12 May

Today started out okay, had a few ups and downs, then finished well.
I was prepared and down for breakfast on time. The Australian couple sat with me and we talked over breakfast. I showed them and the dancing girls the T-shirt I had bought. The Australian couple will be off to Vienna tomorrow, whereas I will be looking around Vienna tomorrow and heading out the day after. They left for their day and I spoke to a Hungarian couple next to me. The husband had been to Australia, attended at the Swinbourne Instutute for a time, then toured a lot of Australia bu car (a Land Cruiser, which was very big by his standards). We also spoke about how sometimes people are reluctant to talk to others when they don’t have a common language. Then they left, but as they did so, he gave me his card.
I finished packing (but not completely, as I found at much, much later), settled the account and left. I set the SatNav for Vienna by avoiding motorways. So I headed out of Innsbruck only to be turned around, as it calculated the wrong route originally. Then I had a most scenic journey through the Austrian Alps, which I can replicate if needed by proposing it as an itinerary when I am home. On some alpine meadows, there were small huts – I speculated on their purpose, to no avail
The land flattened out and I wondered how there was so much flat land in Austria only to find I was in Germany. The quickest route without using motorways was through Munich – which I quickly found myself in. Going around it was a revelation, as even though there was a lot of traffic, everything moved smoothly and the drivers were very ordered in their movements. Then it was onto an Autobahn for a time, although I had to get off to get diesel – but not again, if I can help it, as Austria is far cheaper than Germany for fuel.
I passed by a lot of farming land – with small villages, neatly arranged, and the new shopping centres, mainly supermarkets, on the outside of the villages. The farms were intensively managed, with no spare space. I noticed that the tractors were larger than in Italy, but smaller than France – and then noticed a small child, riding a plastic tractor, with his mother. They start them young in Germany!
I also noticed a wine (?) shop labelled “The Gastro Shop”, which sent me into paroxysms of laughter – as if I needed to be told!
Other roadsigns which I had noticed included:
- cautions for those walking – in Austria, they were gentlemen with hats and suit coats walking little girls, while those I aw in Germany were women walking little boys.
- schoolchildren crossing, which had large boys leading little girls, while in Austria they were a large boy holding a little girl back.
- the slippery when wet signs, which in Germany were the same as Australia.
- a lot of signs in Germany leading to a town called Ausfarht (it’s not funny if you know German or if you realise Australian farms are known to Japanese as HAZCHEMs).
My drive for part of the afternoon was along the Danube. It looked huge, and certainly high – until I saw it was locks keeping it up, and there wasn’t a huge flow. It was a new sight around each corner, with older fortified buildings up on high points and newer homes down by the riverside.
I was about two hours out of Vienna when I realised I most likely wouldn’t make it before the Information Centre closed, so I looked for one closer and headed to that – but it was closed. I think it must have been a holiday in Austria today as there was little traffic on the road but almost millions of cyclists and all the supermarkets and other shops were closed.
I headed back to where I had seen a small town with at least three advertised – success there, I thought. I headed to the first, only to find no-one home. It looked very nice. I headed to the second – that took a bit of finding, but a kindly group of locals led me there by car and – there was no-one home again! I then headed off to the third – surely one out of three must be home. But alas, no-one answered the outside knock and there was no-one inside, despite the dining room being open.
I contemplated my possible fate for the night – look for a hotel, sleep by the roadside or if things were truly desperate, look for a Formule1. As I walked out, a car pulled up. It was the lady who ran the first place I had called at. She could offer me one night. This one was run by her sister and she didn’t know how things were here. I agreed to take the one night and went back, parked, looked at the room, went to unpack and found – no toiletries! Those, dear reader, were very safely ensconced in Innsbruck, as I found out after a telephone call. I will traverse the country back, this time by toll road, as see a different view.
I then went into Vienna.
The first thing I saw was a woman who was identical to a Michelle S who I once taught – I almost beeped the horn to see if it was her. Then as I got closer into the centre of Vienna and wanted to park, I got caught up by a Pole who had parked in a no-standing zone and there wasn’t enough room for me to get between has car and the cannonballs (you may see them in the fountain photo if you look carefully). I had to back out and go down a few other streets to find a spot to park. The first thing I saw was … Crossfield’s Australian Pub. I couldn’t believe my eyes, that of all the places in Vienna I could have parked, I was just down the road from this.
I walked around a bit and down Vienna’s Music Mile – so you will see familiar names. I had tea at a cultural Burger King (Hungry Jack’s) and it was once a restaurant (so it has gone downhill since then). I didn’t even notice the ceiling until a young Canadian couple came in and photographed it.
I walked around a little more, then drove back to my lodgings for the night where mine hostess assured me she was check with her sister in the morning about a room for tomorrow night.
I then did my photos, wrote this up and finally retired.
My new plans are spend tomorrow in Vienna (if I can stay around here, about half an hour from the centre), return to Innsbruck on Wednesday, overnight there and spend the next night somewhere in southern Germany. Then it’s off to Denmark (or more correctly, Danmark).
Otherwise I’ll see it I can overnight in Innsbruck tomorrow night and play it by ear then.