First night in Austria we had picked a site beside a lake with free wifi and limited other services. Arriving there we found it was on the outskirts of a industrial town, wifi was patchy and it was not the most attractive place with nothing interesting within walking distance so we rolled the dice again and moved on. Second choice was a total winner. Firstly we drove along the Danube River past little villages and castles that were jaw-droppingly gorgeous then we wound our way up into the hills, tree filled valleys and high plateaus with quaint villages. We arrived in Schlossburg dominated by a grand Church, just amazing and so unlike home. We parked up and set off on foot to explore, Greg with camera in hand of course. We stopped in the local Gasthof for a drink, providing a conversation point for the regular locals, lol.

The next morning we moved on to Vienna. We took the A & B roads rather than the Motorway which , once out of the mountains continued to follow the Danube River. Makes the Waikato look like a creek! In Vienna we’d picked a fully serviced site with WC’s and showers, really enjoyed that, no water watching! In the morning we caught the very efficient ‘U’ train into the centre. Wandered down the main shopping street, unfortunately dominated by international brands plus Starbucks & MacDonalds, to the ‘Ring’. OMG! So many HUGE amazing old buildings. You don’t know which way to look. So much for not looking like a total tourist. We went into the Albertina and looked at paintings from Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and many others. I particularly liked Andy Warhol’s Mercedes-Benz work (lol) and a Franz Sedlacek, Mountain Landscape. I’d never even hears of Franz Sedlacek. But art isn’t really my thing, I just like what I like, regardless of provenance. We then wandered the streets and lanes getting ourselves lost regularly before finding ourselves back on a busy square. We checked out St Stephen’s Cathedral, a lot darker than other cathedrals we’ve seen. Concrete (I think) rather than timber or marble. Very sober.

Last night we parked up beside a river/ canal/ stream under a motorway bridge. Interspacing the paid with the free! Tonight will be our last night in Austria and we picked a place with wifi so we can upload photos & this blog.