Feb has dawned upon us, and I cant imagine another way of expressing how “Suppaa” this past month has been. The trip was born after Dr Rostom and I concluded that the Silk route would need to wait till after Jan, as the harsh weather conditions would require alot more than just warm clothes. We decided to try skiing, and found the Austrian Alps. Neither of us had much experience, mine was one day in Whistler where I learnt about pizza and French fries, and attempting snowboarding in Queenstown when I was 14.
In the end after much talk, our ski trip comprised on myself, Dr Raz, Naz and Radwa. After random online searches we decided to spend a week in a small town called Saint Johann. Our pick was based on our understanding, that we would have 24 hours delivery of hot buns. We never did see the hot buns, but we all fell in love with the town, the mountains, skiing and of course tobaggoning.
Highlights of skiing, was an accident I had on the second day where I skied into barb wire and into the trees to eventually cry out of frustration because I knew the only way down was on skis. That didnt stop me from actually enjoying skiing, after I changed my instructor to someone I found more comfortable, and was able to regain my confidence to actually enjoy the blue slopes. The view was stunning, and the people were so nice, and the applestrudel was sinful, but overall things were as they say in St Johann “Suppaa”.
The pain from skiing was ridiculous, and that pain very much accompanied how horrible it was leave this little paradise. Radwa flew home, and we were on our next destination, Salzburg, or better known as the place where the “Sound of Music” was filmed. This tour is a must have, and I came aware of it, after Reina shared her experience.
For all fans, imagine your own a bus hearing and singing to Sound of Music songs, and going to places where the film was filmed. We had a treat by having a real live descendant of the Van Troup family lead the tour for us. After that, we were off to Vienna, where Mai also joined us.
Impressions of Vienna, it’s really hard to start, I knew from the moment I saw it the day I arrived it was something magical.
Not only is it a place of great history, its also a cultural capital where many great artists, musicians have come from. The streets, the architecture, watching Queen’s “We will rock you”, seeing my first real Opera “L’eliser L’amor” and of course seeing Klimt’s painting “The Kiss” is breathtaking.
Of course also being able to spend some time with Kaisa, and remember all the wonderful times spent with my crazy “World on Wheels” family three and a half years ago.
We will also lucky enough to get exposed to artist, philosopher, ecologist and architect Frederick Hundertwasser. His work is phenomenal. Vienna is a place where you can get lost in it’s countless museums because of it’s huge diversity. In short Vienna has something for everyone. Next post will be on Prague, Budapest and of course my graduation 😛
