Buchauer Schroll Kirchberg

... I spent the entire day there grazing on my snacks, with my new book, sketch book, and camera. I hopped around to different spots and did lots of people watching. I saw two people practicing walking on a tight rope... and a couple of jugglers. It was great to do absolutely nothing, and I didn’t miss the galleries or museums.

Off to Vienna for a few days in the morning, and then to Paris to finish out the final two weeks of my trip!

... and had some very memorable experiences with some very special people :) It was also fun to share some family history with Warren, and for him to see where my family comes from. Yay for family!

Thanks for reading,
Emy (& Warren)


*You know you are a backpacker when: The feeling of finally doing laundry is on par with the excitement of opening presents on Christmas.

** Warren does not actually own or love leather pants.

... heard a loud BONG! It was the church bell in the church right behind us! Unfortunately, the bell went off EVERY fifteen minutes and it was so loud-I don’t know how the people in that town deal with it. Needless to say, we did not get a very good night’s sleep; even with earplugs it was so loud and while I didn’t wake up to every ringing, I definitely woke up to plenty. We had an early start as well but once we were on the road we were okay.

We drove west from Vienna towards tomorrow's destination and consulted the GPS and Lonely Planet guide to find a good place to stop in between. We ended up here, in Bruck an der Mur, an adorable and charming small town in Austria. We all loved it as soon as we got to the centre, where the hotel we were seeking out is located. However, it was full, and the reception there told us we could get a much better rate than the other LP-recommended hotel if ...

... br>I'm afraid river Mur is gonna overflow; the water level is very high and the current flows violently. I'm recording it with my camera and, suddenly, I see some guys surfing on the river! wow!! Actually there are reckless people in the world... but it's funny!
At night we go back to the hostel and spend another "exciting" night playing table-games *cough*
Neptune must be laughing his head off...

Graz, Styria, Austria chinaski

... met onze vervolgen op onze fanasy-boeken en wederzijdse afleidmaneuvres. In de trein zat, om het ons nog gezelliger te maken, een jenkende peuter/kleuter/babyding. Fijn.

Ondanks de spatjes onderweg was het in Graz warm. Gloedjewarm! Maar wel heerlijk dus om een beetje rond te slenteren en vooral veel uit te rusten en terrasjes te pakken. Ik had om 7u smorgens uitgebreid google-research gedaan (ik kon niet slapen..) dus ik wist precies hoe we van ...

It has been a difficult transition from tour group to traveling on my own again. I spend too much time alone, walk around in circles because I have a terrible sense of direction, and spend more for a meal in Austria than I did to eat for a day on my tour. But I'm starting to get my groove back. Without any mishaps today, I went to the Vienna Sudbanhof and got myself on a train that left 10 minutes later, and got out at my destination, Graz.

Graz, Styria, Austria sarakmills

Evo ga, još dva dana i letim za Madrid. Ne znam jesam li uzbuđenija zbog letenja, zbog Madrida ili onog što me čeka poslije - tri mjeseca putovanja BEZ IKOGA! Znači bez ikakve odgovornosti prema drugim osobama, bez ikakvoga pritiska i s mozgom puštenim na pašu :)

So, two days more and I am flying to Madrid. I dont know if I'm more excited about the flying (high ;D), because of Madrid or the fact that I will travel all by myself :)

... dinner we headed into town again to watch sunset from the castle tower. Surprisingly there were it hers up on the lookout too. Sunset took time coming and the light was not the best as it was cloudy but we stayed till the sun went and by 9.30pm we headed down the steps to the bottom and found a cafe for coffee and Wayne enjoyed an apple strudel. The were heaps of student types out enjoying the evening as we were. But by 11pm the streets were clearing and we got the tram back to camp.

The brochuer reads (in German, of course), "Where in the wide world is pure blood without arrogance? Where is friendship without distrust? Where is there beauty without vanity?" Tough call! Apparently, the answer is in the town of Köflach, Austria, not too far from Klangenfurt. Here is the Lipizzaner World Piber, or the breeding area for the world-famous Lipizzaner Stallions. The ...