlife seen from the wooden bridge. It's a really restful place, perfect for catching up with a great friend after a half year away. 

 

There is a lot to be done for the summer camps but I think I have allowed plenty of time for this. 

Trudi and I had a brilliant day at one of the most beautiful gardens I know, Selegor Moor. I hadn't realised how far away it was and traffic on the motorway was horrendous, especially after the sometimes near empty roads of NZ. But, once in the tranquil surroundings of the park, the noise and pressure just melted away. The senses were totally awoken by the fantastic birdsong, the scent of the thousands of azaleas and camelias and the splendid sight of the absolutely marvelous colourful blooms.

 

What a paradise.

By the pools the sound of the frogs was incredible. It is hard to believe that such small creatures can be so loud. It was fantastic to watch them , hundreds of them trying to find partners willing enough to mate! Many females playing hard to get! 

 

It was a truly memorable visit to this heavenly place.

 

Now I am on the road again, with Dennis. Actually, no , first we took the train to Salzburg. Five hours can go very quickly when you have someone to make you laugh! 

 

A great source of amusement were the uniforms worn by the waitresses. They looked as if they were moulded to the bodies and the girls could hardly move. I certainly would not get a job there. 

 

It is a bit like a dream really that I am travelling again considering that I landed in Switzerland only one week ago. It has been an action-packed, friend-filled week. 

I am so happy to be able to travel again with Dennis, though amazingly it was only 5 weeks ago that we were enjoying the magnificent places in New Zealand. We are  now both discovering places in Austria which we have not visited before. Neither of us has spent much time in Austria and it looks very much as though it is well worth visiting. What a gorgeous view from the hills down on the old town of Salzburg, nearly all pedestrian area. 

It's a magnificent setting, with this little city nestled in between the hills and the river. 

The first thing we did was take the elevator up to a rather swish restaurant to savour both the view

 

And the delicious Apfelstrudel with Vanilla sauce. Yum! 

 

And of course being together with a great friend , the king of selfies! He is pretty good at them!

 

Salzburg is a city of fountains, sculptures-  some quite interesting !

And others requiring less imagination. 

And incredible buildings built into the cliff faces, withstanding the tests of time

 

Not to mention the huge open squares offering perfect places for markets, concerts and even vintage car rallies

 

There is plenty to see both in the old and the so-called new town. We had a wonderful stroll through the gardens in the new town. Very formally laid out gardens 

 

but with yet more rather remarkable figures. I need to research their background.

 

They certainly seemed rather fierce and not something one would want to meet on a dark night!

 

Dennis and I went our separate ways for a couple of hours . It was a warm day so I soon headed to a fabulously cool and quiet coutyard with the most magnificent tree and much-needed shade to start writing this blog.

 It was a haven. In fact, I found the new town just as captivating as the old one, particularly the lovely cemetery where Mozart's widow and father were buried.

 

It was a brilliant start to our long weekend trip. Thanks Dennis

 

And also to the incredible weather we had. We have been unbelievably lucky wherever we have been.

 I loved this forecast, seen in the new town.