Vienna
After a bit of a long drive from Inzell in Germany, we arrived in Vienna. Traffic was nightmarish and not knowing enough about where we were going made it a bit difficult late in the day. Robert was waiting for us and told us everything we needed to know before he and his wife, Eva (and their dog) headed off to Bratislava for the weekend (a couple of hours drive away).

In the morning we headed into the city early to make sure I got to the Spanish Riding School on time and because we didn't know how long it would take. Having found the Riding School, we went looking for coffee, found a place and sat down. After checking the menu, I realised where we were - in Demel, a famous cafe in the city. As I was talking to Craig about where we were having coffee, I realised that large tourist groups were stopping and taking photos of the place. In fact, that continued the whole time we were there and probably, all day! I did take a few photos of the interior, showing the cake selection and also their boxed chocolates.

Then I needed to hurry to the Spanish Riding School to see the performance. I loved it! I saw some things I wasn't expecting and was enthralled by the handling of the horses, particularly when a couple were occasionally were distracted. If I had the chance to see them again, I would!

While Ann was at her performance, I went for a walk at random. It was a warm morning, and as it progressed it became more crowded.
While we were at Demel, we had noticed a number of men dressed in old military uniforms and carrying instruments heading away from Michaelerplatz. As we walked through the square, there what we guessed were dignitaries of some sort milling around. I thought nothing of it, really.
As I walked from the Imperial palace (where the riding school is located) I head a brass band - who I think we're Italian based on their dress and the fact that they had an Italian flag on their jackets - playing a very rapid piece. Once again, I thought nothing of it.
I kept walking an went through a couple of parks and ended up of the Ringstrasse which was made 150 years ago. There are three lanes of traffic in either direction, a wide (6m) bike path on one side of the road separated from the cars by a similar width footpath. On the other see of the road was another footpath, with a two way road instead of the bike path. The whole Ringstrasse is shaded by large trees. Because of its ease of use, it was very busy.
When I headed back to the riding school the military band were playing a few tunes. A crowd had formed, applause given and they formed up and marched off as the Italian band belted out some more tunes. When I went back to Michaelerplatz, the military band played some more and finished with the Radetski March.
Ann still hadn't emerged from the performance, so I kept walking. I accidentally stumbled on the stables for the riding school and saw a few of the horses as they returned from their show.
We found out later in the day that the military band was probably part of the 60 year celebrations of the end of the Soviet Union's occupation of Austria after the end of WW2.

In the afternoon we went on a bike ride tour through the city. There are well marked tracks for cyclists and mostly polite motorists. It was my first time on a bike in forty years and I'd never ridden a bike with gears before. After the 3 and a quarter hour ride I still hadn't really got the hang of the gears and had to concentrate on what I was doing, (sometimes didn't get to look around much) but there were moments of pleasure, speeding along the bike lanes! I didn't fall off once, was last to catch up with the group most of the time but may even give it a go again. Probably the highlight was that the Ringstrasse was closed due to a concert that was to be held that night, so we got to ride in the middle and stop where we liked as we went back to give the bikes back.

The next day
No sore muscles from the bike ride - yeah!
We spent the afternoon at the Natural History Museum. The displays start with geology, then fossils, etc gradually moving up to mammals. We saw about half of the displays. For rock fans, there was a beautiful display of Quartz of all colours that was most impressive. Still no kangaroos in Austria - the specimens on display were wallabies, tree kangaroos and the like. The bower bird display says that male birds seek white, grey and pink objects to decorate their bower. in the Northern Territory, we didn't see any bower birds choosing pink - blue was definitely their preferred colour!

We finished off the day in an Aussie Pub (nothing like any I've seen in any part of Australia I've visited). Craig did enjoy his Coopers Sparkling Ale with his meal! Only tourist destinations, cafes and restaurants are open on Sundays, as in Germany. (In France, if they open on the weekend, they are closed on Monday or Tuesday.) I'm not sure Australia is keeping up with Europe...

Carnuntum
Today we drove out of the city to visit Archeological Park, amphitheatre and museum about Carnuntum. This site is still being excavated, but they have rebuilt three buildings on their original foundations, using what is known about Roman buildings to rebuild and furnish them on the ground floor (a bath house and two houses, one of a richer person and one poorer). The buildings are beautiful, very simple and practical. As we walked around there were two groups of people working on two different sites, so eventually there may be more rebuilding done, but we don't know that that will definitely happen. We also saw a model of the original township and the barracks that was impressive in showing detail of the types of buildings and the layout.
In the next town was an amphitheatre, belonging to the Roman township. It was not as big as the one we saw at Grand, in France, but had a very similar structure, reflected in the design of Adelaide Oval.
There was a museum in the next town that focussed on the development of religious beliefs in Roman times. It wasn't what we were expecting the museum to be about, but it was interesting all the same.

Graz
We went into Graz to wander the old part of the city (a bit like the old part of Paris, with no high rise buildings) and do a little shopping for things we needed before heading to Marlies' house.
We found our way to Marlies' house with only a little difficulty. The street she lives on has the same name as the street it comes off from (as well as some other side streets!). The room was comfortable with a bathroom next door, just for us to use. It is set in market gardens (small farms of about 15 hectares), so the housing was a little scattered throughout the area.
Marlies' brother excised the land from the family farm her house was built on, so her son, Otis (aged 6), was able to go outside and pull up some radishes for the salad we shared the next night!
She is a secondary teacher and her husband Arndt has his own IT business. They also have two other sons, Jan who is about 8 and Neal who is a happy little bloke who reached out to me for a cuddle within a few minutes of arriving at the house!

We had looked for a Park and Ride before going into Graz and went in on the bus. Marlies told us that it wasn' t actually a real Park and Ride, because only the employees of one company parked there because it was too far away for anyone else to use! Apparently, the government paid for this "private" car park. We had wondered when going in how we paid for using it and the bus driver said he didn't know. Now we know why! (We just drove out as the exit was completely open!)
We chatted for a few hours and ended up going to bed a little later than we had intended!

The next day we started our day in Graz intending to follow a tourist path from the information centre. Then we changed our minds and visited Castle Schlossberg on the top of the hill. We went up through the hill in a glass lift which goes up and down inside the "mountain" preferring to give the 600 steps zigzagging up the hill a miss. There were great views of the city up there and we enjoyed a pleasant lunch there before taking the funicular down the hill.
The ride was very smooth but the steepness was truly apparent after we got off, left the building and looked back to take a photo of a tram going back up the slope. It was very, very steep!
We walked along the river to see the Murinsel. It's a floating island, connected to each bank by a walkway. It contains a concert space and a cafe and is shaped like an egg, diagonally across the river. It is something that would never be constructed in Adelaide, as it is so modern and our city doesn't seem to believe that different can be impressive and look like the city is renewing itself.
That night we cooked sweet potato soup for the family. Otis was a great help (he loves being involved in cooking) until he got splattered with the soup when blending it before it was to be served. He was the centre of attention for a while, but eventually calmed down and did eat some soup. Not sure if they will make it for themselves...
Another latish night - we have really enjoyed talking with Marlies and Arndt!

Zotter Chocolate Factory
Before heading to our next accommodation, we did a detour in the opposite direction to visit a chocolate factory Marlies had recommended. It was worth it as the chocolate was delicious. We went on a tour through the factory, tasting cocoa beans, powdered chocolate, nougat, hot chocolate, vegan chocolate and of course, different strengths of milk and dark chocolate. However, you probably could make yourself sick if you attempted to taste everything. We did buy some chocolate of course....

When we were looking for our next accommodation, I came across a mountain hut, a couple of hours drive from Graz. When I showed Craig, he said something along the lines of "We have to stay there. It's so different to anything else. How many people get the chance to stay in a mountain hut?" We have been looking forward to it! It is about 40sq m in total, on two floors.

On the way to the hut, we discovered road tunnels. You don't drive around Graz, you go under it! The tunnel goes for at least 10km, which is a different experience, especially when you're not expecting it! It was the first of many. Previously, we had been through one in Gersbach (Germany) about one kilometre long. For the rest of the trip to the hut we went through many tunnels 5km, 8km, etc. sometimes we came out of one tunnel for a 100 metres or so and then into another. That's travelling through the mountains in Austria for you!

Pießling, near Wintischgarsten
The weather all day was rainy and cold (this is Spring?). When we arrived at the hut (about 800 metres above sea level) our host's husband (August) was there to meet us. With his limited English and my more limited German, we managed to sort things out. We knew Marianne would call in the next day. (She did, with a lovely double punnet of strawberries that were so tasty! Lucky us!)
The hut is small but very well organised. There is an old wood oven for heating and cooking (we haven't used the electric elements). There's plenty of cooking equipment, fridge, utensils etc. and a corner table seats six. Attached is a bathroom that is no smaller than those in many houses and upstairs, via a very steep set of stairs (no handrail) are two double beds, a couch bed and a reasonable amount of hanging space. We love it!

Cold and rainy for the next two days! We discovered that Austria has very few laundromats and there are none within cooee of where we are staying. A bit of a driving done in search of one with no success. Back to hand washing (and trying to dry things by the fire!)

Raining and 7 degrees was not an auspicious start to our drive to Hallstadt. We continued on, almost cheering when the temperature went up to 9 degrees! Hallstadt is off up in the hills and up some narrow roads, but it was a place we really wanted to visit (China, unbelievably has copied this village and it's probably a tourist destination in China!) and hoped it may be drier when we got there. It was not to be! Photos of the lake and the village show a dreary day!

While we were there we did visit the salt mine, which is still being mined. Travelled up to it on the very steep funicular, over 800 metres up (our second one) then followed the trail up through a about thirteen stations to start learning about the mine and its history. Just as well we both have large umbrellas, as it was still raining and still about eight degrees! We did learn a lot about the history of the area and it's earliest miners and their burial rituals as well as about salt production, none of which we knew before.
The tour (about 70 mins) is carried out through areas no longer being mined for salt and in addition to the presentations and films about the mine and its history, you get to slide down two slides- the first one is shorter and over quickly, the second a little more hair raising. We have the photos to prove it!
A staircase has been discovered in the mine that dates from the earliest days of the mine. The Natural History Museum of Vienna has done a lot of research on it and we saw a picture of it through a glass wall.
The final part of the tour is a train ride out of the mine. It hadn't stopped raining when we came out, so upstairs we went to return our protective clothing before walking back down the hill to the lift, then down to the funicular and down again!

We have to remember that everything is closed on Sunday's here in Europe (in the countries we've been in anyway). Tonight's scramble for bread and veg with five minutes until closing time was a classic effort!

Reith bei Seefeld (near Innsbruck)
A longish drive and not quite the route we originally intended! We had planned to go south, away from the places we'd been to, but couldn't remember all of the names of places Marianne told us before we left, so had to use the satnav, which took us back to Salzburg etc. However, that meant we could go back to Hallstadt for some nicer photos of the place when it was not raining! We were also able to get some photos of the funicular track without the fog to obscure the steepness of the slope.

We decided to stop for lunch at a Gasthof (Gasthof zur Wacht, between Strobl and Bad Ischl) restaurant as we wanted something hot to eat.we hadn't done that before. It was a very good choice! We both enjoyed a very tasty venison soup with bread rolls. If other places have food this good, we should try them more often!

It was after 6pm when we arrived in Reith bei Seefeld, a small town up in the mountains, about 800 odd metres above sea level. Thomas and Polina were great, inviting us for a drink in their bar room after showing us our rather large bedroom. Conversation ranged over music, travel destinations and how Thomas (Austrian) and Polina (Russian born, lived in France for a year, moved back to Russia, moved to US (Santa Barbara near California for 15 years and also lived in Mexico for a while - I think I've remembered it correctly, apologies if I haven't!) met. Before we knew it, it was 9pm and we still hadn't cooked dinner! They decided to go off for a walk, giving us free rein in the kitchen.

Craig was very happy to discover they had Vegemite at breakfast in the morning. Our breakfast was a great start to the day, with a range of meats, cheese, rolls, yoghurt, coffee, juice, etc to eat and drink. Very spoiled!
After the car was packed, we went for a walk to have a quick look at the town. Snow had fallen in the last few days on the mountains and, since it wasn't raining, we got some lovely photos of the view. We really enjoyed our stay here and wish we'd known how nice it was - we would have stayed longer! Thomas and Polina are great hosts and we hope all goes well for them in the future.