Vienna

Eventually the time came when I had to leave the little paradise of Schladming, and head for Vienna. I had two days to run around the city before catching my flight back to Paris. It is a very beautiful city, and of a very manageable size. I was staying with my second (or third possibly?) cousin, who incidentally just moved to Paris this weekend. Here are some of the things I did and saw...

I also went to the zoo which was fascinating but kind of painful. I mean some of the animals just looked soooo miserable.

But this guy was incredibly cute and bored looking. I couldn't get a good shot of his eyes, but they were gentle and brown and very human-like.
So I think that wraps up Austria. It really was great, so much like NZ but with old stuff. Yes it is late and I am writing like a ten year old. I loved the shades of green, the bright starry nights, the thickets of raspberries growing in the woods, the tumbling waterfalls, the fat shiny blueberries that blanketed the hillsides. Okay, just a few last photos and then I can move onto more recent happenings.

More pics of Salzburg.

traditional Austrian outfits.
The little town of Mondsee, above Salzburg.
Where we stopped for lunch...mmmm.
The hat that I should have bought.
Leo gets eaten - it looks like a face!
Fountain in the old town.
Typical 'headstone' in a graveyard we visited.
This is just so wrong. Although they would have to be the smallest and most unassuming golden arches that I've ever seen.

mixed up.

Okay so these photos are to go with the previous post, this blog is not functioning properly today!

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Austria take two.

Okay, so some more on the magical country of Austria. For part of my stay I was joined by me French friend Leo. We were able to get out and do some exploring together. Neither of us speak German and we we were both keen to eat as many Austrian sweeties as poss, so it was a good match!
One day we took the train to Salzburg to see the sights, and most importantly to do the Sound of Music Tour. Salzburg is a very pretty city, small enough to walk around and full of charm. We wandered around the old town, fueled up on a lunch of sachertorte and strudel, and then joined our tour group. We had a very lively tourguide, who had lots of interesting facts about the city, and all the background info on the film, the Sound of Music. Our tour was full of Australians and Americans, and most admitted to having seen the film at least five times, some were even doing the tour for the second time. Given the dire-hardness of the fans, Leo and I were a little disappointed that we were the only ones singing along to the soundtrack.
So we saw...

1.The lake in which the von Trapp children capsize their boat.
2.The Pagoda where Liezel and Fritz sing the 16 going on 17 song.
3.The Church were Maria and Captain von Trapp get married.

Back in Paris, 1 year older.

It is far too late for me to be blogging, I ought to be asleep and building up energy reserves.
I'm back in Paris and was overjoyed to meet the Holmans at my metro stop and to have them staying at my place for a couple of nights. I know it's going to be hard to see them go again!

Just wanted to say thankyou so much to those of you who sent me birthday greetings! It really made my day to come home and find a full inbox and lots of warm fuzzies. I had a bit of an un-birthday, but I was staying in such a paradise that everyday felt special. On the morning of the ninth, around the hour I was born, I took I kind of symbolic swim in the ocean, and tried to imagine entering the water as a 23 year old and coming out 24, oh so much older and wiser. Truth be told I don't feel any different, and after that I kind of tried to forget that it was my birthday cos it made me miss home and the normal birthday rituals. Nobody remembered until dinnertime when one of the kids clicked, and then there were red faces and cake and candles were scraped together.

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on! Austria and now the family holiday on the Cote d'Azur, which was truly exceptional and the perfect antidote to city living.
But first the sleep.
zzzzzzzzzz

The blogs that will have to wait.

I'm realising that in spite of all my good intentions, blogging and holidays don't really mix well for me. I was meaning to tell you all much more about my time in Austria with more yummy pics, but it's gonna have to wait...again.
I've just finished packing (or reshuffling the case that I never really unpacked 4 days ago) and am heading to Cannes tomorrow on a hideously early train. I always seem to be getting hideously early trains, I should learn from this.
I'm going to join the family at their holiday house for the next 2 weeks. It will be tough, being on the French Riveria and having to be in the pool or on the private beach all the time.
I'm really looking forward to seeing them all!
But probably won't be much time for e-mailing or blogging, I'll be back in action around the 19th.
Hoping all my readers are well!
time to sleep a little.

A wonderful holiday

I'm back in Paris, feeling refreshed and fit, but missing my newly discovered Austrian family.
The last three weeks in Styria, and then Vienna were so wonderful, much more than I could have hoped for, somehow jam-packed while being incredibly relaxing.

For those of you who don't know my family history, my grandfather is Austrian, but has lived in NZ for over 50 years now. His family still live in and around Schladming, the little village where he was born and grew up. The legend of Willi Huber lives on, and everywhere I went I was introduced as his granddaughter and there was nodding and reminiscing and I was instantly accepted into the fold - though scolded for never having learned German!

It was so special to visit the farm where he grew up; gaze upon the formidable rockfaces which he climbed with his buddies, visit the alpine meadows where he was a shepherd during the summer months. There are many similarities between the countryside in NZ and Austria, so I felt very at home and reveled in the fresh air and water. I took ALOT of photos, so I'll put some up here, and more if you follow my photo link, and write some more later!