Hey everyone, So, it has come to possibly my final walkabout update. Its long again (having too much fun) so buckle in. Im back in Germany (Bonn) after stepping down the pace of my trip in Salzburg, Vienna and a side trip to the rocking Edinburgh. Ive just checked into this most unique hostel; its located in a restored warehouse and there are no rooms per se, rather there are shiny old caravans, combies and train carriages that have had their interiors converted to hostel style accommodation. I once slept in a VW mini in a Berlin hostel, but have never seen the theme on as large a scale as here. Salzburg was very touristy but this was compensated for by simply being a beautiful city with stunning architecture, laneways, a dominating medieval castle and views. Seemingly at every turn there was a Sound of Music landmark, a Mozart concert a Klimt painting or some grand structure that was built in the 1500s. Interestingly, just like Australians dont drink Fosters, most Austrians have not seen The Sound of Music (I think I was the only tourist who hadnt seen it.....apparently Im missing out big time. Im still not convinced I am). Id heard great things about Vienna so was keen to see what all the fuss is about. Now I know! To me, the most striking thing that gets the wow meter ticking is the architecture and massive size of the old city. The town planners under Franz Josephs rule obviously knew a thing or six about good architecture and planning. Most of the buildings are in Baroque or Gothic style and you just walk around the city for kilometre after kilometre going shi#, that is an amazing building, or at least that is what my inner-geek did. I stayed 5 nights at a party hostel and had a few late nights and met some cool people. I did lots of the usual stuff like checking out museums etc and learning about such characters as Klimt, Mozart and Beethoven, plus climbing stuff for stunning views and twice attending rooftop cinemas. But one of the best things Ive done on my trip was this thing called Escape Room. Two English chicks were keen to try it so we found our way there via back streets followed by buzzing into a non-descript door then going into a strange basement to be met by the host. The deal is that you have one hour to rob the Vienna Central Bank. You are then locked in a darkened bank managers office (two rooms) which is planted with clues, riddles etc, which you must work as a team to decode to unlock a series of locks behind which the treasure lies. We cracked all the codes and took the loot in the 59th minute. Twas great fun and we were raving about it all the way back to the hostel. I also had a special guided tour and visit to the quirky Third Man museum (big 1950 spy movie) with locals Daphne Mahr and her partner whom I met in Australia a few years ago. Thanks guys :) Great to see you again. As tends to happen, my hair got long and required a cut. I went to one of the three hairdressers nearby the hostel and the conclusion of the haircut yielded by far the most bizarre turn of events Ive experienced during my walkabout. The hairdresser, whom I couldnt properly converse with as my German is not good enough, produced a cigarette lighter and fired it up apparently with the gas on high, as evidenced by the 2inch flame jetting out of the lighter. Was he taking a smoke break? But that would be odd at such a time. Hmmm, hair and fire dont mix so well, I thought to myself. He then proceeded to burn the ear hairs out of my ears!! And nearly burn my left ear in the process as if it were the most common thing in the world to do. Thankfully I emerged unscathed, and I guess with no stray ear hairs either. When in Rome........ Next on the menu was the gem of Edinburgh, Scotland which Id somehow missed in previous travels. En route, the customs procedure at Bratislava airport was a most peculiar process with no fewer than 4 separate passport checks, and as I learnt, a high degree of concern by customs officers at my tablet and slr camera occupying the same plastic tub in the x-ray area; not to mention the secondary concern at my runners and tertiary concern about the tissues and paper in my pocket. Three plastic tubs, a temporary surrender of my shoes and frisk search later, I arrived on the outbound side of the x-ray area and proceeded toward the final passport stamping area. The typically attractive female Slovak customs officer, Katarina, apparently had not seen a new format Australian passport before and was so amused at its security features, especially the flying kangaroo and emu hologram, that she called her colleague over and they had a wonderfully entertaining viewing before finally stamping it. Truth be known, perhaps the key reason for this Edinburgh diversion was to catch up with my friend Leonie Tuitjer studying near Edinburgh, whom Id met in the Blue Mountains a few years ago. There was one other little event going on called the Fringe Festival, which I was blissfully unaware of until I arrived smack bang in the middle of the biggest arts and performance festivity Ive ever seen. Oddly enough, the first thing I did after checking into my hostel was to get the first train to Glasgow to compete in a 7pm local orienteering event. The organisers were mystified at an Australian, holidaying in Edinburgh, attending their event. In Edinburgh I checked out a few museums and trekked up Arthurs Seat (named before the Mornington Peninsula version, judging by its topographical shape). Also visited a brilliant photography/illusion place called Camera Obscure (see crazy pictures. On that note, as often happens to photographers, particularly solo travellers, there are hardly any pictures of me as Im always behind the lens). I saw three theatre plays; one by myself about two crooks keeping watch over a hostage in a wardrobe, and another two with Leonie; one which creatively presented pros and cons of the upcoming Scottish independence referendum and another slightly raunchy play about two comrades in a neo-communist-leftist party. Really entertaining. I also found the best coffee Ive come across in Europe, at the busy Hula cafe. Perfect balance of creamy/coffee taste and consistency, plus creamy froth as opposed to bubble bath froth, if you get what I mean. Upon complimenting the cafe manager, I was informed that the head barista is an Australian and that the Australian style of coffee is so popular that they are opening up a second cafe. Edinburgh is a great city and the thing that struck me most was how friendly the Scots are. Not to say that Austrians, Germans, Italians etc are unfriendly; but rather in these countries there is, with variations of course, a general no-frills monotone approach to most tourists. However the Scots in many cases seemed to go out of their way to make full eye contact with you and launch into conversation and puns. The airport customs officer greeting me with welcome Love, go on, through ya go; the bus driver, noticing me struggling to retrieve the coins from the bottom of my coin pocket, suggesting lets get a crane and well tip ya oop-see-down, thatll get em out!. The random guy in the bar noticing me about to buy a drink by myself, insisting that hang on a moment, we Scots know how to handle this situation and proceeding to pay for my drink, and the bartender observing what had just happened amidst the busy bar, taking a minute to ask where I was from and then tell me a bit about herself. I think I will be back in Scotland one day as Ive heard the further north you go, the more beautiful the landscape gets. Plans for the last week of my walkabout are to check out Bonn and Koln in Germany before flying out of Frankfurt, arriving home on 27 August. The lengthy and flat Rhine river path will provide the perfect marathon training track ahead of the the upcoming Melbourne Marathon that my brother and I are doing in October. Heres to a fun last week of my walkabout, Over and out. :)
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 08:29:42 +0000
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