2010 Adventures

Photos: Vienna in Winter

eve76 — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:15:00 GMT

Vienna in Winter

eve76 — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:00:00 GMT

It has been quite some time since my last post, which I wrote while in Hungary. Since then I meandered around Europe and travelled to Poland, Italy, France and back to Vienna where I am now and have been for almost 6 weeks.

Austrians have a strange twist on familiar customs. Christmas for example is a time when streets around the city are cheerfully lit- up with Christmas markets stalls. Many people gather around them drinking fruity and alcoholic punsch and eat meaty snacks and kartoffelpuffers (potato pancakes). The punsch by the way smells delicious but tastes awful. There are lots of lovely handmade gifts available at the stalls, anything from snow globes, xmas decorations to beeswax candles and heavily decorated lebkuchen (delicious ginger bread-like biscuit). The many lights, some of which are very elaborate, adorn everything, buildings, trees, sidewalks. And the pointed spires of churches and the glowing lanterns light up the otherwise dark and cold landscape. It felt rather magical seeing at these things at the Rathaus for the first time. The snow we had later was the final touch on the postcard perfect image of Christmas.

Little did I know that Christmas in Austria is not just a time for jolly old Saint Nicholas (Santa) but also for Krampus. When window shopping and gazing at chocolate gifts, I found myself frequently pondering “ what on earth is that creepy thing standing next to Santa”. Well that creepy, goblin-like creature is Krampus and it punishes children by licking them with its long tongue, putting them in barrels and scares them with its chains. Seriously. And what kind of a parent would give their child a chocolate Krampus anyway? One that wants to instil fear and discipline and give their kids freakin’ nightmares. I can imagine them saying “Oh you have been bad my child, your’re not getting a visit from Santa this year, you’re getting a hairy, perverted devil to abuse you with rusty chains.... Stranger still, there are people particularly in southern Austria that celebrate Krampus on Dec 5^th. The festivity on this day involves men dressing up like Krampus and harassing mostly young girls with their creepy get up. Sexual harassment is obviously not an issue here...

Another unexpected custom popped up the other day. I noticed that stalls started to appear here and there and they were selling pig paraphernalia ....little pig statues, pig toys, pig cakes, pig candles..what’s with the freakin pigs I thought. Apparently, it is a custom to give a person a pig for new year and it is supposed to bring a person good luck. Of course I couldn’t help myself and ended up buying a pig after the toy gazed at me with its shiny, cheerful eyes...arg, what a sucker I can be for cute things..

Christmas/New Year period is also a time when people randomly let off firecrackers and it is not uncommon to hear a big bang like someone has put a bomb in a garbage bin. I found one culprit on a deserted Christmas evening while walking on the deadened cold streets of Vienna. It was a young boy and he was just throwing some sort of firecracker out the widow of the six story apartment block without even looking where he was throwing it or on what. When I looked at him, he guiltily hid behind the window curtains and then I thought “so this is why they have krampus, to punish the kids that are throwing firecrackers on pedestrians”!

New Year is coming very soon and I am happy to hear that they celebrate it here albeit with classical music and subzero temperatures. I am interested to see how the Austrian celebrations will turn out...

Budapest: A Goth's paradise

eve76 — Sat, 4 Sep 2010 03:44:00 GMT

When we arrived in Budapest, it felt like we had stepped directly into the beginning of winter. The city was shrouded in heavy gloom, rain sprinkled down on us and the wind howled down the darkened streets. The buildings we passed were as elaborate as the ones we had seen in Vienna, however the buildings here are blackened by dirt and frequently falling into decay. Dusty black doors and narrow openings along these darkened streets reveal poorly lit pubs, clubs and cafes, many of which are decorated in a nostalgic post-war style. There are also a lot of gargoyles and spooky looking statues of crows and tormented faces and figures. It seems to me that if vampires were to exist they would feel at home in Budapest.

The hostel we are staying at is rather arty and decorated with lots of very random and colourful things such as multi-coloured carpet attached to the walls, a huge nude painting above our bed, writing on the walls and old postcards lining the hallways. The receptionist here was really helpful and quirky and would only tell us her “artist’s name”, whatever that means. On the first day we arrived, she warned us to “stay away from the gypsies” which I thought was rather funny. Speaking of gypsies, I heard some amazing gypsy music in a cafe by Buda castle. I wish I knew what it was. It sounded so wild and chaotic but very engaging.

I think Budapest is a pretty interesting city and very cheap, though I really wouldn’t want to live here. It’s rundown in a way I am not used to and I could imagine the winters here being exceedingly miserable.

I am off to Krakow tomorrow and looking forward to getting some potato dumplings and beetroot soup there.

Photos: klagenfurt

eve76 — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:30:00 GMT

Klagenfurt/Austria

eve76 — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:32:00 GMT

I’ve been in Klagenfurt for the last 5 days at a camp ground by the Worthersee, which is a huge turquoise coloured lake populated by hoards of bronzed bathers on hot sunny days or populated by a hand full of ducks on gloomy, rainy days like today. The camp ground is large and has a lot of character. At times it has been filled with motor homes and children and groups of drunken German teenagers or people playing accordions and guitars. The motor homes are frequently out-fitted with too many comforts from home... satellite dishes, stained glass lamps, vases and picture frames, and even dogs and cats with their kennels and bowls. At night tiny bats circle the lamp posts and the rabbits creep from under motor homes and hop about the place. Strangely, I have noticed more and more rabbits as people have disappeared, which made me wonder if the people are magically being turned into rabbits.. hehehe.

The weather has been very changeable from hot sunny 29C days to cold and wildly stormy. On warm days, we have spent time by the lake and gone swimming (water about 23-24C yay) and even had a go on the slippery slide. We’ve also gone on long walks through the nearby forests and spent time in the old parts of Klagenfurt, which oddly reminds me of Poland. I have to say, the highlight of staying in Klagenfurt was visiting Hochosterwitz castle in nearby Launsdorf. The medieval castle stands on top of rocky outcrop and is surrounded by a mixture of forested hills and farmland. I really enjoyed exploring the castle grounds and seeing the beautiful paintings by Raphael Ramirez Maro (http://www.rafaelramirez.eu/). His style of painting is similar to what I am trying to do, so it was quite inspirational seeing his works.

In a couple of days I will be departing Austria. I have to say Austria is a very beautiful, peaceful country and if I could afford it, I would stay here. While in Austria I visited Vienna, Baden, Salzburg, Imst, Fersteinsee, Zell am See and finally Klagenfurt. There are many things I like about this country such as the numerous walking and cycling paths through forested and mountainous areas, its general safety and cleanliness, gorgeous architecture, great food, nice people and the laid back atmosphere. We have been camping for most of our time in Austria, which has been great for reducing the cost and “getting close to nature”, though there have been plenty of trials and tribulations. I have grown muscles and pulled muscles in places I was sure I had none due to contorting my body upon entering/exiting or moving about the tent. I’ve slept on a malfunctioning air mattress that left me feeling bent for days and cooked sitting in the dirt or sometimes even in our tent when it was too stormy. I’d say Tent life has involved a large percentage of muddy-smelly-dirty-noisy experiences and lots of squatting and almost falling over into mud, but it’s all a part of the adventure (so I tell myself). Our next destination will be the city of Budapest.

Photos: vienna

eve76 — Tue, 3 Aug 2010 08:17:00 GMT

vienna, austria

Vienna Bliss

eve76 — Tue, 3 Aug 2010 00:24:00 GMT

I've spent the last few days in Vienna, Austria and it has been bliss. Blue skies, warm sunny days and walking around the city is like exploring a giant jewellery box. It's peaceful and clean and with no one harassing us (unlike in china....so glad to have left!!). Suprisingly, the prices are quite good with many things in the supermarket being cheaper than in Sydney.

We are staying out of the city centre in an appartment hotel by a very large park with a lake it in. The nature here is very beautiful and delicate and Shean and I really enjoyed exploring the park and its many trails through grassy forestland. Though I must say I got quite a suprise when we ventured to the other side of the lake. By the path was a naked man, lying happily in the sun, sprawled and in full view of anyone who passed by....hmm that's odd I thought. Then as shean and I walk further, we noticed more and more naked people just hanging about doing nothing in particular. It made my think of the german girl from my old job, who described the existence of nudist lakes in Germany and her experience of seeing an old man proudly showing off his scrotal piercings...so was this a nudist lake? Having seen lots of clothed people in other parts of the park, I wasn't sure quite where the nudity zone begun or ended. It was only yesterday, after scaling a seculded,steep hill to find 3 nude men lying on it's top, that I realized these damn nude people can pop up anywhere. Apart from this strange discovery, the park is filled with lots of gorgeous birch trees, blackberry bushes, apple and plum trees as well of hundreds of flowers in bloom. It's great being amongst nature again after spending so much time in polluted cities.

good riddance

eve76 — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:29:00 GMT

Shean and I are heading off to Europe tomorrow. Our destination; Austria. I can't express how happy I am to be leaving China!! I can't wait to breathe fresh air again! Well I think any air should be fresh compared to Beijing and Shanghai. There are so many things that I will be happy to leave behind here and I won't be coming back to China in any hurry, if ever again.

China travels

eve76 — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:49:00 GMT

Wintry Sydney had lulled me into a sort of hibernation mode, so being thrust into the hot, busy and challenging environment of China made my first week feel a little less like holidays and a little more like torture. I was particular unfond of the all-encompassing humidity and heat that left me feeling like a dumpling being steamed. I also lamented the loss of my personal space and sweet, beloved silence. Where ever there weren’t hoards of people scurrying about and casually shouting their lungs out, there would be a constant stream of persistant touts trying to sell Shean and I something- a watch, a tour, postcards, peanuts or lead us somewhere to then sell us something.

Hong Kong and a brief stop in Guangzhou were our first destinations in China. I did enjoying seeing the neon glow of city lights over Hong Kong harbour, the enormous Tian Tan Buddha on Lautau island as well as the Hong Kong Museum of Art. But overall the sweaty stream of humans and the dense, dilapidated housing gave me a claustrophobic feeling that made me concerned about overpopulation and how poorly it can be managed. We also passed through Guangzhou, though all I can remember of the place is being chased by little old ladies with trollies and being thoroughly confused about where to catch the bus from.

From Guangzhou, we headed to Guillin which had a very different atmosphere. We arrived in Guillin on a balmy night, saw streets lit up with numerous, neon palm trees and huge amounts of scantily clad people on scooters, bicycles and odd contraptions. Each mode of transportation device seemed to be over burdened with items such as a tiny scooter carrying 3 people and a large inflatable tube or a man carrying what looked like most of his furniture on his bicycle. Despite being in Guillin for 3 days we really didn’t do alot there. The heat was so intense that by 12 o’clock people disappeared off the streets or would lay sprawled in the parks, semi-comatosed. We too retreated indoors and felt quite content avoiding the aggressive touts or in Shean’s case avoiding the hookers asking him if he wanted sex.

The holiday really felt like it begun with we arrived in Yangshuo, which is a small town by Chinese standards and is surrounded by lush green countryside and towering other-worldly limestone peaks. Like in Guillin, there were numerous touts hassling us more often than not and the heat and humidity was at its greatest yet (35-37C most days). However, the beautiful scenery, the charming meandering rivers and the more laid back atmosphere compensated for these things.

Our most memorable days were when we explored Yangshuo’s countryside farms and nearby villages; sometimes cycling, walking or taking “bamboo” boat rides on dubious, home-made looking rafts. We dragged our bicycles through thick red-brown mud, alongside green plots of farmland, zig-zagged through little crops and past dingy farm houses, and witnessed an ever changing landscape of beautiful karst peaks. Funnily, one of our “bamboo” boat rides down the Li River involved a terrible storm being unleashed onto us and our raft rescuing and towing another boat whose crappy lawn mower like engine had failed. Not that the engine of our raft/boat was any better and we prayed that it would heave all of us to safety, which it did thankfully.

During our 5 day stay in Yangshuo, I grew accustomed to the sights of the locals wearing bamboo hats and carrying large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, the Li River peacefully flowing past water buffalo feeding at its shores and of course the ever present touts trying to get our attention, shouting out phrases such as “bamboo”, “hullo, hullo” and “looky looky”. In Yangshuo, we also regularly went out to restaurants serving delicious food and had fun strolling in the evening through the markets that sold all sorts of trinkets such as giant fans, teas and folk crafts. I was quite glad that we had found a place in China that was actually worth visiting. Sadly though, the joy I had in Yangshuo was not to be repeated as I travelled onward through China's smoggy, crowded cities.