It is now time for our second country: Austria.
We started by visiting Salzburg. It was an extremely hot day so the rythme was very slow.
The next day, we visited our friends Maya and Chris, and their baby who was only 9 days old. It was really nice spending some time with them.
Chris gave us loads of great recommendations for the rest of our journey in Austria so we were very grateful for that.
In the afternoon, we drove to Thalgau, had a good rest and enjoyed the amazing playground.
“The house where Mozart was born”
“Walking around the centre of Salzburg”
“View of Salzburg”
The next day was jam packed with fun. We started our drive round the lakes. We followed the route past Fuschl and St Giglen, stopping many times to admire the breathtaking views and to take pictures. We found the alpine coaster and ended up doing it three times to Lilia’s great joy.
The next stop was the Seecafe Montsee for a well deserved ice-cream and then a swim in the lake. Then we drove to Obertraun, a small town on the lake barely 5 km from the famous Halstatt. The place was brilliant mostly due to the fact that the playground was huge.
“Beautiful views of the lakes”
“Having a blast with the alpine sledging”
“Our back garden for a couple of days”
During our second day at Obertraun, we cycled to Hallstatt and walked around the town. It is very touristic, not quite our piece of cake but nevertheless, the views make it worth it.
We cycled back to Obertraun and had lunch at the pizzeria that was waiting for us, just behind our campervan.
After having digested, it was time to enjoy an afternoon at the lake.
In the evening, when the weather was a bit cooler, brave Majid cycled a the way round the lake.
“On the way to Hallstatt”
“The centre of Hallstatt”
“Evening cycle round the lake”
Just as challenges pop up in our daily lives, they also happen on the road.
On the 11th day of our trip, we were happily driving to our next destination. We stopped at a rest area on the motorway to stretch our legs a bit. When we tried to get going again the campervan wouldn’t start so we had to call the tow truck. As it’s the summer holidays, we had to wait more than 3 hours for it to arrive. By this time we were all tired and cranky. Fortunately Lilia thought riding in the front of the tow truck was great fun. It took us to the nearest Fiat garage which was closed as it was 7pm so we slept outside it.
The next day, we were in the garage as soon as it opened at 7 am. The man said it might take 2 weeks to do anything about it. He said to come back at 12. We went to visit the nearby city of Graz but our minds we’re not really there.
“Trying to keep smiling”
“Graz centre”
“Cool rubbish bin”
We went back to the garage and he confirmed that it would be big repairs and that they couldn’t do anything before 8 August. I asked if he could call another garage which he did. So we called the tow truck again and waited 2:45.
We arrived at the new garage at 4:30 just as they were closing. They told us they would look at it the next morning at 8 am. We walked to the supermarket and spent another night in the camper in front of the garage, feeling very down.
By 10 am the next day, we had a verdict. They told us it was the clutch but that there were no spare parts in the whole of Austria. After many phone calls they said they would get the spare parts on the 8 August and try and do it in a couple of days. Unfortunately, this will cost 4 400 EUR!
We also didn’t know what we could do for 2 weeks while we were waiting, having lost our house and transportation. The garage offered to rent us a car, which we kindly accepted and headed of to Vienna.
Our hotel was very conveniently located near a huge mall where we went for a surprisingly delicious Indian fast food for dinner. They even made the naan bread in front of us. We walked along the Danubius to digest before going to bed, in a “real” bed for the first time in nearly two weeks.
The next morning, we went to the Prater, the old theme park. I went on the big wheel (not the old one) with Lilia.
Then we walked to Hundertwasser houses.
Then we took the tram to the impressive buildings at the centre.
As the weather was not great, we took the metro back so I could take Lilia to the cinema in the shopping mall near our hotel. But it was only in German so Lilia and I took the metro back to the centre where there is an international cinema.
On our last day in Austria we went to see Sissi’s palace (from the outside).
Then we went to explore Vienna’s old town. We walked more than 15km that day so later, we settled down at the Vienna music festival for a well deserved drink. There were lots of cool food stands in the park.
The following morning, we headed for Czech Republic for 8 days until the garage finally called us to say that our campervan Encanto was fixed and waiting to be picked up! Happiest day of our journey so far.
“Playing princesses at Sissi’s palace”
OUR HIGHLIGHTS
Meeting Victoria, our friends Chris and Maya's baby
The beautiful lakes and mountain views
Our spot at the lake at Obertraun (swimming, huge playground, nice cycle paths)
Hallstatt
The alpine sledging
The atmosphere in Vienna
How friendly everybody we met was
WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH
Graz (but maybe we should give it a go again under better circumstances)
The price for repairing our campervan (it could have happened a couple of hundred of km further in Hungary and would have cost half the price)
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