Time flies when you are having fun – never a truer word spoken.
I had every intention of keeping a travel blog. In the end it turned out I was far too busy having a good time than sitting behind a screen and keyboard.
The 5 1/2 weeks were everything I hoped for: family and friends, fantastic summer weather, amazing sights and beautiful places , many I knew and many which I hadn’t been to, yummy food.
2 weeks in Vienna, 1 week in Styria, 1 week in Waldviertel right by the border , with quite a few day trips over to the Czech Republic, and 1 week in the Wachau region.
On the 1st day after our arrival in Vienna I managed to have blisters on the soles of my feet. And they more or less lingered around for the rest of the trip. Basically walking for 5 weeks took a bit of a toll on the trotters but was also a welcome antidote to the calorie intake in the many gorgeous coffeehouses. The coffee is great, the cakes and pastries are delicious and the service is impeccable. There is no lining up at the counter to place an order…you chose your seat or be seated, place your order when you are ready and make eye contact with the waiter when you want to pay and leave. The only time you might go to the counter / vitrine is to help you make the agonizing choice over which cake or pastry to have. Apart from all that it’s of course an architectural experience and a history lesson on top.
Cafe Zentral established in 1876 -extremely popular place if you want to get a seat you either come very early or you line up ….and beware of the portion sizes…doggy bag, anyone?
Cafe in the Museum of Art History – the interior of this whole building is breath taking
detail of the interior, painted by Klimt
The beautifully restored baroque Garden Pavilion at Melk Abbey
with it’s gorgeous tropical themed decorations
A definite highlight was a visit to Prague. Believe everything you hear about this beautiful old city. It survived the war without being bombed and has therefore an intact old town part that is just stunning, not dissimilar to Vienna with grand old buildings from Imperials times, a lot of beautiful Art Nouveau as well as much older architecture , the utterly impressive St Vitus Cathedral for example being founded in 1344.
Prague was absolutely crowded with tourists. I only had 1 day in the city, so naturally couldn’t do everything – the Castle, which I only saw from the outside, has to wait for the next visit.
Made it however into the Clementinum Library , which was on my to do list, and it was as beautiful as it promised in the pictures.
One of the most beautiful Cafes I have come across is the Cafe de Paris ( also the Hotel de Paris)…a simply stunning example of Art Nouveau in Prague
Hotel PARIS Praha Photographer: Libor Svacek; E- mail: box@fotosvacek.cz;
My slight problem with heights had to be ignored that day, the view from the Clock Tower is truly worth the lengthy wait to get up…me and possibly a few thousand others wanted to do that on the day
If you ever make it to Prague don’t forget to indulge at one of the countless Trdelnik stalls. The yeast dough pastries are wrapped around wooden barrels and cooked over hot coals or in electric rotisserie type ovens Make sure you get one fresh and hot…delish. My preferred version is the traditional sugar and cinnamon coated one.
Another fantastic day was biking along the Danube from Melk to romantic Dürnstein and making the return trip on the Danube. You bike along the river on a bike way, often set apart from the road or rather on the “old” roads. The town, with it’s landmark blue church tower, was first mentioned in 1192 and is a gorgeous, quaint old place with the ruins of Dürnstein Castle towering over it. The place is most “famous” for having kept King Richard the Lionheart captive for ransom after returning from a crusade.
I opted not to climb up to the ruins due to temperatures in the mid 30s.
All of this is of course not even scratching the surface of those few weeks, but I simply can’t show it all. You have to take my word that everything was just wonderful, at times truly breathtaking, spectacular, interesting, beautiful, delicious, …and best of all – I got to share this with my daughter who was the perfect travel companion on this trip. And I have countless pictures of her backside to prove it.
If you are wondering what you can do in 51/2 weeks…here it goes:
Schonbrunn castle, castle grounds and zoo, St Stephens cathedral with the catacombs underneath, the Imperial Crypt, watching the morning workout of the Lipizzaner horses, City Park, Museum of Art History and Natural History, Hofburg with Imperial Apartments, Vienna Museum, House of the Sea, Vienna Secession, National Library, countless churches, Lainz Game Reserve, simply walking around the inner city in Vienna and marvelling at the buildings and architecture, Theater visit, Central Cemetery, visiting castles, visiting a flea market ( and finding a cute 1950s coffee set ) , more museums and exhibitions, visiting Slavonice, Třeboň, Telč, Cesky Krumlov, Jindřichův Hradec, and Prague, biking trips, Danube Ship ride, several small towns along the Danube, Aggstein Castle, Melk Abbey, Graz, Deutschlandsberg Castle, having a fantastic day on the Slovenian border sitting in a vineyard and enjoying the products of the region, going mushroom foraging, and ..and and …and a spot of shopping in between.
As far as hats go….not a whole lot. The only hatty highlight was a visit to Vienna Museum for a hat expo…no photos were allowed but was very interesting to see it from a social history point of view. I did manage to bring back 3 hat blocks that were gifted to me, here sitting on the window sill of my room with a view. They weigh about 7 kg, due to this I could not take all the chocolate I initially wanted to bring back…just as well. – the cafe visits were quite enough to deal with. #nomoreexcesscaloriesrequired
After my return mid August it took me about 10 days to get over the jetlag. But there is no rest for the wicked, hats were already waiting to be made and somehow these wonderful few weeks on the other side of the world seem to be much longer ago than they are.
It’s all memories now…wonderful ones…and I have about 1700 photos to re visit them.
