Austria | Tales From Lewgarty Road

Jono enjoying some fishing in the campsite pond

After two days in Venice we headed north into Austria. Austria was like a big breath of fresh air. The Austrians can drive and there seemed to be some order about their country. It was a pleasure to travel around. Along the journey we went through many kilometres of tunnels which made life heaps easier and quicker. The landscape here is something to see with snow on the mountains and everything such a rich green. We ended up camping in a town about 20 mins out of Salzburg. Salzburg’s biggest claim to fame is Mozart and was also the setting for The Sound of Music. The campsite we stayed at was one of the best ones we had been in. Where we set up camp was right on a little pond which was full of fish. I filled in a few hours of catching fish the with backdrop of snowy mountains to make it pretty perfect.

Enjoying the lovely weather and view in Salzburg

After a relaxing day we decided to head into Salzburg and explore. It isn’t a very big city but its nice to walk around. We enjoyed some lunch in a little cafe then made our way to Hohensalzburg Fortress. We avoid the steep climb up and took the funicular which kept up to its name and was fun. We went on a short tour which took us through a torture room which was never used to torture anyone or so we were told. We also went through the main living areas where they had a museum set up. This was interesting to walk around and at the end we were able to go to the top of one of the towers where we got an excellent view of the city from here we could also see a lone house in the middle of what looked like a park. We were told this use to be executioners house, the reason there was no other houses around is because it was believed to be bad luck to live near the executioner.

After a few days kicking back we moved on to Vienna. Here we spent Anzac Day, the Australian and New Zealand embassies arranged for a service to take place at one of the local churches. It was a nice service and there were representative from other embassies as well as many expats who make the trip once a year to Vienna to attend. After the service we went to an Australian bar to see what was happening for Anzac day, apparently not much. The bar tender didn’t even know what ANZAC Day was. We weren’t the only unhappy costumers with this response and found some humour in the fact the bar was so decked out with every cliche Australian item you could think of though served traditional Aussie ostrich and crickets…? Little disappointing. They did serve VB and managed to squeeze one Australian football match into the fifteen advertised on their weekly program. Pretty crap pub to me and no meat pies.

For Chrissy, so happy to be here right now.

After a rubbish expensive lunch we headed off and walked through the heart of Vienna. It is a stunning city that was easy to loose ourselves in. We eventually ended up over the other side from where started at Prater Park. Here we found a sort of amusement park. Instead of going through the gates and paying an entrance fee you can walk around and just pay for what you want to go on. It was all a little on the expensive side but we found a good deal for a combined ticket. Our first stop was a Madam Tussaud wax museum which had everything from famous movie actors to the Queen, the Pope and sports stars. It was fun to walk around and gave us a good couple of hours worth of amusement. Outside of the museum they had a massive ferris wheel. Not as big as the Singapore Flyer but was pretty old and we had fun. It gave us some great views of the city as well as a birds eye view of people on the rides below. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking back through the city before making our way back to the campground.

The next morning we headed off to Budapest in Hungry. Budapest name comes from two different cities combined into one. One side of the river was Buda and the other side was Pest, so there you go. The first full day we were there we went on a push bike tour around the city. This covered just about all the main sites in Budapest within a few hours of riding. Our first stop was the Opera House which was a beautiful building and in recent years is most famous for it’s balcony. This is the balcony that was used to film the scene where Madonna sang ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ in Evita. Apparently the Hungarian director liked his countries opera house balcony better than what was on offer in Argentina. Other places we visited were Hero’s Square which is a massive square which plays host to the Millennium Monument with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other outstanding figures of Hungarian history. It was built on the Millennium anniversary of Hungary as a country, this was celebrated in 1896. The thermal baths which is restricted between males and females on certain days and the men could only wear budgie smugglers. Parliament house which speaks for its self but is probably the biggest parliament I’ve seen yet, Liberty Square which is beautiful though somewhat controversial as the World War II Memorial of the “liberating” (then occupying) Soviet troops still stands here. Also in Liberty Square was an awesome fountain. It is a square of water shooting up out of the ground but as you walk towards it there are sensors in the ground which stops the water in front of you. Felt like Moses parting the sea!

We dropped by St Steven’s Basilica and finished our ride by crossing The Chainbridge which is Hungary’s most famous bridge. On the other side we rode (and walked) up a massive hill. At the top was the Mathias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion. It is known as a popular place for young lovers to have their first date. It’s understandable why it would be a popular venue for this as the views are spectacular. We enjoyed the downhill ride back and departed ways with our group.

Later that evening when we were back in the campsite we met an English couple who were heaps friendly, Mark and Kate, as well as a French couple who were staying in the spot next to us. We then ended up spending the evening talking to them which was interesting as we didn’t speak any French the French couple didn’t speak much English and Mark and Kate were stuck doing their best to translate for us. The owner of the park also came around with a flagon of Hungarian wine which was very much like port, but was good and brought the group together a little more.