Austria (Klagenfurt)

     I was in Austria for a week and it was awesome.

The beautiful Woerthersee

      Austria in general is a beautiful country. We were in Klagenfurt and could see mountains and were walking distance from the Woerthersee, a huge lake that is a popular tourist spot, particularly in the summer. I was in Klagenfurt eight years ago and it was nice revisiting a place I'd already been. I explored the city even further and integrated myself more in the city's culture.

Breakfast!!!

Our rustic chick hotel room

      Every day started with an AMAZING breakfast buffet in the hotel. The hotel we stayed at was Hotel Roesch, and it was beautiful. Its overall atmosphere is rustic and cozy. It's not in the city so you can relax without feeling like a tourist. It's also walking distance from the Woerthersee and Europark (about 20 minutes) and has a steam room. The buffet options were vast and varied. Lots of fresh fruit, three types of prepared eggs, lemon and mint-infused water, coffee, tea, fresh-baked goods, and so many different sandwich spreads we couldn't taste all of them over the week we were there. Afterwards, it was time to walk off the calories.

Sculpture Garden

       My mom had to work so I was left to find my own adventures. I walked every day (I was so proud of myself. Who would have thought it, I'm active!) in the Europark. Europark is a giant park with huge expanses of grass, lots of trees, a giant spring, multiple flower gardens, a sculpture garden, and a vast variety of playground options for kids. It was beautiful and you can easily spend an hour walking through that park, if not more (if you're lucky, you also get to see couples making out on the rocks, which are smack in the middle of the park.)

Klagenfurt legend says that the city
 used to be home to a dragon.

      The first day I ended up walking to the city from Europark with only my phone and 25 euros on me. I had planned to take a quick look around and then go back to the hotel to take the bus. However, while I was walking around the Europark I kept seeing signs telling me how easy it is to walk to the city and ended up following them. By the time I realized it was a lot farther away than I had thought, I had gone too far to go back. So I ended up walking for about an hour and a half. AND I didn't get lost. Which for me, is a very big deal. (I'm the type of person who will get lost with a GPS.) I took the bus back to the hotel though, and the other days that I went to the city (it cost about 4 euros both ways. Cheap as heck compared to 8 Franken one way in Switzerland.)

    In the city I spent a lot of time window shopping, looking at landmarks like churches and sculptures, and SHOPPING. After being in Switzerland for a few months, my God, everything was so amazingly cheap in Austria. I went a little crazy and H&M was my best friend for a few days. I was also super lucky because one day was some kind of promotion called Women's Day and every clothing store was 20% for women!!!! It was awesome.

Bayerish Goulash

     The food was amazing. The first day I ate a delicious Goulash in a touristy German-Bayern restaurant (that was after I had walked to the city and I was so starved I didn't care where I went.) We also ate a lot in the hotel's restaurant because the food there was FANTASTIC. I had schnitzel with berry jam and scalloped potatoes and cordon bleu. We also had Indian takeout. It was scrumptious even though I had to eat while tears streamed down my face (the restaurant made a distinction between mild, Austrian spicy, and Indian spicy. I got Austrian spicy and vastly overestimated how hot it would be.)

     The trip to Austria also marked the first time I have experienced a season other than summer in Europe. Fall started and I actually saw leaves that had changed color and had to bundle up. (Fall in Florida is still shorts and flip-flop season. And leaves don't change color. They're green until January and then just die.) Every day I wore a long-sleeved shirt, thick sweater, scarf, thick socks, my combat boots, and the jacket I wear to keep warm during a Florida winter. Something tells me I'm into a rude shock for a European winter.

Another View of the Woerthersee

      I hope this post got you guys interested in visiting Klagenfurt or Austria in general. And if you don't have the opportunity to visit, I hope I gave you an intriguing brief glimpse of the awesome country.

Almduddler:
The unofficial soda of Austria
(made from herbs and <<<sugar)