Day 70 – 73: Viennese Waltzing
Place: The AMAZING apartment of Nick and Dagmara Murray in Prague, Czech Republic
The Von Trapp family, apple strudel, Arnie, schnitzel, wieners, Vienna, Mozart, goulash and wine = the amazing country of Austria.
After the bad spell of missed trains, wrong trains, delayed buses and many heart attacks…our trip to Austria has proven that the logistic master is back on track.
We arrived in Klagenfurt on Sunday the 10th June after a beautiful journey through the most amazing scenery where we were entertained the entire trip.
The hills are definitely alive with the sound of music in these parts!!!
With no hitches, we walked into our green little hotel where Oliver, a very handsome and meticulous fellow, greeted us, briefed us in detail about what Klagenfurt had to offer and mentioned that there was a screening of the Euro Cup game between Croatia and Ireland in the nearby square, Craig and I beamed with excitement, (I think that Craig was more excited about the idea of a big beer though).
Cleaned, showered and refreshed, we grabbed the map and took a walk to see if there was anyone watching the game. To our delight, the square was jam-packed, the atmosphere was electric with singing, cheering, and drunken, exited fans enjoying this outstanding vibe. The closer we got to the scene, the more enticing the smell of the sizzling bratwurst became and we made an immediate dart for the bratwurst roll (the biggest hot dog that you have EVER seen). Hotdog in hand, we were pointed in the direction of toppings where we could use as much mustard, onions, tomato sauce as we liked…. we did, and it was DELICIOUS.
90 minutes later, the avid Croatian fans were elated as they won the game, but we felt very sorry for them and their imminent headaches at work the next day.
Monday the 11th June was an easy and relaxed start. We went for a jog through the immaculate city, but the hunger pains got the better of my husband and we headed back to the hotel for some much needed breakfast.
Bags packed and wishing we could spend more time in Klagensfurt, we checked out and waved Oliver goodbye to board our train for Vienna.
We have definitely not ‘slummed’ it on this trip and thanks to the Eurorail pass, we again sat in first class on our train to Vienna. It is not difficult to get used to, this traveling in style. Once settled, we were asked if we would like a drink, and assuming that things operate the same as in Italy, we ordered a coffee each, but this time were devastated to know that they weren’t free as we have become so used to on other first class trains….oh well, we learned our lesson and wont make that mistake again.
Again we were spoiled by the magnificent views through our huge windows and kept looking at each other out of absolute disbelief at what we were seeing, gigantic green mountains covered with a slight mist and discovering churches and castles at the very top of the mountains looking down at the rivers and trees running below.
We arrived at our first destination where we would catch a short series of trains to our hotel, which is a wine estate 50km outside of Vienna. Famished and still talking about the amazing bratwurst from the night before, we were on the lookout for the first place who had them, unlucky for us, we were surrounded by only wine shops, but caught a glimpse of a SPAR in the distance.
To my sheer delight, Craig came out of the Spar with gigantic pieces of carbonossi, a couple of cokes, ham rolls and some chips. Refueled, we continued our search for our hotel.
Again, we were given a super warm welcome and even a complimentary glass of wine to sample. Craig, not having any trouble receiving as normal, accepted the offer, while I opted for a warm cup of tea.
FYI: Sattler Wine Estate and Hotel have won numerous awards for their red and white wines of late and Craig loved the wine so much that he bought a bottle and I know he would have bought more if he could.
Tuesday the 12th June, we are getting into a good rhythm now and started the day with another short jog, but this time we ‘ran out of time’ as we had to catch the 11:07 train to Vienna (trains only run hourly from Jois where we are staying).
In a last minute hurry, we raced to the train station, jumped across the train tracks to our platform and made it to Vienna. Without a map, and a vague idea of what to see, we decided just to walk toward tall and intriguing buildings. This seems to be a strategy that has worked for us in the past and did not let us down in Vienna either.
Vienna is a fascinating and beautiful city, with tall churches, huge platz (squares), huge shops with stunning clothes and amazing gardens with fresh and flourishing roses in all colors and shapes. Aware that we didn’t have loads of time to stroll around this remarkable city, we tried to see as much as possible on our way to the Museum of Art, which Craig has been desperate to see.
After 2 long hours infused in culture from centuries ago, we walked out of the museum and made the long journey back to our hotel where a tall glass of wine for Craig and a hot, hot chocolate was about to be ‘punished’ by me.
Yesterday, Wednesday, 13th June was the much-anticipated day. It was the day that we would finally visit Nick and Dags Murray in Prague.
We arrived at our platform, where the sensationally stunning and chic Dags was waiting for us to escort us to their modern, stylish and extremely comfortable home. This place is amazing and it was such an awesome experience to climb into the lift which takes you directly to the apartment door and we walked straight into the warm and cozy lounge where we were greeted by Nick with huge smiles, hugs and ‘the best beer in the world’.
P.s. I finally got to enjoy 2 delicious cups of HOT ROOIBOS tea = big smiley face J
With so much to talk about and catch up on, we sat around with some tasty snacks and then made our way to a hip bar to meet with Clint Armour again.
6 litres of beer, a steak tartar, and 2 racks of ribs later, we walked Clint and my merry, lopsy and loveable (aka drunk) husband home to get some good sleep as the Murrays still had to work and we had to make sure that Clint is on time for his train, bus and plane for his plus 30hr trip back to South Africa.
Today, the 14th June has been the PERFECT day. My prayers were answered when we woke to dark grey skies and rain making every temptation to explore ‘wash away down the gutters, very quickly. Instead, we enjoyed a farewell breakfast with Mr Farmer Armour and made our way back to our home for the next few days where I got to do the washing at last.
Never in a thousand years did I ever think that I would look forward washing clothes and ironing, but today I was so jolly and relaxed….perfect start to our time in Prague, clean and smelling amazing.
The weather is said to be getting better everyday so we are looking forward to the sights and sounds of Prague and taking plenty of pictures.
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