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.
